220: Try Teaching The College Essay like This

I have to admit that even though I wrote three college essays, got into college, went to college, got my graduate degree in English and taught English for many years, I never really understood the college essay until a year ago. When I listened to this workshop on this very podcast, given by two high school college counsellors and two experienced university admissions officers.

Sure, I knew that the essay was a chance for kids to show off their writing skills and share about themselves. I knew that specific, vivid examples and clear writing were important. But I didn't really understand the one message that came through in all caps from the workshop - that students should write about what they actually care about - there's no secret mystery topic that colleges are actually hoping to hear about.

So it won't come as a surprise to you that I think you should start your college essay unit by playing this workshop, but then what? Once student know what colleges ACTUALLY want from their essay, how can you help them write it? Well, that's what THIS podcast is for. To give you a step-by-step plan for helping kids write their essays this fall.

By the way, I've created a curriculum set to help you out with teaching the college essay. You can sign up for the free kit right here.

Mentor Text Links Mentioned: "Enryo" and a piece from the online collection Humans of New York

 

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