This middle-age ELA teacher has no more gray hair to pull out (thanks ChatGpT), so to combat all of the cheating, belly-aching, and lack of administrative support — I’m going back to good ole fashioned pen-and-paper essay writing next year.
But if students are going to handwrite essays again, an important question emerges: What’s the BEST pen for the job?
In this video, I walk through a fully developed AP Language-style synthesis prompt titled The Great Pen Debate: Writing Under Pressure at Ridgeview Academy, where students analyze six different sources debating gel pens, ballpoints, fountain pens, rollerballs, felt-tip pens, and erasable pens. Along the way, students examine testimony from poets, valedictorians, scientists, artists, teachers, and politicians while building an argument about speed, endurance, clarity, comfort, readability, and writing performance.
Per usual, I "Bob Ross" the entire essay and "paint" it in its entirety right before your eyes.
School's not out yet here in Western NY, but I'm already thinking about ways to do it better next year.
And apologies for the extended absence ... I got waylaid by a pretty serious illness the past few months, but I'm back in action.
Slide deck, annotation exercise, and all the exemplars are at your disposal.
Happy teaching and happy writing!
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