Me as Principal
by a Fifth Grade Student (not in SAISD)

What would I do if I were principal of Hosmer School? To begin with, I would be nice to the kids. I would give them what they need. Also, I would make a shorter school day. It would be three hours long. Finally, there would be more science and more experiments. For example, I would show them experiments on electricity. It would be good for kids if I were principal of Hosmer School.

Read the rest of the story...

The story behind the story is that the boy who wrote, "Me as Principal," is a fifth grade boy on an IEP (Individualized Education Program) who hates to write and, when forced, will produce very little. Well, the fifth grade curriculum typically includes writing. (In fact, research suggests that in elementary school, at least 50% of the day is spent on fine motor activities, typically producing paper and pencil writing tasks.)

Anyway, Beth talked with her student about blogging. She showed him the cluster map and talked about the potential that he would be writing for a larger audience, certainly more than just for Beth, or his teacher and certainly beyond the four walls at the Hosmer School. He thought about this and decided that this would be "cool." And, more importantly, he wanted to write something that he could publish in the school OT blog. Read what he wrote in the link above.

Are you interested in having your children write because they're engaged by the concept of a real, reading audience?