Successes
The students wrote a lot! The sophomores were vocal about their dislike for the writing, but as evidenced in some of their responses to the "Writing Month," in the end they did not mind the writing.
The pre-test was not only helpful, but it also presented the students with the expectation of the month ahead, that being, "you will write!" The sophomores did write during the six week period, and so if anything, they were exposed to more writing which will only help them in the long run.
Flops
The final assignment. While this was not a complete failure, there is much I would change about the project. See the paragraph below for more thoughts.
If I was going to do this project again I would provide more time for in-class writing and peer-editing. I would present actual lessons on how to write an outline, how to use in text citations, and how to create a works cited page. I mentioned all of these topics in passing or briefly explained them, but in retrospect the students could have used more explanations and examples.
I wish I would have given more time to the final essay, the exegesis. I would have liked more thorough results from my students, but that is harsh of me since we did not have a lot of class time for working on the assignment.
Responses from students:
"I like to write so this writing month was fun. It was nice to write about a passage that we like and learn more about it."
"I did not enjoy writing month, not the writing part, but the homework everyday. The exegesis was fun. It was a good experience."
"I liked this years writing month. Writing an exegesis was easy for me because I like to take things apart and describe it. This was a success. If I was you I would do it next year."
"I believe writing month was interesting. At first, I had no idea what an exegesis was! I got to understand the deeper meaning behind my passage."
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