Advice from Vonnegut.. a reflection

                Though I teach Science, a non-fiction subject, I decided to watch a video sourced from a writer whose focus is fiction. In hopes of adding creativity into more realms of my classroom, I listened to what one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, had to say about writing a good story.

                Vonnegut says that “every sentence must do one of two things- reveal character or advance the action”. This idea that every sentence counts, that every sentence should have a central point separate from the one before and after it, definitely carries over into Earth Science. Many students have difficulty structuring a paragraph, let alone an entire essay, so driving home the point that each sentence should be able to stand on its own with meaningful content may help my students. I would perhaps frame this idea as “don’t waste the motion of your pen in hand to paper, make every sentence count”.

                Another advisement was to “start as close to the end as possible”. Students want a reason for everything they do; otherwise they will not complete an in-class assignment or homework to their best ability, they will believe it to be busy work. By giving students the “why” immediately after the “what” for an assignment, it seems they are more willing to give the “how” a chance. Students sighed somewhat distraughtly when I told them their first exam would be only Regents based questions, however they quickly appreciated the concept after I explained it was to make them more comfortable with the terminology and the types of questions the Regents asks not because I wanted to make a difficult first test. By explaining the “end”, the Regents students’ will take in June, the more they settled in to the means to get to that ends, and in this case, the rules and regulations of the starting semester.

                Lastly, Vonnegut advises writers to give readers “as much information as possible, as soon as possible”, and to eliminate suspense. Readers, like my students, should fully understand what is going on, where, how, and why, at all times. I keep a large monthly calendar in my room with all homework, project, test, and quiz dates available so students are never surprised. If they will be absent, or were absent, they can immediately check out what they have missed and ask for help or review as soon as possible.