“…the habit of not thinking, just doing, is dangerous. […] Evidence abounds. Too many students are fake reading. Too many students follow a formula and stop composing their ideas. Too many students believe a rubric can define excellent writing. They are reluctant to vary the formula because they are rewarded for following it. We treat formula as necessary when it is instead incendiary. It consumes the creativity, the voice, and the originality that students are capable of bringing to their writing.

“Limiting the imaginations of readers and writers comes with consequences. If current practices were effective, more students would love to read and write outside school. When given the open road, they’d take it. We know how increasingly rare this is. Young writers must be given time to tackle issues they are struggling with, time to listen closely to their first drafts and imagine how to deepen the images the words create — to re-see, rework, struggle, and create something new.”

180 Days, Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher, 2018 Page 223