It was
unconventional, but it worked. The 3rd
grade students had traded papers with their neighbors and were correcting their
morning work when I heard a paper rip and saw a student crying. I pulled the girl in pigtails aside and
handed her a tissue to wipe the tears beneath her glasses. “What’s the matter?”
I asked. When no words would come, I had
her take three deep breaths. I waited patiently until she could confess she
ripped her classmate’s paper after her table group teased her for spelling a
word wrong. She wiped away more tears as I called over the perpetrator. “I just told her that she spelled “what”
wrong and the others asked me how she spelled it. Then she ripped my paper and
started crying.” “Well, you hurt her feelings and need to apologize,” I said. “I’m sorry,” said the girl. “And you need to
say “It’s OK” I told the first student. “It’s OK,” she sniffled. “And, you also
need to apologize to the paper for hurting it.” I tried to be serious but it was so absurd I
started laughing. The student’s tears also turned to laughter and she did
apologize to the paper then returned to her seat. I got the class’s attention
because I saw this as a teachable moment. “The beauty of writing,” I said, “is
that you can always edit it. It is more
important to get your ideas on paper first and then worry about the rules of
grammar. In Teacher College, they taught
us to encourage students to use ‘invented spelling’ where you write things down
the way they sound so you don’t lose your flow of thinking. Then, you can
always go back to correct spelling and make other changes. That is what is so wonderful about writing –
that you are able to edit your words.”
