Hi, I’m Holly!
I’m a wife, a mom, a 3rd grade teacher, and a farm girl at heart.
I have been in public education since the fall of 2002. I have taught as a math resource teacher, a 4th grade teacher, a Pre-k teacher, and I am preparing to start my sixth year as a 3rd grade teacher. While teaching I am also pursuing a Master’s degree in Reading Education from the University of Virginia.
Writing has never been something I can say I especially enjoyed. I’ve never felt like I was a particularly good writer and am even worse when it comes to editing my work. I struggled as a child to remember everything it requires (spelling, punctuation, when to use a comma, subject verb agreement, etc). Now I appreciate technology and being able to easily go back and reword sentences and use spellcheck.
Writing instruction in my classroom has always felt very disjointed. I would teach my students something one week, then a few weeks later something new. But it doesn’t flow the way I teach reading or math. I have a block of time set aside for writing, although it seems to be the first subject to get bumped if we have an assembly or other special activity.
I try to start off each lesson with an example and explanation for what we are going to do. Then we do a few examples together, and finally, I have them practice the idea or topic individually. Next would come having the students apply what they have learned to their own writing projects.
A few kids are always excited when we would do a writing project and then apply their new knowledge to their writing, but a lot of them dread writing and immediately ask, “How many sentences does it have to be?” Then when checking their writing the concept that we spent so much time learning about is forgotten and nowhere to be seen. If I’m being completely honest, I dread when we do writing projects as well.
I’m hoping that through this course I can gain a better vision and flow for my writing instruction. Then, I can change my own attitude and beliefs about writing and share enthusiasm with my students about the writing process. By having a better flow I’m hoping that it can be more enjoyable for everyone and not feel like such a task. I also hope to gain an understanding about how much I should step in and edit and how much I should let their work simply be their own.