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Teaching Students to Write EssaysMany School Districts are not Teaching This GenreA few of the schools that still require students to write essays have started testing computer programs to grade the essay instead of a teacher.
Nothing is wrong with the high school essay other than the fact that many students aren't required to write them. In school districts where written essays are still required, most students, even honor class students, write fewer than five essays during a calendar school year. When they do write essays, students often receive limited feedback from their teachers. Many teachers are unable to return students essays in a timely manner that would facilitate the skill-building process students so desperately need. To further muddy the waters, some school districts don't allow students to take their graded essays home to learn from their mistakes. Writing is an essential tool that every high school graduate should possess. Today, many schools districts across the nation are opting out of teaching students the fine art of composition. Only 18 states require graduating seniors to pass a writing competency exam, while the other 32 states graduate students who haven't demonstrated the ability to write coherently. Dianna Lindsey, a 28- year veteran of the Los Angeles Unified School District, shared some of her personal frustration with district guidelines that requires teachers to "imbed" clues in daily lesson plans that are supposed to motivate students to write on their own rather than having teachers assign students to write different types of essays. Thousands of students graduate yearly without the proper skills to succeed in college or in the workforce. Most universities and colleges have paid writing tutors on campus to help college students to learn the writing skills that they didn't acquire while attending high school. High school teachers have had to adjust to computer-savvy students using the Internet to create their essays for them. One tool that teachers use to seek and root out plagiarism is www.turnitin.com, a site dedicated to sniffing out "unoriginal material." On that note, a few states, like Indiana, have been testing a computer program that is supposed to be able to read and grade student essays. Of course a computer can be programmed to correct grammatical and punctuation errors, but what computer program can identify the tenor and tone of an essay, much less be able to ascertain if the writing prompt was fully addressed by the student? Granted the age of technology has brought wonders into every classroom, but technology shouldn't be allowed to replace a skilled teacher that relates to students and more than the mechanics of grammar and punctuation.
The copyright of the article Teaching Students to Write Essays in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by Allene E. Swienckowski. Permission to republish Teaching Students to Write Essays in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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