Assignment Template (CA State CCSS)

The "Assignment Template" reading this week had a lot of good, well thought-out ideas on guiding students through the reading and writing process. As with a lot of the readings I've done for class thus far, my initial response was one of hesitation and skepticism. Having now read it in its entirety, I believe this is definitely a great tool to use in practice in the classroom.

A lot of my initial skepticism towards this particular reading came from memories of my own high school experiences. I remember teachers (usually in English, often History as well) instructing us to take notes in a particular fashion, directing us to make brainstorming diagrams, etc. This did not jive with me as a student - my thoughts and ideas didn't manifest in my brain in a structured way, so I certainly didn't want to try to put them on paper structurally either. Teachers would instruct us to make first drafts, without doing any revisions or editing along the way, telling us that we should save that for our second drafts (or third, and so on). I really did not like this. To me, the words that I put on paper were a communication of my living thoughts, and I could not stand to see them sloppily unfinished on a page, no matter what "draft" it was. Looking back, I was a fairly confident (though not perfect!) writer - and it absolutely irked me that someone felt the need to "teach" me what I thought I already knew how to do on my own, in my own way.

Obviously I didn't know everything, no matter how much I believed I did. Due to my own stubbornness, I don't think I ever fully realized what it meant to "think critically" until my first quarter of college. This is such an important skill, and I love that this "Assignment Template" makes sure to cover rhetorical reading and critical thinking. There were so many times when I as a student would write a paper for class, without giving any real thought to the reason why I was writing - other than the fact that I had to. In the reading, writing is defined as a way "to communicate our ideas to others." Its important that students not think about writing as a task to be performed in order to get a grade, but as an exercise in personal expression and reflection. The steps listed in this document aren't meant to take away from creativity, and they're not meant to be used as "busy work." They are simply tools that can help aide a reader/writer in a logical, structural way. They're also not meant just for students who need help reading or writing; they are helpful for students of all reading/writing levels, even those who think they already know how to do it all.

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