It started with one blank page…paragraphing

 A long, long, long time ago I wrote a blog about using readymade structures for creative writing. It was something that grew in popularity and this continued when I wrote my book.

Structuring writing is probably one of the hardest aspects of writing. It isn’t the first thing a student thinks of and it is definitely one of the things that holds students back. That and commas, but that is for another blog.

When students write, there is so much going on in their head. What to write? What words should I use? What has the teacher asked me to include? What did I get wrong last time? There’s so much to think about in the early stages of writing that it is easy to drop a few important things. Commas get forgotten. And structure is forgotten. There are so many things to think about that the page of whiteness becomes alienating. Scary. Horrifying.

The first ‘write’ is always the hardest. It’s easy to forget this. Come on: you’ve been writing for years. Every year, I get students struggling to write initially. Putting thoughts on a blank page is totally natural for English teachers because we have automated the process. Yet, for any student in school, it isn’t an automated process. Instead it is an manual process. That manual aspect is what we forget. We forget the blood and sweat it takes. We have a fully functioning automated writing brain. We have automated structuring, paragraphing, self-correction and so many other things. Years of reading endless Mill’s and Booms has given you so ready off the peg structures.

A teacher’s job is to help build to automaticity, but isn’t a fast and quick process. Admittedly, we don’t do enough to build this. We don’t make some aspects automatic while the student develops the manual aspects. Building ‘automacy’ or whatever you want to call it is probably easier with some aspects of writing. Paragraph structure is one of those areas, but it is slightly underdeveloped.   

I build students by offering them some automatic structures for writing paragraphs. I am including some new ones here today and you can see some old ones here. I often start with paragraphs when doing creative writing with Year 10 and Year 11. It is easy to start with words and techniques, but, sorry, structure and paragraphing are paramount in the early planning stages. I give them a structure so that they can focus on the words and techniques. If you focus first on words and techniques, it is very hard, but not impossible, to build a structure.  It often takes quite a sophisticated reader to build a structure with words and techniques first. When you focus on structure, ideas and meaning often follow. So too does the confidence.

 The following are some paragraph structures. I tend to use a simple paragraph as a model. I don’t use fancy paragraphs for the simple reason that the structure is the most important thing. Students must be able to see the structure. If they have to wade through purple prose and the teacher’s attempt to break into publishing world, then they aren’t going to see the wood for the trees or the structure from the techniques. Then, I show them how you can add digression. The structure is there to hang idea on. They can add a bit more to the idea or they can add an aside. Regardless of this, the structure is there.

 

[1] Was it …? Was it…? Was it …? Was it… that…?

Was it the gentle lapping of the waves? Was it the endless trees circling the lake? Was it the soothing chirping of the birds amongst the dense trees? Was it the fact that there wasn’t a human being for miles that made this place perfect?

[2] The three thread paragraph

Quiet, peaceful and calm was what made this place so unique and special. Quiet leaves gently swayed in the wind. Peaceful animals searched and scrounged amongst the trees. Calmness was everywhere.

[3] The same adjective followed by the opposite paragraph

Twisted were the branches as they snaked up into the sky. Twisted was the path between the lifeless bones of the trees. Twisted were the leaves on the ground. Straight was my path out of here.

[4] Adjective, comparative and superlative paragraph

Cold was the lake and all the stones around it. Colder were the metallic coloured fish swimming and twirling in the lifeless water. Coldest was the bottom of the lake where nothing moved. 

[5] Sometimes…  Somewhere…. Somehow/ Someway….  paragraph

Sometimes he was invisible. Somewhere near people were cheering and singing. Somehow he was  trapped.

[6] Never … Never … Never … Never had I … paragraph

Never had the sea felt so cold. Never had the world looked so empty. Never had the sky looked so cruel. Never had I felt so content.

[7] Preposition X3 and then something profound paragraph

Under the moon, a man stood silent. Under his eyes a tear snaked down his cheek. Under the tear, his mouth was a single line. The letter, spelling out his divorce, sat at his feet.    

[8] Before, now , soon paragraph  

Before, the garden was an oasis of calm. Now, it stands forgotten and neglected. Soon, it will a jungle of brambles hidden under rubble.

[9] Light, shadows, darkness paragraph  

Light sprinkled itself on the carpet. Shadows slowly sneaked behind the furniture. Darkness was on its way

[10] He, she, it paragraph*

He smiled at her. She lowered her eyes. It began in that one single moment.

* You need to emphasise the comma with this one otherwise you sound like you are saying something rude.

[11] Verb, verb, verb paragraph

Smiling to herself, the woman sipped her coffee. Savouring every moment of it was her plan. Forgetting what had happened yesterday like it wasn’t even a big deal.  

[12] Abstract, concrete noun paragraph

Hope filled the room. The man had opened the window. Happiness could be heard outside. Children were playing and chanting a song on the green garden. Depression still sat in the room. The woman held on to the photograph as sat silently in the room.

 

As a rule for the structures, I tend have a triplet. Then, there is a mood change. That can be either a gradual change or a change in the last sentence. Through these examples and over time, I am helping to show students how they can structure a paragraph. What it entails. What it looks like. What components you could use. What connects things. You cannot teach paragraphing in one or two lessons. It is one of those skills that comes with time and exposure. These structures start the journey. Getting students to use them and adapt them is part of the process.

 

See that blank page there. It isn’t really a blank page, because you can use this structure. Now see what you can do with it…

Thanks for reading,

Xris

The first lesson is the deepest – getting to know you

I read an interesting discussion on Twitter recently. It was exploring how there is a difference in the relationship between student and teacher in primary schools and secondary schools. You can imagine where the discussion went. To be honest, it is far harder to build relationships in secondary schools when you see a student for one or two hours a week. Yes, you can have a personalised individual handshake for when they enter a room for that one hour a day, but you’ll not have much of a connection with the student. It is not impossible, but just very hard. You could spend a whole lesson asking students about they football team, band or pet, but in that time you have not covered a jot of your curriculum. Time is not a commodity that secondary schools have. Relationship building happens in the cracks and in the tiny micro connections in the term, but they are not the thrust of what we do. The relationship builds over time.

The first few lessons of the new academic year are problematic for me. For a start, they never laugh when I crack a joke in the first lesson. It will always be something witty, so the quality of the joke is not the problem, I can assure you. They often don’t laugh, because they don’t know if they can or not. Am I with a teacher who likes to laugh? They are in that strange phase of not knowing what they can and cannot do. Every teacher starting a new school knows this. Let’s just call it Term 1. A heightened state of awareness. Rabbit caught in the headlights. You don’t know what to do for fear of getting it wrong. That’s often the first lesson for students. And, that’s why they don’t laugh at my jokes.

Over the years, I have done and seen numerous approaches to the first few lessons. The trad way: list the rules of a lesson and get students to write the rules in the front of their books so it hangs around their neck like and albatross. The prog way: get the students to decide on what the rules should be and get them to write them down in their book so they can feel they own them. Or, the plain bribery: give all students a chocolate bar or cake. They haven’t worked. And, they often mean you have to placate students with promises of more chocolate or cake.

The default first lesson is always teaching. Teach a lesson and get students to do some work. From that experience you can understand and see what the students are capable of doing and their attitude. Students often feel safer with because it asserting what is normal. This is normal. As soon as we move away from the normal, it is quite scary and stressful for students. I had a delivery from company this year, and ,instead of the usual surly nod and hand-over, I was greeted by a man who had ingested four jars of coffee and three gallons of Monster. The man said he wanted to talk to me about Covid and that he had a choir in the lorry, ready to sing to me. He didn’t; he just needed to deliver a bath.  I felt uncomfortable and didn’t know how to react. Nice man, but clearly in the wrong job.  

For me, the first lesson should be about building and establishing normal routines. How do respond to questions? How to complete work? How to listen when the teacher is explaining something? Covid caused us so many problems with routines that many of us crave normality and routine. That’s why I think now, above all else, we should be working on those routines. We need the patterns. We need to help students adjust to those patterns of behaviour and expectations. First lessons should be about the pattern of lessons.

I’ve seen enough speed-dating to know that a meaningful relationship is not formed in any first meeting. For that reason alone, I think using the first lesson to ‘build relationships’ is dangerous. Relationships take time and they are largely based on your reactions, as a teacher. Your reactions to events, actions and comments all form part of the relationship. Your interaction with the class. You having one lesson to tell students your ‘orrible childhood’ and how you connect to the youth of today because you couldn’t have you ear pierced as child isn’t effective relationship building. There’s a level of narcissism in teaching which I think is very dangerous. Teaching is about the students in your class and not you. You are there to do the best for the students and not the best for you. I do think, as teachers, we have to reign in the narcissism. A class of young people need a responsible adult and not a presenter trying to get audience figures. There’s a distinction that I think we all need to get right.

We all need to be liked, but I think there comes a point when our desire to be liked can be detrimental to the students and their progress. Like all things, there needs to be a balance. There’s nothing wrong giving chocolates to reward, but if there is another motive behind it then there is something wrong.

So, what am I doing in my first lessons to support and build relationships? Well, I am going to give a questionnaire. A questionnaire about what works and what doesn’t work with them. The relationship between student and teacher is one largely based on inferences and trial and error. By the time we get around to parents’ evening, the parents will feel that we know their son / daughter well. This takes a lot of time to see what works and what doesn’t work. It can take terms with some quiet students. Therefore, I am going to engage students with this process from the start. But, also, I have include some questions to make students understand that a relationship is a two-way thing. I will do stuff, but they too have some agency.

A lot of the questions are inferences I will make about a student in the first term. At least, this way I can see if they have a good understanding of how they work in lessons. 

The whole purpose is so that I have a better understanding of the person so when teaching I know how to engage and support them. I get to know them a bit better without having to resort to making a connection over their favourite football team or love of guinea pigs. It is about understanding the person sooner rather than later. A deeper understanding of them. From much earlier, I will know, hopefully, what works and doesn’t work with them.

Thanks for reading,

Xris