2/12/2009

writing is SO hard

My students are writing manifestos this week, and they've been having a hard time wrapping their minds around the assignment. This morning, they were working on them in the computer lab, and I was walking around to offer support.

This one kid called me over and said, "Ms. Dahlke, I know how I want to do this, but I just don't know what I want to put in my introduction." And I was like, "Well, why don't you save your introduction for later. Maybe you'll know then?" He looked and me, sincerely surprised, and said, "You mean, I don't have to write my introduction first?" I didn't really say anything, just shook my head 'no.'

And he goes, "Ugh! I have so much to learn!"

1 comment:

penthesileia said...

You know, I really didn't know that I could write the introduction to a paper not-first until I got to college, I think. And someone introduced the idea to me and it blew my mind.

I told my younger sister the same thing when she first entered college and I think it blew her mind, too. She kept telling me that she couldn't start a paper, and I told her just skip the intro and write the body, and she looked at me as if I had grown another head.