The green bins in the entry way are still bursting with paper. Drawings, class pictures, math tests, and notebooks…all remnants of a school year that has come to an end. Those bins need to be sorted and filed away, to make room for grades three, six, and eight.
I was on maternity leave when Wren started kindergarten. I remember scouring the internet for solutions for all the future work I knew would come- the art projects, the work with teacher notes scribbled across the top, the writing. I created bins for each of the girls. Each bin held a folder for each grade. Those bins were once so light. The folders in Wren’s bin are now more than halfway full.
As the girls have moved up in grades, the work they bring home looks different. Less art projects once they leave the primary grades. Last year, Adi wanted to keep the everything. That meant a lot of responses to reading and reading passages.
This year, as the girls emptied their backpacks on the last day of school, they tossed reading workbooks on the counter along with folders and notebooks. I sat down, excited to thumb through the writing notebooks, take a tour of the school year- the units, the thinking, the growth.
Rose’s writing notebook held only sentence dictations. Adi’s notebook looked like it hadn’t been touched all year. Opening the cover revealed one single entry… a carefully written essay followed by crisp white pages- empty pages. There were no narratives, no tiny drawings, or approximations of lessons learned.
I was about to toss the notebooks in the recycling bin, with the other discarded items deemed unworthy of saving in the bins. But I decided to save them, as evidence of the loss I was feeling. I felt robbed of the year’s worth of gifts that a writing notebook can hold.
As the Two Writing Teacher team began to publish the annual back to school blog series this week, I tried to drum up excitement on my social media. I let teachers know that these posts would offer inspiration and ideas as they prepared for the school year ahead. I also let parents know that these posts could serve as a lens to stay curious about what writing instruction looks like in their kids’ schools. I wonder if anyone else is mourning the loss of writing in our schools like I am…dreaming up ways to get it back…
Where There Is Joy 
Jessica,
I’m not even teaching anymore, and I’m mourning the loss of writing and feeling so sad thinking about what has replaced the writing you long to see. I suspect formulaic test prep essays have stolen much writing time. And I know chatbots are also among the thieves. ugh!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, this makes me sad. I could feel your loss so keenly. Are you seeing this more at specific grade levels? I am happy to say that writing continues in my classroom (second grade) and that students go home after each unit with folders filled with pieces of writing in various stages. Sharing pieces at conferences is still a highlight for students and parents.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so happy to hear this. I know writing is alive and well in many places. Our school district adopted a reading curriculum last year that hijacked everything we had come to love about schools. My girls were on second, fifth, and eighth last year and there was very little writing outside of formulaic responses to reading…if anything.
LikeLike
It’s fascinating (and heartbreaking) that these bins hold both notebooks bursting with writing and notebooks with only a couple pages used. I’m sorry that your daughters’ district has adopted this new curriculum that’s robbing them of the joy and creativity that goes into a robust writing curriculum. They are lucky to have you!
LikeLike
I worry about all the other kids. 😢
LikeLike
Oh Jessica. This is so heartbreaking. I thought it was only happening in my school. They have abandoned Writing Workshop and won’t listen to me. They toss me aside like an old fossil. I know I’m not. I do what I can as a learning specialist to add writing to everything I do with the children, but – of course – it is not enough. I love how you describe the loss of your kids’ writing year. It is so so important. I’m not sure how to get educators and administrators to listen. I think it will come back – I’m sure it will – but what will be lost in the meantime – thousands of amazing stories!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Keep speaking up! Your voice matters! ❤️
LikeLike
The district I retired from (in 2022) adopted a reading curriculum that I think lacks authentic reading. And last year adopted a writing curriculum written by the same company. It’s not good. I feel like the joy of reading and writing is being sucked away by the repetitiveness and un enthusiastic things they asked to do. I’m sorry your girls are experiencing that, too.
LikeLike
This hits hard: I felt robbed of the year’s worth of gifts that a writing notebook can hold.
It speaks to the missed opportunities to capture the journey, and I feel your sense of loss as I consider the weight of your emotion on the empty journal.
LikeLike
my district has made “TDA units” for the months leading up to state testing for students to “learn” high scoring formulaic writing that matches the state rubric. Sigh. But I get to fudge that a bit in my ELD classroom. Thanks for sharing and rallying support for authentic writing and filled notebooks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I fought the rigid test driven curriculum tooth and nail to fit in daily journal/story writing, which ended up being treasured time by the students. I’m as sad as you to hear how little emphasis is put on writing now and can only hope there are teachers who still see the value of writing…and will squeeze it in.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your powerful words sum up plenty regarding the current state of education. No teacher should have to “squeeze” in writing! Do kids take pride in producing dictated sentences and responses to reading? How will students be able to clearly express their thinking if this is all they are practicing? How will they develop a love of language and soak up rich vocabulary? Why are teachers blindly mowing through curriculum that isn’t best for kids?! How can schools disregard what we know are best practices surrounding literacy? We should all be mourning…and standing up strong for authentic, daily writing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Heartbreaking!
LikeLiked by 1 person