New Year, New Opportunities
Each new school year brings the excitement of new students, new goals, and new opportunities. Each new year, teachers eagerly await their students’ return, thrilled to have the chance to try a new strategy or new approach. Each new year, teachers have the hope that this will be the year more students are inspired to write.
On the other hand, each new school year brings its own set of realities. Many barriers remain between ideology and practice, making some educators wary of incorporating writing into daily instruction. Many secondary teachers desire to build their students’ writing skills, but they simply haven’t had the resources or opportunities to reach their classroom writing goals. Incredibly, others have been told not to spend instructional time writing, for the mandated state tests will not call for students to compose. The students’ lack of writing practice then becomes clear during the transition from high school to college.
Hopefully, current changes in English Language Arts curriculum and testing will lessen the restraints on secondary teachers. However, we must keep in mind that secondary teachers are in the mist of implementing a new curriculum. We must support the secondary teachers through this transition as they begin to implement more writing in their classrooms. Working together, we can help bring writing home to the students of Mississippi.
Mary Ann Parker