Dr. Louis' Blog

Good morning!

My name is Sofia. I'm an English teacher from Brownsville, Texas, and while it's only my second year in the classroom, I feel like I've been teaching the Jane Schaffer Writing Program all my life.

Both of my parents are career educators, and my mom is legitimately the greatest English teacher I've ever met. I thought I was biased about that growing up (being that she raised me), but I find more evidence with every passing day. I was raised surrounded by her colleagues and students, who she loves like family, watching the impact she has on them in real time, and watching them leave her classroom more certain of themselves and their voices than before. She's taught me how to be a great teacher for the past 22 years of my life—which is all of them. 

For the past 24 years of her career, she has taught the JSWP. She told me the story of the first time she attended a workshop with you, how she was a newbie in the classroom, wondering why her students couldn’t magically apply the feedback she was giving them when she asked for "more," to "explain," to "be clearer, more organized.” She'd been forced to attend yet another droning professional development training, and she was not excited. 

By the end of the first day of the workshop, however, she was in tears over the revelations she was having; she'd always believed there was no formula to writing, and that to suggest there could be would constrict writers' instincts. But my mom has always loved writing. She's always been able to intuit how to make her writing sound natural and controlled because it was the most important thing to her in life. How can you impart that on an unwilling mind with no structure?

Jane Schaffer put into words the method my mom and so many great writers have always intuited or studied, one way or another. It made it genuinely accessible. Her workshop with the Jane Schaffer, way back in 2000, proved to be life-altering. She taught it to me as her daughter, not her student, and I never once struggled to articulate myself with confidence. Even though I scarcely think of the terminology as I write anymore, the JSWP bones are present in all of it. She told Ms. Schaffer about her epiphanic experience on day 2 of the conference. Ms. Schaffer completely understood her hesitation, but explained it as concrete structure, not formula. It’s training wheels that want to be taken off. It lays the foundation for free, flexible, articulate writers. My mom sees Ms. Schaffer as the patron saint of writing pedagogy, and she’s been a devout follower since. 

I remember being in middle school, accompanying my mom to a professional development in Austin. Honestly, I just cared about the indoor pool at the hotel the district was paying for. But before I could have my fun, I had to go to her workshop with her (aka, sit next to her and work through a book of word searches and go unnoticed as much as possible). When the training started, I recognized the content immediately as my mother's. Even at that age, having hung out with enough jaded teachers, I had some idea of what made a useless versus a useful training. I knew this one was the real deal, and though I didn't imagine I'd be teaching it myself one day, I remember thinking, "This is the good stuff." 

Now, I'm teaching a few doors down from my mom, imparting the JSWP onto my English II students. Before this gig, I was teaching this for free at my university's Writing Center. There is a jarring number of college students I worked with who had never had any clear instruction on how to write an essay. Many students I've met have believed since childhood that they are doomed to remaining forever mystified by how good writing gets done, leaving it to the experts, the people lucky enough to just have the ability. 

But every time I teach the JSWP to a student at any age or level, with enough time, practice, and persistence, I get to witness this incredible moment where it all just clicks. It's one of life's greatest highs—a massive hit of oxytocin. This method is the only one I've ever known, and it's given me unshakeable confidence in my ability to write and speak well—of course I'm going to give that to as many people as I can. Writing is no secret. You just have to be taught well. Everyone deserves this kind of education, and everyone is capable of writing well. 

Good evening, Dr. Louis,

I have attached an example prompt that one of our teachers decoded. Would you please review it and provide some feedback? I have looked it over myself, but I want to be sure that my feedback is in alignment with the expectations of JSWP. How would this decoded prompt score on the Decoding the Prompt Rubric?

Thank you,
Desiree A.

Dear Desiree,

Thank you for reaching out to me. If students don’t know how to decode their writing prompts, then they are doomed from the beginning. “Decoding the Prompt” is one of the most important skills in writing. And, as students move into middle school, high school, and college, the prompts will become more difficult. So, starting now in elementary school makes me happy and proud.

I can tell that the teacher put much effort into this; the main error was the determination of CD, which affected the determination of CM. The score would be 8/12. See the attached rubric.

Here are my recommendations for honing this skill:

1. THE TITLE. Is it a short story or a novel? If it's a short story, put quotations around the title at the top and in the prompt. If it is a novel, underline both places. Also, include the author. Students need to know how to include authors' names in their responses.
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2. THE BACKGROUND SENTENCE(S)
   * Gerald is an awkward giraffe who attends an African dance party.
      Stop there.
   * I caution teachers to avoid providing analysis in the background sentence(s). Sometimes, in our attempt to guide the students, we give them the answers, and then they have nowhere to go, or they simply repeat the prompt.
   * You're looking for students to develop an understanding of tone (humiliation and confidence) to answer the question about the lesson. Don't tell them; let them show you!
   * I especially like your background sentence for its diction and opportunity for a grammar lesson. Let me explain:
           - "awkward" and "attends" - When teachers model good word choice, it helps students learn new vocabulary and how it is placed in a sentence.
           - Proper Nouns - The first sentence also teaches students about the proper noun "African."
           - Grammar and diction should be modeled. Good work!
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3. THE TASK
   * I'm wondering if this writing assignment needs to be two one-chunk paragraphs: 1) At the party with the conflict, and 2) after the party where the lesson is learned.
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4. MAPPING
   * CD = Your teacher wrote, "The lesson that Gerald learns at the end of the story." This is incorrect. Remember, CD is plot summary in Response to Literature. So, what happens in the story.
   * CM - The lesson he learns and the importance of that lesson could be the CS.

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Also, the teacher might be trying to do too much in the confinements of a one-chunk paragraph. The teacher might receive better results if she 1) asks for a one-chunk paragraph for only the beginning of the story when Gerald feels humiliated; or 2) asks for two one-chunk paragraphs in which the students show the progression of the story and the lesson learned.

     TS = Gerald doesn’t quite fit in.
     CD = He attends a party, and when he dances, the other animals laugh at him. (plot)
     CM = Tone / He feels sad.
     CM = Tone / He wants to be appreciated for who he is.
     CS =Everyone wants to be liked.

     TS = After the party, Gerald learns an important lesson.
     CD = What actually happens (no commentary – plot summary only)
     CM = Tone –What is Gerald’s attitude now?
     CM= What is the lesson of the story?
     CS = Why is this lesson important for all people to learn?

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Another idea: if the teacher doesn’t want the students to write two paragraphs, then she could write the first one as a model, and the students could write the second one. This sample is a good beginning, and I’m so grateful that you are sharing, so we can look at this skill closely.

Keep reading and writing!

D

QUESTION:

We have a color vision impaired student . . . I remember that came up once . . . What do we do?

-- Ms. Melissa B.

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Dear Melissa,

But what if you have a student who has color vision impairment? --  a not so unusual trait in many people – teachers, too! This is a situation in which a student or teacher is unable to discern color? Once you discover those students in your classroom, or if you have this challenge as well, one way to solve this problem is to label each pen with its color: blue, red, green, or black.

Here’s an interesting story: I met a man who had CVI, color vision impairment, and when I told him that we labeled the pens with the colors, he told me that when he knows that the color is supposed to be blue, for example, “his brain registers blue, and the color blue actually appears.” I thought that was an amazing discovery.

Another way we help students solve this problem is to have them draw symbols in front of each sentence.

On your notes page in your guide, I’d like for you to find Topic Sentence, abbreviated as TS, and draw a star. The star is our symbol for topic sentence, and we ask our students with CVI to either use a labeled pen or draw a star in front of their topic sentence, or both.

For the Concrete Detail, pick up your red pen. The abbreviation is CD. You’ll create a red label for the students’ pens or ask the students to draw a rectangle that looks similar to a concrete block.

For the Commentary, pick up your green pen. The abbreviation is CM. You’ll create a green label for the students’ pens or ask the students to draw a circle in front of their CM sentences. We chose a circle because it symbolizes wholeness and completeness of thought.

And for the Concluding Sentence, abbreviated as CS, you’ll have the students use the blue pen again. I know you were about to pick up your black pen! No, we bookend the body paragraph with blue. For the CS, the symbol is a star plus an exclamation point. It reflects the topic sentence, hence the star. But it also has impact!

For the body paragraph, we use blue, red, and green. Black will come later.

Question:

My school uses the Jane Schaffer Writing Program for 7th-8th grades both in history and in English classes. We teach about thesis statements in 7th grade, and other teachers on campus begin teaching them in 6th grade and even 5th grade. With your expertise, what age/grade on average is the developmentally appropriate age/grade to first introduce thesis statements? – Mindy R.

Thank you for sharing any wisdom/expertise with us!

Hi, Mindy,

I have worked with elementary teachers for many years, and I find that third grade is the year that teachers require students to write multi-paragraph essays, which require an introduction and, therefore, a thesis statement (sometimes known as a “controlling idea” in the elementary setting). I instruct third and fourth grade teachers to write a one-sentence introduction that is the thesis statement. When students come to fifth grade, we create an introduction with two sentences: a thematic sentence that provides a broad idea related to the topic and then the thesis statement.

Middle school and high school students learn my ten percent rule: an introduction should be ten percent of an essay. In other words, if a teacher assigns a 2,500 word essay, students should write about a 250-word introduction. The same advice goes for the conclusion.

Introduction10%Body80%Conclusion10%

I start by teaching the framed thesis. A framed thesis names the topic of each paragraph. For example, if my essay is about what I like most about April, then I would name what I like most in my thesis statement.

The month of April is special because it is the time when flowers bloom and the weather warms.

My first body paragraph would be about the colors that come from budding flora. My second body paragraph would be about the weather allowing me to wear lighter clothing. The framed thesis is a good way to start because it helps students organize their essays and begins instruction about structure and logic.

In upper level grades, or after students have mastered the framed thesis, I introduce the open thesis. An open thesis is more thematic. It does not identify the topics but rather guides the essence of the essay.

The month of April makes me feel young again.

I will still discuss the colorful blooms and the warm breeze, but I don’t name them in the thesis. The open thesis leaves a little more to the reader’s imagination.

The more exposure to the thesis statement, the better. Each academic year, literary and nonliterary texts become more sophisticated as do writing prompts. Naturally, then, the thesis statements become more sophisticated. If you have a multi-pronged prompt, you will have a multi-pronged thesis.

Many high school English language arts and social studies teachers like debatable thesis statements. That thesis statement lends itself to the art of teaching argumentation.

As the students get taller in their heads, the thesis becomes more complex. I had a wonderful mentor, who taught high school seniors, tell me years ago that a thesis is a compound-complex thought and, therefore, it should be a compound complex sentence.

The thesis statement is a promise, an agreement, and some would say a contract between a writer and her reader. Every word, every phrase, every sentence, and every paragraph in an essay should strive to support and prove the thesis. The thesis statement is that important!

Keep reading and writing!

Warm regards,

Dr. Louis

Dear Dr. Louis,

Would you review this prompt and give me feedback? 

"This week in class we talked about happiness and what things make you happy.  Reflect on those things we talked about. Then, in 5 sentences, please summarize your thoughts for this week.  Please use 12-point font, Times New Roman, double space, and YMCA for your heading.”

Tina H.

Sure, Tina. I can see that you learned the parts of the prompt well at our workshop together. I love your "Background Sentence" and "Trigger Sentence." For your "Task," I'd like to see you start your year out using your prompt to support and reinforce the JSWP terminology and elements of good writing, guiding your students to an understanding of your expectations for this and future writing prompts.

First, is the writing assignment a paragraph, a short answer, or bulleted sentences? Each type of writing has rules to follow, so identifying the required structure up front helps the students’ thinking. This request looks like a paragraph to me.

Second, since it’s a summary of what the students have learned, is the JSWP ratio 2+:1 or 3+:0? It looks like you want some commentary, so let’s go with 2+:1.

Let’s give them more guidance since the students are new to your class and new to your expectations. In another email, you indicated that your colleague in the previous year taught them JSWP. Use this opportunity to refresh their knowledge, assess their skills, and address their curiosity that what they learned last year will be built upon this year. Consider the following foundational prompt.

"This week in class we talked about happiness and what things make you happy.  Reflect on those things we talked about. Then, in a well-developed body paragraph,(2+:1), explore what truly makes you happy. For your topic sentence, assert what truly makes you happy. For your 2-3 sentences of concrete details, provide examples and situations that you have experienced or that people have discussed that created this happiness within you. For your commentary sentence, answer this question: What is it about this happiness that separates you from others? And for your concluding sentence, write a sentence about how your happiness might affect others. Please use 12-point font, Times New Roman, double space, and YMCA for your heading."

Once students see this layout -- this foundational prompt -- they'll realize that they must decode a prompt into a logical, organized thought process. Sure, eventually, you wean them off of direct instruction about sentences. How do you do that? After several times prompts with precise instructions, you ask them, "Who or what are you writing about? Circle in blue the subject of the assignment." They should be able to identify the subject/topic of the assignment that would belong in their topic sentence or thesis statement (if you are assigning an essay). 

Next, ask them, "What concrete details will you be searching for that will support your topic sentence?" Let them tell you and underline those in red in the prompt.

Continue with, "What's the ratio of this assignment?" If the assignment is literary, style, or rhetorical analysis, it's 1:2+. If the students are writing an expository (nonfiction), argument, or narrative, it's 2+:1.

Next question, "What type of commentary is the prompt asking you to write? Circle that in green. Words might be "discuss," "explain," "investigate." Ask the students, "What are you going to discuss that comes from your analytical mind, your heart and soul, your gut, your instincts, and your intuition?" The answer should be something like "the importance, the significance, the impact, or the effect of what they have learned.”

So, when you give a prompt such as the original prompt noted again below, you can now ask the students how to unpack or decode it, because you’ve specifically practiced the process with them on several prior occasions:

"This week in class we talked about happiness and what things make you happy.  Reflect on those things we talked about. Then, in 5 sentences, please summarize your thoughts for this week.  Please use the 12- point font, Times New Roman, double space, and YMCA for your heading.”

There's a difference between teaching and assigning writing. You'll be teaching them!

Keep Reading and Writing!

Warm regards,

Dr. Louis

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Carl Glickman (Glickman et al., 2013 p. 234) provided a compelling mission statement to guide professional development within schools: “Education is a human enterprise. The essence of successful instruction and good schools comes from the thoughts and actions of the professionals in the schools.” Consequently, the goal for professional development is to strengthen a teacher’s knowledge base and skill set to improve instruction within the classroom and school. For professional development to be successful and have a long-term impact, it cannot be a capricious “one and done” but a carefully crafted learning plan for the school to ensure teacher growth and student learning.

               Glickman (Glickman et al., 2013) identified several key attributes of well-designed and thoughtful professional development programs. It is critical that teachers within the school have significant input into the design, implementation, and assessment of the professional development program. This collaboration will yield a comprehensive program characterized by participant ownership focused on student learning.

An important aspect of a successful professional development program is the establishment of school-wide goals that allow for individual adult self-directed learning, a key tenet of successfully embedded professional development. The professional development plan must carefully scaffold the investigation of research-based effective instruction strategies as teachers collaborate and share their best practices to provide for a common knowledge of effective student learning strategies. To address individual adult learning needs, the professional development program must incorporate a variety of strategies to organize for adult learning. This menu of services might include job-embedded training, individual coaching for self-directed learning, or study groups of teachers to gain, process, and strategize new learning. The intent of a multifaceted menu is to create an optimum individual and group learning environment focused on the attainment of the school’s strategic plan.

Another critical attribute of  a professional development program is the understanding that not all adults learn at the same pace; thus, professional development organizers must adhere to the three stages of professional development: (1) an orientation phase where teachers gain an awareness and information about the specific professional development constructs; (2) an integration phase characterized by teachers applying the learned knowledge into their classroom and/or professional practices through a trial and error process; (3) a refinement phase when teachers possess a firm routine management of the professional development learning and possess the ability to transfer or adapt that learning into their own teaching and/or professional behaviors.

A professional development program is a school’s instrument for teachers to increase and apply new knowledge to improve student learning.

Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2013). The basic guide to supervision: And instructional leadership. Upper Saddle River, NJ, NJ: Pearson Education.

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