by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
After administering their weekly spelling quiz, I stood before my sixth- and seventh-grade classes and explained the topic of their first formal essay.
As they looked at the writing on the wall (the overhead screen), groans reverberated throughout the room. "That's not our assignment for today, is it?" a few dared to ask.
Although I was not technically their writing teacher, they still received plenty of writing instruction and practice in grammar class. And since their writing teacher didn't assign essays to sixth graders—and had not yet assigned one to the seventh graders—I figured, why not?
