Recently getting back into writing over the summer, I've found that writing for me had changed.
In order to explain, I guess I'd have to explain a bit more about myself. I'm a Year 6 teacher in a primary school and with the 2014/15 overhaul of the primary curriculum, the things I found myself teaching had changed. Year 6 is known as "SATs year" and, although writing no longer is an exam, writing is assessed by the teacher according to a set of government guidelines.
These guidelines are shared with the children and are essentially split into various "I can" statements (have a look at page 6 if you're feeling curious: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...ile/510902/STA-Ex2016-KS2-EW-AlexAnn_PDFA.pdf )
With the government overhaul, gone are the days or teaching anything about creativity and flair - everything boils down to teaching elements of SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) that used to be found at GCSE or even A Level!
Naturally, teaching this way has trained my senses to spot a relative/subordinate/embedded clause and correct colon/semicolon use as well as shifts in formality from a mile off but when I came back to writing myself this summer, this was all I could think about!
I'd find myself going back through my work to check that I'd used different sentence types and structures, a range of punctuation and had varied my openers and tenses in each sentence. And, to tell the truth, it was incredibly disheartening! Thankfully I've found a way to enjoy writing as I can do a bit when my schedule permits me to but even still, I feel as if my current writing is coming off as cold and mechanical.
So I guess what I'm trying to ask is - has anyone ever found that learning more about SPaG and the English language has had an effect on their writing?
In order to explain, I guess I'd have to explain a bit more about myself. I'm a Year 6 teacher in a primary school and with the 2014/15 overhaul of the primary curriculum, the things I found myself teaching had changed. Year 6 is known as "SATs year" and, although writing no longer is an exam, writing is assessed by the teacher according to a set of government guidelines.
These guidelines are shared with the children and are essentially split into various "I can" statements (have a look at page 6 if you're feeling curious: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...ile/510902/STA-Ex2016-KS2-EW-AlexAnn_PDFA.pdf )
With the government overhaul, gone are the days or teaching anything about creativity and flair - everything boils down to teaching elements of SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) that used to be found at GCSE or even A Level!
Naturally, teaching this way has trained my senses to spot a relative/subordinate/embedded clause and correct colon/semicolon use as well as shifts in formality from a mile off but when I came back to writing myself this summer, this was all I could think about!
I'd find myself going back through my work to check that I'd used different sentence types and structures, a range of punctuation and had varied my openers and tenses in each sentence. And, to tell the truth, it was incredibly disheartening! Thankfully I've found a way to enjoy writing as I can do a bit when my schedule permits me to but even still, I feel as if my current writing is coming off as cold and mechanical.
So I guess what I'm trying to ask is - has anyone ever found that learning more about SPaG and the English language has had an effect on their writing?