The Pedagogy of Keeping Things Simple: The Benefits of Breaking a Task Down into Doable Chunks and Value-Focused Learning Tools

After listening to specific needs and fears of our students as writers, I have adopted two teaching styles that are effective and simple. Common student fears include not being a good writer or not having anything to write about. The first tool is to break down a particular writing strategy into chunks and the second is to focus on a specific value or habit of mind that I want students to adopt. In doing so, I have simplified my teaching style with a more hands-on, less theoretical approach because I believe that it is imperative to maintain a strong focus on the “why” and the “how” in relation to our students.