Who Needs Sleep?

So, as the days with this particular group of kids trickle to an end, my teacher friend and I decided that it would be helpful to survey our students about writing. We put together a twenty item online survey that was based in part on some of the interview questions that are included in the National Conversation on Writing. The other part queried students on some of the specific genres and writing tools and strategies that we've worked on this year.

To be honest, this was a pilot, so that next year we could use it both at the beginning and the end of the year to see if there is any change in our students' knowledge about, practice of, and attitude toward writing after nine months in our classes. We wanted to work out the bugs as much as gather info, and we had a solid draft yesterday, ready to roll out, when my friend e-mailed to say that during a bout of insomnia, it occurred to her that we should add a question about how students felt their writing had changed over the year.

How right she was! Those were definitely the best answers of the whole thing-- what insight into the minds of these twelve-year-olds. But don't take my word for it... Here are the unedited (but for names) answers to the question How has your writing changed this year? How has it improved?

• Yes I got better at writing I wrote many good action pieces
• my handrighting has gotten alot better and i have learned alot of righting tools
• I think that over the course of the year my writing has improved in many ways including the use of Ms. S's writing tools. Mainly concrete details, paragraphs, and correct punctuation of dialog.
• I definitely have improved. I use many more writing tools than I did at the beginning of the year.
• i have improoved slightly over 5th grade to 6th grade and i think itll get better and better i have improoved cause i know when to put my paragraphs and also my periods.
• i got used to writing and it was fun i will write better and neater.
• I wrote more details and stronger leads.
• I use more writing tools, and I proofread better than I used too.
• my writing has defintily changed for the better and writing every week instead of just every now and then and i have gotten better about using goood details
• I have learned to write more than just fiction.
• My writing has improved this year, because I have learned some of the different types writings, and added them to my work
• I add more detail, and get to the point. Yes, i have improved.
• I think I have learned more writting tools and it has helped me understand more writting skills that will come in handy as I grow up more.
• I am useing better words and hooks. I've inproved but not a whole lot my writing is still as it has been for all my life
• i think i have gotton better at writing in general.
• I think i have improved alot this year more than any year before. I started to make my writting more interesting by putting simelies metaphors alot of details and a hook in the lead.
• ive learned what is good to do in my writing
• No not that much.
• I guess. I used more of the writing tools.
• I have written a lot more poems, free verse and patterned. I think I have gotten better at them.
• This year I feel I have trememdously changed in that I use stronger words, my vocabulary has grown, I use setting, and many other things.
• no i havent improved it still the same to me.
• It has improved.
• I have added more detail to my writhing and used better leads
• well my vocabulary choice has changed and i think i have improved.
• It has only changed a bit. I dont think i've improved
• i write better
• i have changed with my understanding of the writing
• Yes, my writing has changed this year. I hane improved my choice of words and my leads.
• I have been able to make my writing peice become much deeper and there is now much more feeling in my peice. All of my writing tools have also improved such as verbs and sensory detail.
• yes it has now i know much more about writing like this year i learn how to cut to the bone and use simils and metaphors.,
• I've gotten better at details, so it makes my writing better.
• It has changed because now I know how to get a better stragety! It has improved because now I can write faster and without many mistakee
• I don't know the answer to that question.
• Writing has made me think of others more than myself in situations.
• It has changed by becoming more creative. I have definitely improved in writing interesting pieces.
• i think i use a lot more writing tools then i ever did in grades past.
• Now i learned how to write similes, concreat detail, medefore and how to write outlines. It improved because this year i think i tryed as hard as i can and are techer had good learning technecs
• alot thing but i think decribetion
• i changed how my writing sounds like
• My writings changed because i add more details to what i'm writing and i've improved because i'm writing more.
• I've learned more about character development and how to express a character's emotions and thoughts through their actions. I've also learned to do setting a lot better.
• I have improved. I believe that I've included a lot more details and the occasional metaphor or simile.
• it changed because i used alot of verbs i improved because i used alot of sensory details now
• I don't know.
• It definitely expanded, and it improved, because I knew more things.
• I have become way more descriptive in my writing
• writing changed this year because i have written more than i use to. i use to write a paragraph but now i write more than a page.
• I have learned to write better sentences with some more detail.
• yes i can write better
• I think I have improved on all of my writing skills. but there is much room for iumprovment.
• I think i have improved by using the writing tools.
• Oh i've gotten better at expressing my self more in my writing. Putting more feeling into every word.
• Well i guees i use more of things i checked off for question 5
• By having a great english teacher.
• umm i really don't think i improved i still write kind of sloppy but i guess i know how to use writing tools better
• writing has changed because when we had writer's workshop I was alway's looking forward to english class with ms.Shepardson
• I'VE GOTTEN BETTER HAND WRITING
• I think that my writing has changed mecause i use more detail now.
• I think it had but I am not quite sure how. Youc an ask Mrs. M. she reads my writing
• yes it has verbally
• I write longer stories and Yes my writing has improved this year.
• I've learned figureative language
• I've become more descriptive, and I can write better leads.
• This year my writing has really inproved. Last year I hated writing unless it was a fictional piece, now I like to write many more types of litrature like peotry, memoirs, non fictional stories, and Slice of Life stories. I have improved because I have injoyed writing more and my pieces just seem better.
• It has now I use sensery details.
• I think I use better tag lines and concrete verbs.
• yes! my writing had definently improved! Ive imporved by writing more neatly, writing with imagey and concrete details!
• Yes. WHWN has definately helped my writing and I'm starting to use a lot more capitalization, I get suggestions from people and compliments, I hope it keeps going on every year.
• yes, because in the begging of the year i was a bad writer now i'm better
• I added more detail to my writing and I liked it alot more.
• I have gotten better at spelling
• It changed by editing it, looking over it, and putting a lot of detail to make it more interesting.
• I can really describe my subjects and topics alot better now.
• It has become really fluent and my grammer in my writing has improved. The best pieces of writing I have ever written were produced this year.
• I think my writing has changed because in fifth grade, I wasnt into writing that much but now I like to write sometimes.
• It has gotten more descriptive.
• It changed from a i dont know what to write to a I plan what to write before i write it.
• It has changed by being better than it was before
• I use paragrahgs, details, simles, metaphors and much more.
• My writing has improved a lot that is also how it has changed
• I create more concrete details and try to use strong verbs. This year for some reason i have been more interested in writing and creating stories.
• i think my writting has chnaged this year because i have learned alot of things that i had never learned before.
• i think i have improved by writing with more details and every time i use my writers read words i think thats how i improved
• better grammar
• I am more creative and use better punctuation.
• I have learned a lot from the mini lessons, particularly tyhe make a movie behind your eyelids one.
• I added some detail and proper dialogue grammer. I also wrote a lot more than I ever have before
• Not relly i write more.
• I think Im a better writer this year and I improved alot because I took the mini-lessons we did in class into my writing piece.
• I think I have improved greatly in my writing this year. I have improved a lot in my word choice, I now have a much greater vocabulary and can replace boring words with more exciting words that I can express myself better with. And I can also make interesting comparisons and creative discriptions with bigger words.
• yes becuase my aunt always say knowlede is power
• my writing changed alot now that i think about it. I have probably improved the most by using better lead sentences.
• I think I have improved by working more on keeping my topic, and in dialog.
• My writimg has changed just slightly, but not drasticly. My ideas have change and my format, but nothing else.
• i changed from little story's to long adventures story's
• Its improved because i learned more and added more to my writing.
• yes my spelling has improved and i use many writing tools now. I also write in many diffrent genres instead of just fiction
• I think I've improved by becoming a more descriptive and strondg writer.
• it has better discription
• Not very much but I want to improve over the summer.
• I've put more details into my and I've learned what words sound better and how to organize my writing. Om to the last question I wish that you had put a sorta button/choice.
• I think I have tried to make it more interesting then ever before.
• it has more details and better conclusion. i just said how i improved and changed in a nutshell.
• I have improved in sensory detail and charector develepment.
• I write more stories with feelings and people can see how much work that i put into it
• it changed because because I only knew one word about writing and that is similes, but now I no more words like sensory details,and tone.
• i have used a lot of details and similies to make my writing better.
• I think this year Mrs. M helped me improve a lot.
• i have improved on my introduction and my tag lines.
• Yes i have improved. I learned a lot of things that i didn't really pay attention to when i wrote before.
• well of course my writings improved isnt that the point of writing class so your writing can improve!?
• Yes its changed. Before I didn't put much dialoge,strongs verbs, nor similes but now Iput them everywhere in my writing.
• My writing is alot more detailed and it ha sconcrete imagary
• This year I've used all my senses in my writing not just my sight and I"Ve noticed alot of different things in writting like meaning, i've noticed things like the power of I and movie behind your eyes.
• i guess i learned alot of writing tools. that made my writing diffrent.
• i honestly dont know
• yes, my format and detail improved
• before the year my writing was clumsy and full of couincidences but now everything makes sence.
• yes because i have really worked on my problems and have improved on my strengthes
• I think my vocabulary was enhanced.
• I think I have improved on writing fiction(which I now like to write aobut)
• I have improved greatly on things like concrete details, figurative language, super sentences, and the like.
• Ive gotten better at writing
• i think its gotten better.... I know more about details and STUFFFFF
• I really dont know
• Yes it changed because in the begging of the year I hated writing but I feel I can write anytime i want to now. I improved this year because I can write much better.
• I've changed and I've improved my writing because I've learned a lot more about how to become a better writer and I've praticed a lot, both at school and at home.
• i dont know if I have improved this year i think i have.

Well done, Leah. Get some rest!