I was co-teaching in a 5th grade writer’s workshop today; we are working on memoirs.  I overheard a student tell the teacher, “I don’t want to work with Mr. Fleming.  He corrects me too much.”

That got me wondering, am I offering too many corrections?  In my conversation with the student we reviewed the difference between a story and a memoir; she understood well the concept.  Then I asked her, “What could you add to your conclusion to…” and before I finished she answered, “I need to tell how I learned that lesson when that event happened.”

“Yes!” I replied.

“Should I mention that learning at the beginning so the reader knows where I am headed?”  Clearly she had overheard my previous conversations.

“Yes.  Go to it.”

So, I don’t think I offered too many corrections.  I believe that she evaluated her work and found a few holes in her writing on her own.  I confirmed her evaluation and sent her on her way.  The problem was that she did not want to make the additions.  But that’s OK, I have yet to meet a 5th grader who likes to make corrections (and I haven’t met too many adults who like to make corrections either).