Celebrating Authentic Writing by Nicole Sheahan

A few years ago I added a writing section to my "traditional" vocabulary quizzes. It required students to produce an engaging, logical piece of writing that fulfilled a variety of vocabulary and grammar requirements. Some students had wholeheartedly embraced this idea--some even producing a series focused on a certain storyline or character.

However, that was not the case with a particular junior English class this year, and one day while correcting said quizzes, I found myself penning this ridiculous statement on a student’s writing section: “Write as if you're posting it on a blog.”

Yes, I was asking the student to write as though I would not be the only one reading it--to write as though people would have to choose to read it. And then I faced reality: She knows I'm the ONLY person who's going to read it. AND she knows that I have to read it.

That moment was a catalyst. I  investigated student blogging options, retrofitted my colleague’s permission slip, and off we went! I will not claim that every student fell in love with writing, but they did express starting to enjoy writing more than they had. I’m definitely putting it in Win column.

Notably, the same student whose paper received my ridiculous message later wrote this about her blogging experience: “...being required to write short stories or paragraphs about things you were passionate about made me care a lot more about writing .... I also liked that we were challenged to add in vocab words from that unit and grammar formats... It didn't feel like a chore ... it was more of a fun way to talk about what you were interested in without making it into a huge project ... I feel like I have a better understanding of it [grammar] and have a new appreciation for writing that was definitely not there before.”

Remember, this was the same task I had previously required on a quiz--so what changed her attitude and effort wasn’t the task, it was the authenticity of the task. Lesson learned.



Nicole Sheahan just wrapped up her 24th year as an English teacher, and she was recently named the 2018 Distinguished Educator at Dartmouth High School in Dartmouth, MA. Nicole consistently seeks educationally-sound ways to engage her students while also developing their skills. You can connect with Nicole on Twitter (@tri2teach)--a combination of her triathlete and teacher identities.