“Let’s continue.”

In the 180 classroom, choice is key because commitment is key. So, I try to provide choice as much as I can by making learning an invitation. Here, I am inviting kids to continue the feedback/response process with me on their personal essays. I want them to commit to the process of writing and learning, not to the completion of product.

Of course, that takes a bit of a different approach to writing. As I have shared here in the past, I have been moving away from the finished essay, and moving towards the developing essay. Really, it’s a move towards developing writers. And this is just the latest experience.

They are in the process of responding to one of the Common App prompts, a process I wrote about recently in the “Kick-Ass Writers” post (http://www.letschangeeducation.com/kick-ass-writers-project-180-day-99/), where I talked about process and the power of choice.

And that is where we currently are, a place where kids get to choose. I have invited them to continue, and they may accept or decline. If they have gotten the invitation, it’s because they have completed one round in the feedback/response process with me, which means they have revised and resubmitted–which means, as far as I am concerned, they have grown as writers. And that is my concern.

What about the finished product? I don’t know–yet. We are not to the end. Still much ahead in the process. Still many rounds of feedback. Still many invitations. And the product isn’t real, anyway. Oh, I tried to make it authentic as I discussed in the kick-ass post, but even so, they will not be sending these off to college. They will not be framing them and hanging them in their rooms. They are just templates for work, places for process, places for progress. And that’s all writing is.

Are kids accepting the invitation to continue? Yes and no. A handful have responded with “Let’s continue,” but many have decided to be done after round one. And while I would like more to RSVP to the party, I am not interested in their attending if they don’t want to. Commitment, not compliance. Of course, I do not take their declines to my offer personally. They are kids. They are human. And, frankly, they have been conditioned to be done. It has been the whole of their experience. They are used to transactions of completion, not invitations to commitment.

Regardless what kids choose, the work continues. And as we continue, we will learn. So, let’s continue.

Happy Wednesday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.