Speaking v. Writing

Of the essays I've perused while looking over students' shoulders, a fair number of them are of quality but need work, but almost all of them are downright terrible. Why can't kids write? I find it especially interesting that these kids, when given the chance, are extremely articulate when they speak. I know that some of them have learning disabilities that hinder their writing skills, but that is not the case with most of them. I was working with several students this past week who could not write down a coherent sentence, yet when I asked them to explain to me what they mean, they were able to express it perfectly. I realize these are two completely different skill sets, but I will never understand why what's in a student's brain gets all jumbled up when s/he tries to write down his/her thoughts. And while I'm sure it's possible to teach this skill, I do not know how to do it. Often I find that when I talk it out with the students, they are able to take what they told me and write it down on paper, with much prompting from me. I think if I better understood how the brain worked, it would be easier for me to help students who literally cannot write a coherent sentence to save their lives.

Also, I am constantly fascinated with how many little tiny moments of which our lives are made up. There is one student in the 7th grade reading class before lunch I have again in an English class after lunch, and it was like he was a completely different person in each period. In reading, he was one of the only students on task, asking questions, and being polite, yet in English he kept his head down the whole time, and it was only after the students had been working on their tests for 10 minutes that I noticed he hadn't even started, and only did so with prompting from me. Same thing when he finished his test and had to finish his packet. He was quiet and did his work once he was asked, but was nowhere near his usual, enthusiastic self. It was actually quite disturbing how much his personality changed in English. I'm thinking something happened during lunch. I know this kid has emotional problems and a pretty terrible family life, but because he does not have an IEP, no one at school can really do anything about it. That sucks, but that's the truth.

Which leads me to yet another educational oped. In case you haven't guessed yet, I heart progressive educational reform. This one is fantastic, and I agree with everything said. We really need to get on this.