“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” Stephen Covey

Often, I am asked, “Where do you start a writing lesson?” Educators will toss out ideas like brainstorming, thinking of the perfect sentence, or perhaps a great grabber lead. You should see the expressions on their faces when I say - “Nope. None of those answers are correct.”

You see, the first step in accomplishing any task is to understand the task at hand. Yes, I know that is a given. It’s simple. Many say, “We already do that.” But - do you? I would whole-heartedly agree that the intention is there to understand the task at hand, unfortunately, in my years of experience in the field, students rarely do.

Stephen Covey said it best - “To begin...

Years ago, I had the privilege of working on the Alabama Direct Assessment on Writing. I specialized in working with schools that had scored below the 50th percentile. I travelled around Alabama working with numerous schools. In my first year, I met a young girl we will call “Beth” for anonymity. The school was a small K-8 school in an underserved community. With large Coke bottle glasses and a sweet smile, Beth had an IQ score of 78. In my first year at the school, Beth was in third grade. She never spoke to me, but she sat as close as she could to soak it all in. In fourth grade, Beth moved her chair closer to the board, but once again, she never spoke to me. Thinking she was non-verbal, I approached her special education teacher who simply said, “She’s warming up to you. Give her time.” Sure enough, on the first day of school of Beth’s fifth grade year, she spoke her first words to me. “Mr. Butler, I’m going to pass this...