Are you "letting" your student write or "making" them write?

Well I guess it's time to practice what I preach! This thing called a job has gotten in the way of my blogging lately. We are in the 12th week of school and today was the best yet. I introduced blogging to my students and they each had the opportunity to create a blog. Some of my students have been asked to blog in class before, however most of them have never been given so much choice. Students were allowed to select their own focus for their blog based on his or her personal interests. I have kids blogging on everything from gaming to fashion to food. I made two promises to my kids today: 1. I will never grade your blog. 2. I will never tell you what to write about. Students felt liberated to be free from assignments and grades. The authenticity of creating a real audience through blogging comes from the lack of guidelines. For the first time all year, and I hate to admit this, every single student was engaged hanging on to my every word. They participated, asked questions, and showed genuine interest. This is a teacher'a dream! I saw the excitement on their faces as they felt empowered to write and I felt a sense of great satisfaction. Why can't everyday be like this? Their engagement came from their buy in. With all the freedom to choose they took ownership in their work. One student actually asked me if I could wrap it up so they could just get started. . . Absolutely!

Lessons this teacher learned today. . . 

1. Choice is crucial for engagement 

2. Students need opportunities to work without the fear of grades - they will push themselves and take risks when it's not impacting their GPA.

I will leave you with this thought. . . 

Are you "letting" your students write or "making" them write. I want my students to say with enthusiasm, "Mrs.Brown lets us write on our own blogs! That's so cool!" My best work comes when I'm working on a project I want to work on, not a project I'm forced to do. Our students feel the same way. What changes can you make to your lessons so students will feel lucky to be able to complete the assignment? 

Happy teaching! Perfecting my craft one class at a time.