On Teaching: DRAFTING

I often ask my students to write a “first draft” of an essay, but, as with so many words, I’ve never taken the time to analyze their meaning – and “draft” has three meanings that are especially intriguing. First, my dictionary says that a draft is “a current of air in an enclosed area”. That brings to mind a picture of my students’ young minds, tightly locked up by worries, fears, and fixations, when suddenly some ideas for an essay pass through like an unexpected draft. If they’re quick about it, they can find the source of the draft, open it wider, and enjoy the free flow of thoughts as they begin their writing. A second definition of “draft” is “a team of animals used to pull loads”. In this sense, my students are like draft horses when they are writing their essays. It is a daunting task to drag four wagons called paragraphs, loaded with weighty ideas, all the way to the finish line of an essay – and often the road goes steeply uphill. This is why I drive my students so hard day by day in the classroom: I must train them to skillfully and smoothly pull very heavy thoughts week after week. Finally, another interesting definition says that “draft” can mean “to move, ride, or drive close behind a fast-moving object so as to take advantage of the slipstream, especially in a race”. This could be comforting to my students, for it would help them realize that they are writing their essays along with 20+ classmates, all of them riding together on their mental bicycles along the road of successful writing . As all serious cyclists know, if you stay in a pack, the work is much less painful, and you sometimes even feel like you’re effortlessly gliding along. I must remind my students to stick together as they toil on their essays throughout the year. The road of writing may go uphill sometimes, but drafting with friends can make the trip seem pleasant, and even invigorating.