Supporting High School Students' Transition to College Writing

1. Empathetically Meeting Students Where They are to Help Them Succeed

2. My name is Will Carter.  I have a M.F.A. in Playwriting and a M.A. in Teaching with a focus on English at the secondary level. I have been with KSU since 2018. I did 1 year as a part-timer, two years as a limited termer, and I am a Lecturer with the English department, going into my 4thyear this Fall. Previous to this, I was a high-school teacher for 2 and 1/2 years.

3. High School Students are: Used to being able to re-assess every assessment Used to being able to turn in all their work at the end of the semester Used to reading only shorter texts Familiar with writing only short writing assignments or not writing at all Entering college with mental health struggles

4. “According to a survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education (2006), 61% of high school teachers said their students have never written a paper that was more than five pages” (Carnegie Mellon University, 2024).  “63% of 12th-graders were not proficient in reading in 2019. 30% of 12th- graders didn’t meet NAEP’s basic level” (Benson-Harrington, 2024).  Many of my students tell me that they do not read many books anymore. They largely read articles and shorter texts.  One of the students are tutor in English told me that they read only one book his sophomore year, and he is a student at Alpharetta High School.  In 2023, over three quarters of college students (76%) reported experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress. (Pena, et. al., 2022).

5. They are used to being able to re-assess. Many come from a standards based grading structure. They are used to re-assessing major assignments, so they often do not think about doing the planning and drafting that is required to have a successful essay, presentation, project, or exam. They also are unfamiliar with larger writing assignments, so they tend to stress out, and the anxiety leads to procrastination.

6. With deadlines With completing larger / more complex writing assignments With studying With drafting

7. Scaffolding and Jigsawing are two techniques that can help. Scaffolding is when you break up an assignment into smaller parts. Jigsawing is when you break up a task or a reading to completed by different students / groups of students.

8. Scaffolding: Paper final draft can be scaffolded to: 1. Thesis & Peer Review 2. Rough Draft & Peer Review 3. Final Draft

9. It can also look like this: Annotated Bibliography Final Draft 1. Mini-Bibliography in Class with a Group 2. First five annotations + peer-review 3. Next five annotations + peer-review 4. Last five annotations + peer-review 5. Rough Draft + peer-review 6. Final Draft

10. It can also look like this: Research Proposal Final Draft 1. Mini-Proposal in Class with a Group 2. Literature Review Draft+ peer-review 3. Research Proposal Rough Draft + peer-review 4. Second Research Proposal Rough Draft+ peer- review 5. Final Draft

11. It can look like this: Take a larger text and each group works with one section of the text. Take a larger assignment and each group of students takes one part of the assignment. It is important to have students share out / disseminate their work to each other, so there is a complete understanding at the end.

12. Can I get someone to volunteer to write answers others call out on the board?

13. What are some major assignments in your classes?

14. We will divide into groups, and each group will take one of the major assignments and discuss how you might scaffold it. You will have five minutes. Try to break it into at least three steps. You can certainly do more.

15. Let’s hear from each group.

16. Break things down into smaller chunks. Utilize class time as a way for students to complete formative versions of the larger assignments. Understand that some of your students might be doing poorly but are trying very hard. Be flexible with deadlines. Offer extra-credit or other ways to counter-act an initial bad grade.

17.  Benson Harrington, D. (2024, February 12). Moving ahead while left behind - the plight of students without reading proficiency. Moving Ahead While Left Behind — The Plight of Older Students Without Reading Proficiency. https://www.smartbrief.com/original/older-students illiterate#:~:text=37%25%20couldn’t%20read%20even,proficient%20in%20reading %20in%202019.  Carnegie Mellon University. (2024). Why are students poorly prepared to write - Eberly Carnegie Mellon University. Why are students poorly prepared to write - https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/writing/p oorlyprepared.html  Heubeck, E. (2024, March 12). High school students think they are ready for college. but they aren’t. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/high-school-students-think- they- are-ready-for-college-but-they-arent/2024/02  Peña, C., Ruedas-Gracia, N., Cohen, J. R., Tran, N., & Stratton, M. B. (2022, October 6). Ten simple rules for successfully supporting first-generation/low-income (FLI) students in STEM. PLoS computational biology. https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9536642/  Robinson, R. (2021). Communication instruction in the generation Z classroom: Educational explorations. Lexington Books, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Inc.  Summers, J. (2022, January 18). A new look at how turmoil is defining the lives and politics of generation Z. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/01/18/1073335334/a-new-look-at-how- turmoil- is-defining-the-lives-and-politics-of-generation-z older Center - Eberly Center. Group,