I left at the end of last Term feeling really positive. The lower level students were writing independently, albeit a single sentence, but they were happy and settled and their confidence was growing.
Term 2 started and I pushed them too far. I realised after meeting with my Inquiry group that I had gotten so excited with the progress they had made in Term 1 that I missed out some vital steps. So once again the kids couldn't do anything independently and I was pulling my hair out wondering where it had all gone so horribly wrong.
So one day I just said "right, today you are going to write about anything you like".
I am now a firm believer in free choice. I always have been but usually once a week or even every 2 weeks. For my focus group of lower learners they all sat down and started to write. You could not wipe that grin off my face. So from now till the end of Term we will be having free choice everyday.
At the end of Term 1, I will post some before and after photos of some of my students writing.
Watch this space!
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