You Don’t Run 26 Miles On Race Day

As you work with your students on their writing, keep this idea in mind: they're still pretty new to the writing game! In fact, unlike us educators, they haven’t trained for years or even decades. As teachers, we've also studied as long-time readers, observing and learning from the masters, exploring a vast array of subjects and exercising our writerly muscles through this lens.

Through countless trials, you’ve reached a level of dexterity and endurance as a writer. And that only comes with time and practice. Your students, however, are just starting this same journey. “Cracking the whip” may sound tempting, but your young writers still need to train, discover the right tools, and work on their technique, their finesse, and their groove.

Think of it like running a marathon. Your mission, as a writing mentor, is to help them prepare for race day, and every writer hopes to win. But you don't just push them onto the track and say “run!” The fact of the matter is that they need to do a little before they can do a lot. After all, 26 miles is an incredible distance, especially if you're just starting at the game!

Encourage your students to make it through that first 5k by assigning them the appropriate levels in the Writing with Design materials. And before you know it, sooner rather than later, they’ll have the determination to run a little bit longer, even if it takes time to add those extra laps.