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College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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A Practical Guide to Evidence-Based Writing Across Subject Areas

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The newly redesigned SAT is the latest example of the need for students to skillfully communicate evidence-based ideas across content areas.

The “treacherous waters of effective evidence-based writing,” as a colleague recently referred to it, is far more intricate than might initially be expected. A gatekeeper skill that appears indirectly as early as 1st grade , it can play a large role in determining college admissions and success. The essay on the new SAT asks students: “As you read the passage below, consider how [the author] uses evidence, such as facts or examples, to support claims.” This is strikingly similar to the Common Core Writing Standard 1 for high schoolers, which asks students to “write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.”

As part of an evolving process, I’ve found the following 10 accessible strategies to be helpful in teaching students to skillfully work with evidence in responding to essay prompts. To layer a growth mindset while building confidence and engagement, I begin with paragraph writing and build outwards in quantity of writing and complexity of texts and questions.

1. Selection . To introduce the idea of evidence, students mark the top two sentences in their essay that best capture the message of a text. They share with a partner, explaining why they chose those sentences, what they mean to them, and what message the author is trying to convey. In this seemingly simple task, students evaluate and differentiate evidence, justify why they made the selection, analyze the quotation, and create an idea based on these thoughts. For classes that might need more scaffolding, sentences can be selected as a class, or students can work as a team to select, justify, analyze, and create their ideas.

2. Validity . Students evaluate various types of evidence, examining what makes evidence valid in proving an idea. This can be incorporated into lessons where students are given pre-determined texts and need to select evidence from the texts to prove an idea. Or students can find and evaluate their own researched sources to determine the credibility of the source and author, the purpose of the text, and any existing biases. Students can sequence evidence or sources from most to least effective, providing rationales for their ideas, or they can hold up fingers to differentiate the strength of validity on a scale of level 3-definitely, level 2-somewhat, or level 1-nonexistent. They justify responses with peers or the class to defend their scores.

3. Sufficiency . In the same way, students determine what makes for sufficient evidence in their readings or in their lives. They may evaluate legislation, court cases, or pro/con issues that apply to a given subject area, and then examine how much valid evidence is needed to vote for or against something. They may also apply the need for valid evidence to their own lives, and examine questions like: How much (valid) proof do you need to hear in order to believe _________?

Ideas for Using Evidence Across Subject Areas :

Social Studies: Analyze evidence that political leaders give to justify their decisions to go to war or propose policies. Science: Evaluate evidence needed to prove a scientific theory (or create their own theories) and evaluate the function of that evidence. Math: Determine evidence for how they arrived at their answers and justify their responses. Art: Justify evidence as to why they chose certain colors, styles, or techniques in their own work. Or evaluate the validity of evidence used to determine authenticity in the artwork of others. World Language: Using evidence from linguistic research, analyze the effectiveness of U.S. language policy in determining how students learn language. Physical Education: Evaluate evidence-based theories of the impact of physical activity on health.

4. Ideas . Creating valid ideas involves understanding and addressing the prompt. Students initially highlight key words in the prompt, paying special attention to the verbs in the prompt. They then number or list the different tasks the prompt asks of them. Students then can examine, sort, and classify their evidence to create their ideas. To do this, they develop a coding system to label the evidence about one topic in one color and another topic in another color. They may put a star next to evidence that fits one idea and a circle next to the ones that fit another. Or students write out (or type) their evidence, each on a separate index card, and then group them. They then look at what the threads are between the different pieces of evidence. Do they each express a certain concept or word? What are the connections between the different types of evidence? Does the evidence address the prompt? For a beginning thesis, students can initially reword the prompt question into a statement that includes their idea.

5. Relevance . Students can paraphrase both evidence and ideas to determine if they match. Or they can even do a matching “game” to pair ideas with relevant evidence. After writing, it’s also helpful for them to outline their ideas and evidence to clearly see if they are relevant to each other and the prompt.

6. Sequencing . Three ways I initially suggest sequencing evidence are chronologically, within order of importance, or leading and ending with students’ best ideas. I’m not as interested in the sequence they choose as I am in how they are thinking through sequencing their ideas.

7. Analysis . Students initially work with the function of analysis as elaborating on and extending the evidence as to how and why it proves their main ideas. When a student contributes a quotation in class discussion, I initially ask, “What does/might that mean to you?” This phrasing removes the idea that there is a right answer, and emboldens students to freely voice their interpretations. For variations, the class can work with one quote, each student analyzing it in different ways. They can view samples of analysis, create analysis together in groups or as a class, use sentence starters and extenders , fill in teacher-created blanks, or do a gallery of student analysis to evaluate each other’s work by placing post-its with their responses to analysis. For stylistic flow, they can also use transitional words or create synonyms from key words of the evidence to use in their analysis.

8. Three Questions . To put it all together, students need to ask three questions in regards to their ideas, evidence, and analysis. Does it have depth? Is it relevant? Is it precise? Through examining samples and peer critiques, students can evaluate whether answers are surface level or deep, whether they directly answer the question, and whether their work is specific enough to avoid generalizing or vagueness.

9. Feedback . A good rubric is a crucial part of the feedback process. Mine is student generated, easily accessible, and standard-assessment aligned. It essentially includes deep, relevant and precise ideas, evidence, analysis, style, and organization. For team or peer feedback, students also utilize our writing work-list holistically or in component parts.

10. Revision . I’ve found that students greatly benefit from a targeted essay upgrade (sometimes to the tune of Beyoncé’s song Upgrade U ) where they have a fixed period of time to incorporate feedback into their papers. Following a writing workshop, they may color code each writing component (Ideas, Evidence, Analysis) to build organization and balance. Or code their writing with an “I” for where they list ideas, “E” for evidence, or “A” for analysis. They adjust ideas that don’t directly answer the prompt, examine the validity and sufficiency of evidence, or go through each analysis sentence and add depth with “why” explanations.

A student wrote in a class reflection: “My writing skills have grown by tremendous measures... Before entering your class, the evidence and analysis aspects were lacking. Well, that is not the case anymore. I have really started to read (for) and interpret the evidence and analyze it.”

In the same way students are being asked to do what they’ve never done, teachers are too. And that will take time, quality professional development, and a school community willing to work together to grapple with how to increase the strength of our collective teaching of evidence-based writing in order to increase learning opportunities for our students.

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“But there’s gotta be a strength”: Toward the Equitable Assessment of the Writing of Emerging Bilinguals

• First Online: 14 September 2016

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• Mark A. Lewis 3 &
• Margarita Zisselsberger 3  

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This chapter asks what English language arts (ELA) teachers need to know to support the writing of emerging bilinguals (EBs). The authors argue that teachers need concrete strategies to identify, honor, and more equitably assess the diverse linguistic repertoires present in EBs’ writing. The chapter presents the ways a group of ELA preservice teachers (PTs) analyzed the writing of EB middle school students. These PTs struggled to shed their monolingual lens when identifying strengths and challenges of the EBs’ writing. They also expressed concerns about giving credit for leveraging EBs’ linguistic repertoires within the constraints of existing expectations for ELA teaching. The authors argue that more opportunities for exposure to holistic bilingualism would expand PTs’ views about bilingual writers.

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Lewis, M.A., Zisselsberger, M. (2016). “But there’s gotta be a strength”: Toward the Equitable Assessment of the Writing of Emerging Bilinguals. In: de Oliveira, L., Shoffner, M. (eds) Teaching English Language Arts to English Language Learners. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59858-5_8

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Asking analytical questions, introductions, what do introductions across the disciplines have in common, anatomy of a body paragraph, transitions, tips for organizing your essay, counterargument, conclusions.

Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers

P LANNING, PARAGRAPHING AND POLISHING: FINE-TUNING THE PERFECT ESSAY

Essay writing is an essential skill for every student. Whether writing a particular academic essay (such as persuasive, narrative, descriptive, or expository) or a timed exam essay, the key to getting good at writing is to write. Creating opportunities for our students to engage in extended writing activities will go a long way to helping them improve their skills as scribes.

But, putting the hours in alone will not be enough to attain the highest levels in essay writing. Practice must be meaningful. Once students have a broad overview of how to structure the various types of essays, they are ready to narrow in on the minor details that will enable them to fine-tune their work as a lean vehicle of their thoughts and ideas.

In this article, we will drill down to some aspects that will assist students in taking their essay writing skills up a notch. Many ideas and activities can be integrated into broader lesson plans based on essay writing. Often, though, they will work effectively in isolation – just as athletes isolate physical movements to drill that are relevant to their sport. When these movements become second nature, they can be repeated naturally in the context of the game or in our case, the writing of the essay.

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Planning an essay

The Boys Scouts’ motto is famously ‘Be Prepared’. It’s a solid motto that can be applied to most aspects of life; essay writing is no different. Given the purpose of an essay is generally to present a logical and reasoned argument, investing time in organising arguments, ideas, and structure would seem to be time well spent.

Given that essays can take a wide range of forms and that we all have our own individual approaches to writing, it stands to reason that there will be no single best approach to the planning stage of essay writing. That said, there are several helpful hints and techniques we can share with our students to help them wrestle their ideas into a writable form. Let’s take a look at a few of the best of these:

BREAK THE QUESTION DOWN: UNDERSTAND YOUR ESSAY TOPIC.

Whether students are tackling an assignment that you have set for them in class or responding to an essay prompt in an exam situation, they should get into the habit of analyzing the nature of the task. To do this, they should unravel the question’s meaning or prompt. Students can practice this in class by responding to various essay titles, questions, and prompts, thereby gaining valuable experience breaking these down.

Have students work in groups to underline and dissect the keywords and phrases and discuss what exactly is being asked of them in the task. Are they being asked to discuss, describe, persuade, or explain? Understanding the exact nature of the task is crucial before going any further in the planning process, never mind the writing process .

BRAINSTORM AND MIND MAP WHAT YOU KNOW:

Once students have understood what the essay task asks them, they should consider what they know about the topic and, often, how they feel about it. When teaching essay writing, we so often emphasize that it is about expressing our opinions on things, but for our younger students what they think about something isn’t always obvious, even to themselves.

Brainstorming and mind-mapping what they know about a topic offers them an opportunity to uncover not just what they already know about a topic, but also gives them a chance to reveal to themselves what they think about the topic. This will help guide them in structuring their research and, later, the essay they will write . When writing an essay in an exam context, this may be the only ‘research’ the student can undertake before the writing, so practicing this will be even more important.

RESEARCH YOUR ESSAY

The previous step above should reveal to students the general direction their research will take. With the ubiquitousness of the internet, gone are the days of students relying on a single well-thumbed encyclopaedia from the school library as their sole authoritative source in their essay. If anything, the real problem for our students today is narrowing down their sources to a manageable number. Students should use the information from the previous step to help here. At this stage, it is important that they:

●      Ensure the research material is directly relevant to the essay task

●      Record in detail the sources of the information that they will use in their essay

●      Engage with the material personally by asking questions and challenging their own biases

●      Identify the key points that will be made in their essay

●      Group ideas, counterarguments, and opinions together

●      Identify the overarching argument they will make in their own essay.

Once these stages have been completed the student is ready to organise their points into a logical order.

WRITING YOUR ESSAY

There are a number of ways for students to organize their points in preparation for writing. They can use graphic organizers , post-it notes, or any number of available writing apps. The important thing for them to consider here is that their points should follow a logical progression. This progression of their argument will be expressed in the form of body paragraphs that will inform the structure of their finished essay.

The number of paragraphs contained in an essay will depend on a number of factors such as word limits, time limits, the complexity of the question etc. Regardless of the essay’s length, students should ensure their essay follows the Rule of Three in that every essay they write contains an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Generally speaking, essay paragraphs will focus on one main idea that is usually expressed in a topic sentence that is followed by a series of supporting sentences that bolster that main idea. The first and final sentences are of the most significance here with the first sentence of a paragraph making the point to the reader and the final sentence of the paragraph making the overall relevance to the essay’s argument crystal clear. 

Though students will most likely be familiar with the broad generic structure of essays, it is worth investing time to ensure they have a clear conception of how each part of the essay works, that is, of the exact nature of the task it performs. Let’s review:

Common Essay Structure

Introduction: Provides the reader with context for the essay. It states the broad argument that the essay will make and informs the reader of the writer’s general perspective and approach to the question.

Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘meat’ of the essay and lay out the argument stated in the introduction point by point with supporting evidence.

Conclusion: Usually, the conclusion will restate the central argument while summarising the essay’s main supporting reasons before linking everything back to the original question.

ESSAY WRITING PARAGRAPH WRITING TIPS

●      Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea

●      Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence; students should group similar ideas together to avoid incoherence

●      Paragraphs should be denoted consistently; students should choose either to indent or skip a line

●      Transition words and phrases such as alternatively , consequently , in contrast should be used to give flow and provide a bridge between paragraphs.

HOW TO EDIT AN ESSAY

Students shouldn’t expect their essays to emerge from the writing process perfectly formed. Except in exam situations and the like, thorough editing is an essential aspect in the writing process. 

Often, students struggle with this aspect of the process the most. After spending hours of effort on planning, research, and writing the first draft, students can be reluctant to go back over the same terrain they have so recently travelled. It is important at this point to give them some helpful guidelines to help them to know what to look out for. The following tips will provide just such help: 

One Piece at a Time: There is a lot to look out for in the editing process and often students overlook aspects as they try to juggle too many balls during the process. One effective strategy to combat this is for students to perform a number of rounds of editing with each focusing on a different aspect. For example, the first round could focus on content, the second round on looking out for word repetition (use a thesaurus to help here), with the third attending to spelling and grammar.

Sum It Up: When reviewing the paragraphs they have written, a good starting point is for students to read each paragraph and attempt to sum up its main point in a single line. If this is not possible, their readers will most likely have difficulty following their train of thought too and the paragraph needs to be overhauled.

Let It Breathe: When possible, encourage students to allow some time for their essay to ‘breathe’ before returning to it for editing purposes. This may require some skilful time management on the part of the student, for example, a student rush-writing the night before the deadline does not lend itself to effective editing. Fresh eyes are one of the sharpest tools in the writer’s toolbox.

Read It Aloud: This time-tested editing method is a great way for students to identify mistakes and typos in their work. We tend to read things more slowly when reading aloud giving us the time to spot errors. Also, when we read silently our minds can often fill in the gaps or gloss over the mistakes that will become apparent when we read out loud.

Phone a Friend: Peer editing is another great way to identify errors that our brains may miss when reading our own work. Encourage students to partner up for a little ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

Use Tech Tools: We need to ensure our students have the mental tools to edit their own work and for this they will need a good grasp of English grammar and punctuation. However, there are also a wealth of tech tools such as spellcheck and grammar checks that can offer a great once-over option to catch anything students may have missed in earlier editing rounds.

Putting the Jewels on Display: While some struggle to edit, others struggle to let go. There comes a point when it is time for students to release their work to the reader. They must learn to relinquish control after the creation is complete. This will be much easier to achieve if the student feels that they have done everything in their control to ensure their essay is representative of the best of their abilities and if they have followed the advice here, they should be confident they have done so.

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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

• Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
• Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
• Revision:  Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Table of contents

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

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Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

• Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
• Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
• Do your research: Read  primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
• Come up with a thesis:  The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
• Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a  topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

See the full essay example

The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

• Returns to your thesis
• Ties together your main points
• Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

• Including new arguments or evidence
• Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
• Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Write your essay conclusion

Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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Our Approach to Evidence-Based Writing Instruction

By Sarah Rosenthal & Lisa Borah-Geller | Categories: Writing

How does our Being a Writer program weave together the many threads of evidence-based writing instruction? In this blog post, veteran educators and Collaborative Classroom curriculum developers Sarah Rosenthal and Lisa Borah-Geller unpack our research-aligned approach to teaching writing in grades K–5.

Introduction: Developing Young Writers

We all light up when we see small children express themselves spontaneously, through a drawing, a song, a somersault, a giggle, or a heartfelt sigh. And we all admire the great writers whose texts impart powerful insights, make the bestseller lists, or morph into movies that move us.

What happens in between?

Not every student will become a renowned author, of course –– though some most certainly will. But all of our students can and should come to see themselves as writers and grow in their ability to write clearly, creatively, and purposefully.

All of our students can and should come to see themselves as writers and grow in their ability to write clearly, creatively, and purposefully.

So how do we nurture that original, expressive spark we celebrate in the very young, while steadily feeding and guiding the flame? How do we develop writers who are able to confidently and effectively communicate through written language, so that they can succeed in school and beyond?

Evidence-Based Practices

According to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, a successful writing program must:

• Provide time to write daily
• Teach the writing process and have students apply it for a variety of purposes
• Help students develop fluency with handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, and typing and word-processing
• Create an engaged community of writers 1

The work of numerous experts in the field of writing instruction underscores the importance of the guidelines recommended by IES. Research has demonstrated that “increasing the amount of time students spend writing enhanced the quality of their text” and that “highly effective teachers asked students to write often and for a variety of purposes.” 2

Research also indicates that students need authentic opportunities (such as those provided by the writing-process approach) to use grammar, usage, and mechanics skills to improve their writing. 3   Studies have made clear that spelling and handwriting need to be taught explicitly and become automatic and fluent so students can focus on conveying meaning through writing. 4

Studies have also indicated that students who experience a sense of community at school perform better academically, along with a host of other benefits. 5

Research also supports a number of additional practices that operate in harmony with the IES guidelines. These include providing access to strong mentor texts, modeling and guiding students through the writing process, and providing feedback to students on their writing from both teachers and peers. 6, 7, 8, 9   Teacher feedback not only benefits students, but serves as a type of formative assessment that helps teachers adjust classroom instruction to target student needs. 10

Writing about reading has been shown to be particularly beneficial, and students who write in response to texts usually improve their reading and writing skills and their content knowledge. 11 In addition, the role of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching is crucial in helping create an inclusive learning environment that fosters academic engagement and growth for all students. 12   

Rooted in the Evidence; True to Our Mission

The approach to writing instruction in Being a Writer , our comprehensive K–5 writing curriculum, is rooted in these evidence-based practices. We also stay true to Collaborative Classroom’s commitment to educating the whole child by blending social development and academic instruction.

Our approach supports teachers with making their classrooms more culturally and linguistically responsive. Students draw on their own experiences, knowledge, and linguistic backgrounds, exercise meaningful choice of writing topics, and write for authentic purposes. 

All instruction takes place within the classroom writing community, in which every student is a valued and supported member. Students regularly publish their finished work and share it with their community.

Our approach also supports instructional equity in the teaching of writing by providing a year-long program of grade-specific, fully articulated lessons, providing teachers with robust, consistent, carefully paced K–5 instruction that is grounded in Collaborative Classroom’s more than four decades of research and practice. 

These daily lessons incorporate highly engaging mentor texts selected to exemplify genre characteristics, specific writing strategies and organizational structures, and author’s craft. The texts are also chosen for their capacity to both mirror students’ diverse backgrounds and provide windows into the worlds of others. 13, 14, 15

The accompanying assessment and conferring tools have been assiduously designed to track students’ development, provide data needed to respond in real time to their evolving needs, and help teachers arrive at grades.

How Our Writing Instruction Unfolds

In our approach to writing instruction, students learn at an appropriate developmental pace, one that recognizes that younger students need time to learn foundational aspects of writing, while older students can move more quickly into learning about aspects of genre, author’s craft, and the writing process.

Kindergarten and Grade 1

I n grades K and 1 of our writing curriculum, our youngest students informally draft, revise, and publish their writing in preparation for learning the full writing process in grade 2. They engage in guided writing practice and shared writing, learning basic mechanics and skills of writing (including letter formation, punctuation, and spacing), as they exercise voice and choice through writing for authentic purposes. In grades K and 1, lessons are taught sequentially throughout the year, beginning with units on building the classroom community, getting ideas, and telling more. 

These units are followed in grade K by units on nonfiction, poetry, and opinion writing, and at grade 1 by units on personal narrative, nonfiction, poetry, and opinion writing.

Grade 2 and Beyond: The Complete Writing Process Introduced

The units in grade 2 are also taught sequentially. In the first unit of the year, students generate ideas for writing. In the second unit, they practice writing longer pieces by telling more and adding details to their writing. In the third unit, students are introduced to the remaining stages in the writing process: selecting a draft, revising it, proofreading it for publication, and presenting the final piece from the Author’s Chair. Each subsequent unit employs this process as it addresses a specific genre (fiction, nonfiction, letter writing, opinion writing, and poetry).

In grades 3–5, a beginning-of-year unit introduces the first stages of the writing process—generating ideas and drafting—while allowing students to try their hand at a range of genres. The second unit introduces students to the remaining stages of the writing process. Subsequent units—which focus on the genres of personal narrative, expository nonfiction, fiction, opinion writing, and poetry—incorporate the writing process and can be taught in any order.

At all grades, students also have the opportunity to write in response to reading, for example writing about their connections to and opinions of mentor texts and summarizing what they learn about a topic through shared or individual writing.

Incorporating Spelling, Grammar Skills, and Conventions, K–5

In grades K–2, spelling activities, including strategic spelling, are woven into the lessons. At grade K, age-appropriate grammar and the conventions of written English are taught explicitly during the core lessons, and some skills are reinforced in extensions.  

Skills and conventions in grades 1–5 are taught throughout each unit in lessons that focus specifically on grammar, usage, and mechanics. In these lessons, the students analyze model sentences from or about mentor texts; then incorporate what they learn by writing shared sentences as a class and their own sentences with a partner. 

The skills and conventions taught are reinforced through teacher modeling and class discussions, during individual writing conferences, and, for grades 2–5, throughout the revision and proofreading phases of the writing process.

Teaching Digital Literacy, K–5

To help students develop the digital literacy skills they need to confidently articulate their ideas in an increasingly digital world, technology extensions at grades K–2 offer suggestions for publishing writing digitally. 

In grades 3–5, the use of digital tools is embedded into the writing process: students are taught to revise and proofread writing using word processors and conduct online research for informational reports.

While the writing process itself has been shown to help students prepare for standardized tests, we also offer detailed, grade-specific guides that help students prepare for end-of-year summative writing assessments in grades 3–5.  Each guide provides explicit instruction toward this goal and can be used between genre units. 

Braiding Together Social Skills and Academics

The integration of social skills development and academics is fundamental to our pedagogy, and many lessons across grades K–5 braid these strands together through the use of cooperative structures such as “Turn to Your Partner” and “Think, Pair, Share.”

Students also develop social skills by explicitly discussing these skills as a class and through consistent opportunities for students to provide feedback on one another’s writing . Facilitation tips provide techniques teachers can use to encourage student voice and autonomy.

At all grades, lessons early in the year emphasize enjoyment and exploration, because we know that students must feel motivated to write in order to persevere in the ever-evolving journey of developing as writers. And at all grades, the year ends with a culminating week of instruction that helps our young writers reflect on their growth.

Helping Students Write and Teachers Teach with Evidence-Based Writing Instruction

Writing well is not easy. No worthy task is, whether you’re climbing a mountain, playing the drums, or writing code. The teaching of writing requires a careful balancing of freedom and discipline, so that students become equally willing to take creative risks and attend to the nuances of writerly craft. 

Collaborative Classroom’s approach to teaching writing weaves together the many threads of evidence-based writing instruction in a seamless and effective way. This allows students to develop their innate capacity for powerful self-expression within a safe, caring environment, and allows teachers to focus on their calling: the teaching of students.

Learn more about Being a Writer .

Read an interview with Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, executive director of National Writing Project and a Collaborative Classroom board member, about why the teaching of writing should be on an equal footing with reading instruction.

1 G raham, Steve, Alisha Bollinger, Carol Booth Olson, Catherine D’Aoust, Charles MacArthur, Deborah McCutchen, and Natalie Olinghouse. Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers: A Practice Guide (NCEE 2012-4058). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 2012. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications_reviews.aspx#pubsearch.

2 G raham, Steve, Karen R. Harris, and Amber B. Chambers. “Evidence-Based Practice and Writing Instruction.” In Handbook of Writing Research , 2nd ed., edited by Charles A. Macarthur, Steve Graham, and Jill Fitzgerald, 211–26. New York: Guilford, 2016.

3 Troia, Gary A. Evidence-based practices for writing instruction (Document No. IC-5), 2014. Retrieved from University of Florida, Collaboration for Effective Educator, Development, Accountability, and Reform Center website: http://ceedar.education.ufl.edu/tools/innovation-configuration/.

4 Alves, Rui Alexander, Teresa Limpo, Naymé Salas, and R. Malatesha Joshi. “Handwriting and Spelling.” In Best Practices in Writing Instruction , 3rd ed., edited by Steve Graham, Charles A. MacArthur, and Michael Hebert, 211–239. New York: Guilford, 2019. 

5 Durlak, Joseph A., Roger P. Weissberg, Allison B. Dymnicki, Rebecca D. Taylor, and Kriston B. Schellinger. “The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions.” Child Development 82, no. 1 (January/February 2011): 405–32.

6 Graham, Steve, Alisha Bollinger, Carol Booth Olson, Catherine D’Aoust, Charles MacArthur, Deborah McCutchen, and Natalie Olinghouse. Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers. Educator’s Practice Guide NCEE 2012-4058. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 2012. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/practiceguide/writing_pg_062612.pdf .

7 MacArthur, Charles A. “Evaluation and Revision.” Best Practices in Writing Instruction , 3rd ed., edited by Steve Graham, Charles A. MacArthur, and Michael Hebert, 287–308. New York: Guilford, 2019.

8 Friedrich, Linda. “Setting Up the Writing Classroom.” Best Practices in Writing Instruction , 3rd ed., edited by Steve Graham, Charles A. MacArthur, and Michael Hebert, 31–50. New York: Guilford, 2019.

9 Patchan, Melissa M., Christian D. Schunn, and Richard J. Correntia. “The Nature of Feedback: How Peer Feedback Features Affect Students’ Implementation Rate and Quality of Revisions,” Journal of Educational Psychology, 108 , no. 8 (November 2016): 1098–1120. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000103 .

10 Graham, Steve, Karen R. Harris, and Tanya Santangelo. “Research-Based Writing Practices and the Common Core: Meta-analysis and Meta-synthesis,” The Elementary School Journal , 115, no. 4 (June 2015): 498–522. https://www.georgiastandards.org/Georgia-Standards/Documents/ELA-Webinars/ELA-6-12-Essential-Components-of-Teaching-Writing-Supporting-Document-Session-Two.pd f.

11 Shanahan, Timothy. “Reading-Writing Connections.” In Best Practices in Writing Instruction , 3rd ed., edited by Steve Graham, Charles A. MacArthur, and Michael Hebert, 309–332. New York: Guilford, 2019.

12 Darling-Hammond, Linda, Lisa Flook, Channa Cook-Harvey, Brigid Barron, and David Osher. “Implications for Educational Practice of the Science of Learning and Development.” Applied Developmental Science 24, no. 2 (2020): 97–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2018.1537791 .

13 Hammond, Zaretta. Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2015.  

14 Gatlin-Nash, Brandy, Lakeisha Johnson, and Ryan Lee-James. “Linguistic Differences and Learning to Read for Nonmainstream Dialect Speakers.” Perspectives on Language and Literacy 46, no. 3 (2020): 28–35.

15 Souto-Manning, Mariana, Carmen Lugo Lerna, Jessica Martell, Abigail Salas Maguire, Alicia Arce-Boardman. No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching . Part of Not This But That series, eds. Ellin Oliver Keene and Nell K. Duke. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2018.

Supporting Emergent Bilinguals with Individualized Education Plans: Tips from CUNY-NYSIEB

Background information on Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs

Principles to support emergent bilinguals with ieps, spotlight on students: emergent bilinguals with ieps.

Making sure the emergent bilingual learners (EBLs) in your class receive the support they need can be challenging, particularly if they also require support for a specific learning need as indicated in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This resource is designed to help you in your work with and advocacy for students who need support in language development and have additional learning needs.

The ideas and examples we will share in this resource draw on the expertise and years of experience of the CUNY-NYSIEB support team, whose members have guided dozens of schools across New York State to develop best practices for emergent bilingual students, including those with IEPs. We draw on our core principles in all the work we do, which view bilingualism as a resource in education and support a multilingual ecology for the whole school.

Before we start, a quick note about language: If you are new to CUNY-NYSIEB’s work, you may be wondering why we refer to students as we do. Labeling so often characterizes emergent bilinguals’ learning experiences in school: they are called ELLs (English Language Learners), and in the case of those IEPs, SWDs (Students with Disabilities) or SPEDs (Special Education Students), all terms that emphasize what they can’t do or the services they receive. We refer to these students as emergent bilinguals to emphasize their skills (bilingualism) and their growth potential (emergence).

I. Background information on Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs

How do we get to know emergent bilinguals with ieps.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES FOR ADDRESSING ENGLISH LEARNERS WITH DISABILITY

Emergent Bilinguals with Individualized Education Plans (EBL-IEPs) receive both mandated English as a New Language (ENL) support as well as services for a documented learning need under an IEP.

We want to emphasize that these students are an incredibly diverse group in terms of language and cognition. Also, because students’ performances fluctuate over time, they can actually be “decertified” as they move through the school system (that is, they stop needing ENL or IEP services). Therefore, it is crucial to emphasize the talents, literacies, and intelligences of emergent bilinguals with IEPs, even as we acknowledge their particular needs.

For more information on identifying, monitoring, and providing appropriate services for EBL-IEPs, check out Chapter 6 of the US Department of Education’s frequently-updated English Learner Toolkit .

What can schools do for Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs?

Typically, an emergent bilingual will be referred for evaluation for special education services if his or her ENL teacher realizes that the student needs additional help that is not a function of English Language acquisition. However, providing an accurate diagnosis for EBL-IEPs can be a challenge; it is widely documented that EBLs are both over- and under-identified for special education services (Brown & Campbell-Ault, 2015). Because evaluations for special education are normed on monolingual populations, they can give an inaccurate picture of an emergent bilingual student (Hart, 2009).  In all contexts, evaluating students for special education services must be done with the family’s input and in a way that is culturally appropriate and recognizes the student’s bilingualism. For more identification and support, this resource page on addressing EBL-IEP’s linguistic and educational needs can help.

II. Using CUNY-NYSIEB Principles to Support Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs

In CUNY-NYSIEB’s experience working with schools, a few strategies have stood out as particularly promising for emergent bilinguals with IEPs.  We highlight classroom examples from cohort schools where these strategies have been successfully implemented. We present them here divided into “school based” and “classroom based” practices, to differentiate between what we have seen successfully implemented on a schoolwide level and what individual teachers have accomplished with these students.

A. Supporting Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs on a Schoolwide Level

Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs receive two different types of support: they get help developing English for academic purposes, as well as assistance for physical, cognitive, or other reasons under a documented IEP.  It is critical not to assume, however, that because these students are receiving so much support their needs are always being met. On the contrary, because these supports can mean separate classes or instructional periods, it is critical to ensure these students do not feel isolated from “mainstream” populations as a result.  It is just as critical to ensure they are not stigmatized among their peers or held to lower expectations by their teachers. Having a whole school culture of high expectations and inclusivity is key to the success of these students, and the following strategies adhere to this philosophy.

1. Building Community

Families are key members of students’ support team. You can also tap into resources within your school community:  bilingual staff members and parent volunteers can help in communicating with families, designing relevant curricula and resources , and conducting assessments in the home language.

Once you have identified key community members as collaborators, an important next step is creating an understanding of what community is. Help community members understand the school-community relationship as reciprocal, that is, the ways we help each other and why we do so. This includes students and their family members in the broader community and ensures all members are on the same page when it comes to learning goals. Additionally, positive peer and adult relationships are supported, which helps establish behavioral norms for social situations and helps educators understand behaviors that may be culturally informed.

Ideas for using Translanguaging with the Building Community goal: Provide supports within the school community for family members who prefer communication in LOTEs:  signage around the school, interpretation during IEP meetings, and access to bilingual education professionals to collaborate on IEP goals ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 ). Formally teach norms for social interaction in the classroom and school community, including providing parent and community member workshops on building collaborative partnerships (Hart, 2009) During school sessions involving parents, incorporate Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs and encourage students to express their cultural and cognitive diversity by making positive affirmations about themselves and each other (Cheatham & Hart Barnett, 2016).

2. Collaborative Decision Making

The collaborative team approach is crucial when it comes to making instructional decisions about Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs.  In this approach, educators work together with administrators, parents, and specialists to create a unified vision of support for student needs, teachers collaborate across disciplines, and all teachers receive Professional Development (PD) in accessible pedagogy.

Collaborative decision making essentially extends the building community goal. Once you have established reciprocal relationships among all stakeholders, it is far easier to begin asking those involved with these students to help make decisions about their education. Additionally, this strategy asks all teachers – not just teachers of Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs – to become involved and join their community of support.

Ideas for using translanguaging with the Collaborative Decision Making goal: Provide supports within the school community for family members who prefer communication in LOTEs: signage around the school, interpretation during IEP meetings, and access to bilingual education professionals to collaborate on IEP goals ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 ). Including special education teachers in PD about translanguaging and how it can help them supplement their existing inclusive pedagogy and further support their students. Ensure scheduling supports regular meeting and planning times across departments so special education and mainstream teachers have sufficient time to collaborate on learning goals for emergent bilingual students.

CUNY-NYSIEB Successful Strategies: Making Decisions Collaboratively At one cohort elementary school, a recent shift in enrollment had increased the numbers of emergent bilingual students, many of whom additionally received services under an IEP. Many teachers were unsure how to best serve the needs of their students. With the support of the CUNY-NYSIEB team and the principal, teachers formed a leadership team that involved all stakeholders: mainstream teachers, special education teachers, and ENL support specialists. Through regular meeting and dialogue, the team was able to learn and implement school-wide and classroom supports that all teachers agreed upon and were grounded in the principles of inclusion and bilingualism as a resource. As the year progressed, teachers were able to implement and then workshop strategies with their colleagues, in order to decide which interventions were the most useful to their students. At the end of the year, teacher provided the feedback to CUNY-NYSIEB support staff that they felt more competent in meeting the needs of their emergent bilingual students with IEPs, as well as had grown more skilled in seeing their colleagues as resources and partners. Moreover, the teachers felt empowered using the strategies, because they had all decided on using them together.

3. Base Pedagogical Choices on Student Needs

Every student is an individual, with different learning needs, cultural and linguistic background, and talents. Thus, instruction for Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs needs to be accessible and leverage their diverse abilities and language practices. Moreover, when instruction is relevant to students, they and their families see learning experiences as valuable.

Ideas for using Translanguaging to base Pedagogical Choices on Student Needs: Develop reciprocal relationships with families to learn about cultural values and to promote bilingualism at home and cultural relevance in school (Cheatham & Hart Barnett, 2016) Use culturally relevant texts and materials that are free from bias in portraying people from diverse groups (García & Tyler, 2010, p. 114; Ebe, 2011; Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 13-19).  To determine whether the materials you currently use with EBL-IEP students are relevant to them, you can use a cultural relevance rubric . Your students and their families can help you with this evaluation!

B. Supporting Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs in the Classroom

One big way you can support students is by opening up your classroom to translanguaging . The principles of inclusive education are all about removing barriers to participation so that all groups and individuals can have access to high quality education. Because translanguaging affirms students’ diverse language practices and uses them as a resource in education, translanguaging does this for emergent bilingual students. That makes it a natural fit in a special education context!

When special educators plan supports and scaffolds for their students, they always keep in mind the idea that students learn through different modalities. When we look at students’ language repertoires through this lens, we see the need to include multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement in our lessons.  The ideas we present below explain how translanguaging can help create a more inclusive environment for Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs.  These strategies also fit in very well across the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and are aligned to UDL principles of teaching and learning.

Note: For more strategies, see the CUNY-NYSIEB Translanguaging Pedagogy for Writing Guide

We must appreciate that Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs arrive in classrooms with considerable prior learning. This can help us design learning experiences that welcome and build on what students know, as well as intentionally teaching specific, relevant knowledge and skills that they need in order to access new content and tasks.

This can be done by providing materials and using instructional tools that give multilingual options for students to receive new information.  Many curricular materials are English-only, and particularly in the case of these students, materials in the home language can provide an additional academic support.

The Activating Background Knowledge Across Languages Strategy with Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs: Provide multilingual learning objectives ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 44-50) Use multilingual texts ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 81-86) Do multilingual reading and responses ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 118-121) Display multilingual signage and offer bilingual dictionaries (Hart, 2009) Explicitly teach students discipline-specific language and symbols through word studies (García & Tyler, 2010, p. 117) Use four-box graphic organizers and the Frayer model to introduce and teach vocabulary ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 158-164) Give students access to academically relevant vocabulary in both English and their home language ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 20-22) Create and provide access to bilingual/multilingual glossaries and/or dictionaries for text that contains challenging vocabulary ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 92-95; Hart, 2009) Build background knowledge using the Preview-View-Review strategy multilingually ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 100-106)

CUNY-NYSIEB Successful Strategies:  Activating Background Knowledge Across Languages In an 8th grade integrated team teaching English Language Arts class, the teacher team planned to introduce their students to the idea of “taking a stand,” a key theme in the unit they were starting that featured “To Kill a Mockingbird” as the class novel.  Knowing the dense novel would be a challenge to their students, many of whom receive language and special education services, the teachers wanted to provide a low-stakes, high-interest entry point to engage their students in thinking about the book from the get go.  They set up a multilingual and multicultural “gallery walk” of images and signage that represented individuals and groups from the students’ linguistic and cultural communities “taking a stand” on important issues. Students rotated around the room with language partners, and had a “silent conversation” in English and the home language about what they saw.  In a “silent conversation,” students respond to each other in writing – in the case of this class, the teachers provided prompts in English and the home languages of the class to scaffold students’ responses and teach them the language of building and questioning.  After the activity, students read the posters together in mixed language groups, using each other as resources to make sense of the multilingual responses.  They had meaningful conversations around what the images mean to them, as well as generated questions about what they might mean in connection to the unit they were starting.  The teachers noticed that when students used their background knowledge (cultural context of the photographs) and home languages, students were able to successfully understand and engage in the activity and generate meaningful conversation and writing in English afterward.   Note: For more like this, see the CUNY-NYSIEB Translanguaging Pedagogy for Writing Guide

2. Using Multiple Entry Points for Task Completion

Students should be invited to demonstrate their learning using multiple modes and languages, including on assessments. When it comes to sharing what they know and have learned, the language students use is not critical unless that is what is being assessed. What does this mean? If you want students to demonstrate how well they have mastered writing a well-organized paragraph in English, the final product (the assessment or completed task) should be in English. However, if you are assessing how much they have learned about the life cycle of a butterfly and they are able to use gestures, home language, pantomime, or other modes to express this concept, it can be accepted as a completed task.

Some ideas for using the multiple entry points strategy with Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs: Do multilingual writing projects ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 , pp. 132-146) “Chunk” the information students must produce independently by breaking complex cognitive tasks into component elements; and using a range of graphic organizers including semantic maps, advance organizers, checklists, pre-filled notes, study guides, and cloze sentences, to name a few (Cheatham & Hart Barnett, 2016) Allow for multiple opportunities to demonstrate understanding, for instance having students speak or illustrate their responses to express their knowledge (Hart, 2009; Cheatham & Hart Barnett, 2016) Use gestures, visual cues, vocal changes, explicit modeling, movement, and props to convey the meaning of content (Hart, 2009)

3. Support Planning and Strategy Development

Students can learn to monitor and support their own learning. You can support students in doing this by teaching them ways to develop executive functioning mechanisms such as reflection and self monitoring so they can learn to adjust their actions in ways that support their own learning.

Some ideas for planning and strategy development with Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs: Frequently check for understanding by prompting students to respond verbally or through gestures (ie. thumbs up) (Hart, 2009) Teach study skills, self-monitoring skills, and other coping strategies to support development of executive function (García & Tyler, 2010, p. 117; Wang & Woolf, 2016) Provide exit tickets/other “check in” activities in both languages ( Celic & Seltzer, 2012 ).

4. Spotlight on Classroom Practices: Translanguaging and Emergent Bilinguals with IEPs

Juan, 7, 2nd grade student from Puerto Rico

His class is a bilingual, co-teaching model, where his two teachers – the general education bilingual teacher and the special education teacher – work in consultation with the ENL teacher.  Juan also receives pull-out resource room services to address his IEP goals in Spanish. Through the bilingual instruction in his classroom, Juan is developing good verbal English expressive and receptive abilities in addition to developing literacy skills in Spanish. He is below grade level in reading and writing in both languages, but is learning quickly and is really excited by his schoolwork.

Juan experiences academic successes when given the opportunity to express his learning in different ways.  For instance, he likes to use a reading “app” on the classroom iPads to demonstrate his developing mastery of English phonics.  He also benefits from reading texts in context and discussing them with his peers: On a recent class trip to the zoo, for instance, reading English and Spanish texts about the animals and talking about them with his peers helped him complete a detailed writing assignment about the trip.

However, Juan also faces some barriers to consistent success.  The students in his class, half of whom receive one form of supplemental educational service or another, have a great deal of individual needs and Juan sometimes gets distracted or struggles when a teacher is assisting another student.  Another challenge has been the medication Juan takes for his diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). His doctors and parents are working to regulate the dosage, because when his medication is off, Juan is either lethargic or disruptive.

Héctor, 14, 8th grade student from Panama

Perhaps as a result of this inconsistency in schooling, Héctor was not identified as an EBL until 6th grade.  In addition to the EBL label, he also receives services for a classified learning disability under an IEP. Héctor is placed in a general education classroom with pull-out ENL services and Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS).

Héctor is charming, likeable, and very social. While quiet in his classes, he likes to exchange secret messages or gestures with his peers.  He loves basketball and plays for the school team. He seems to be well-integrated among his peers, although he can appear shy among adults. Where he thrives socially, Héctor’s relationship with academics is more complex, particularly in regard to language use.

At home with his family, Héctor only uses Spanish. However, at school he only uses English.  When other Spanish-English bilingual classmates communicate in both English and Spanish among themselves, Héctor does not participate.  He doesn’t feel comfortable providing Spanish translation to newcomer students who don’t speak English and doesn’t like to say that he was born in Panama.  Also, though he can speak and understand Spanish he does not read or write it, possessing literacy skills in English only.

Héctor has been experiencing some academic successes recently, leading to notable improvements in his reading and writing proficiency in English (though he is still at below grade-level expectations).  Héctor’s teachers had been noticing he is often hesitant to begin a written task and is forgetful of steps, so this year they began supporting him with sentence starters and writing models. These graphic organizers have been helpful in teaching Héctor to structure his writing. When reminded of steps and presented with models, Héctor can now produce independent writing that fulfills the requirements of the task.  Another area of strength is that he responds well to feedback from both his teachers and his peers.

Valentina, 17, 11th Grade Student from the U.S.

Valentina loves cooking and drawing, is social and polite, and gets along well with her peers. Valentina speaks both English and Spanish at home. She has strong Spanish literacy skills, having participated in one-way dual language programs as an elementary school student and “Spanish for Native Speakers” classes through middle and into high school, yet she prefers to speak and write in English. She demonstrates strong comprehension of written texts and the ability to retell or paraphrase what she has read. She is also a talented creative writer who enjoys crafting imaginative narratives and poetry.

Some areas of difficulty for Valentina include organization and applying appropriate mechanics in her writing. Specifically, she is inconsistent with distinguishing claims from counterclaims and using transitions to connect body paragraphs with claims. She also often has challenges remaining on task. Successful strategies her teachers have tried include giving her question prompts, using graphic organizers, applying annotation routines, and providing redirection. When her teacher gives her prompting with questions, Valentina can recognize and implement corrections on her own most of the time. For organization, her teacher has used T-charts to help her organize ideas for an essay and provided a pre-filled organizer for her to insert relevant information. Learning an annotation routine has also helped Valentina to improve her reading comprehension. Valentina is now able to apply the routine without prompting, and this has improved her overall proficiency in literacy-based skills.

Helpful Links:

• Colorín Colorado on Special Education and English Language Learners
• National Center for Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Further Reading and References:

Brown, J.E. & Campbell Ault, P.  (2015). Disentangling language differences from disability: A case study of district-preservice collaboration.  Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 6, 111-166.  Retrieved from http://fordham.bepress.com/jmer/vol6/iss1/7

Celic, C. and Seltzer, K. (2012). Translanguaging: A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators.  Available here: http://www.nysieb.ws.gc.cuny.edu/files/2012/06/FINAL-Translanguaging-Guide-With-Cover-1.pdf

Cheatham, G. A. & Hart Barnett, J.E.  (2016). Overcoming common misunderstandings about students with disabilities who are English language learners. Intervention in School and Clinic, 1-6.

Ebe, A.  (2010, Sept/Oct).  Culturally Relevant Texts and Reading Assessment for English Language Learners.  Reading Horizons, 50(3), 193-210.  Retrieved from: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=reading_horizons

García, S. & Tyler, B. (2010). Meeting the needs of English language learners with learning disabilities in the general curriculum. Theory Into Practice, 49(2), 113-120.

Gordon, D., Meyer, A., and Rose, D.  (2014). Universal Design for Learning:  Theory and Practice. Wakefield, MA: CAST Professional Publishing.  Available here: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Design-Learning-Theory-Practice/dp/0989867404/

Hart, J. E. (2009). Strategies for culturally and linguistically diverse students with special needs. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 53(3), 197-208.

Wang, P., & Woolf, S. (2016). Trends and issues in bilingual special education teacher preparation: A literature review. Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 6(1), 35-59. Retrieved from http://fordham.bepress.com/jmer/vol6/iss1/4/

Acknowledgments

This CUNY-NYSIEB resource was created by Kathryn Fangsrud Carpenter, Kahdeidra Martin, and Louis Olander. María Cioè-Peña, Maite Sánchez and Kate Seltzer served as advisors to the authors. We would like to give special thanks to the teachers and administrators who provided feedback on this resource.

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Example Of Essay On Ebs Effective Team Member Expectations

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Teamwork , Team , Actions , Time , Conflict , Activity , Belief , Communication

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Published: 02/26/2020

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- Teamwork may be explained as an activity which is performed in combination with two or more individuals in order to attain effective and efficient outcomes from the performed action. A vital element for effective performance of teams is communication (Lantz, 2011). Intra team conflict is one of the communication barriers in which every team member tries to promote their own agendas and objectives resulting in a lack of synchronization among the team members. In this the conflict results as a result of difference in opinion which may lead to the breakdown of a team (Gamero, Gonzalez-Roma & Peiro, 2008). Another barrier may pose due to lack of accurate and authentic disclosure. Intra team politics is one of the most plausible reasons for people to distort or hold back information. Another reason may be personal reason for individuals to being dishonest and not disclose information. Communication barriers may result due to the fact that the team may not have clarity in objectives or the tasks to be performed. This may result in further lack of synchronization and the only manner to resolve this is to effectively plan and work out clear objectives and goals (Tekleab, Quigley & Tesluk, 2009). Another severe communication barrier to effective functioning of team is the lack of probing. It has been often found that the lack of elicit data makes team functioning difficult. In order to garner data it is essential that the team members should engage in all sorts of probing including reflective statements, summaries, pauses, open end probes and neutral probes. Yet, in practical situations it has been witnessed that teams do not exhaustively elicit information and this results in communication breakdown. It is essential that the group functions together. It has been often witnessed that severe communication barriers may result due to differences in status and power. This is found in teams which may be multicultural in nature and differences in values and culture may result in clash in opinion and functioning style thereby leading to complete team breakdown (Peltokorpi & Clausen, 2011). - One of the most inherent causes of behavioral conflict in a team may arise from the differences in culture and language. The differences in core values and cultures may lead to difference in opinion and the manner in which team members’ function. Sometimes conflict may arise due to lack of ethics or the preservation of personal integrity and hence teams should be encouraged to practice ethical codes of conduct. Another cause of behavioral conflict may arise from power differences. These may emerge from diverse perspectives with reference to education, culture, age, experience, tenure of service and the generation gap (Watson et al. 2008). Conflict in the style of working may also result in team conflict. The style of working may differ from person to person depending on the attitudes and traits. There may be some members who may actively participate in order to meet deadlines whereas others who may like to get the tasks done in the last minute and this may result in clash due to the working style. Conflict in the perception of team members may further lead to clashes in teams and may lead to the emergence of adverse team cultures like gossiping and turf wars. Perception differences may be due to the presence of office politics and may be as a result of clash in accountabilities of different team members. The other two most common causes of behavioral conflict in teams are conflicting pressures and negative attitudes. Conflicting pressures arise when a team member is dependent on the other for a particular task which needs to be urgently completed. On the other hand negative attitude of a team member towards performing a particular task within a given time also results in team conflict. - Conflict is a very common feature in teamwork. Conflict may take place as a result of difference in opinions of team members. The manner in which a conflict situation is taken care of determines the manner of conflict resolution. One of the most common manners to resolve team conflict is to try and understand the different viewpoints of team members. It is highly essential that a team member tries to make understand acknowledge that there exists a conflict in the team. Accordingly, the conflict impact and the manner in which it is impacting performance of team members need to be discussed. It is essential that the team member actively communicates with other team members and discuss with other team members to cooperate so as to successfully resolve conflict. In fact, a very important part of communication is listening. A team member can listen to the viewpoints of conflicting parties and aid to negotiate a situation which is acceptable to all members and thus resolve conflict (Greer, Jehn & Mannix, 2008). - As a team member one of my strengths is that I try and meet deadlines. I ensure that at least the work that I have been allotted is completed in time. This further aids the entire team as they are dependent on each member to complete the allotted tasks in time so as to meet a given deadline. One of my strengths is that I am a good listener. This helps me to listen to the viewpoint of other group members prior to providing my own viewpoints and opinions on a particular stand. Being a good listener also aids me to resolve conflicts and in case of clashes in the team, my team mates usually look upon me to resolve conflict by peaceful negotiation. My skill sets allows me to work on a number of technology related issues. On the other hand, I have a strong command over English language and given the fact that most of our clients hail from U.K. and U.S.A. it is often required that a person with strong command over the language interacts with the clients if required. As a team member, I send emails and even speak to the client whenever necessary with respect to certain technology related matters. Strength of mine is that I often come up with innovative ideas with respect to technology. This makes me a favorite in my team as I like to engage and even motivate the entire team to participate in brainstorming sessions. One of my main weaknesses is that I feel that if I can complete a task in time, my other team members should also be able to complete given activity in a given timeframe. My absolute lack of consideration of other factors may lead to dissent situations and requires my team buddies to explain me possible reasons for not completing the activity in time. This is especially true when a particular activity of mine lies pending because a dependent activity has not been completed by a team member. My attitude of not probing upon ideas is another weakness. It is very essential to question ideas and opinions and find out the pros and cons of all options. Fortunately, one of my team colleague probes and asks questions and hence this helps in finding the most logical and possible course of action. - Identify ways to improve own ability to function effectively in a team My attitude to assume that team members will be able to meet deadlines is not healthy for successful team functioning. In this case, instead of becoming angry or displaying dissent with my colleagues, the logical path would be to engage and find out the reasons which prevent them from completing the activity in the given time frame. Also, I need to determine whether I have the required skills which may aid in helping my team mate to complete the activity. In most cases, activities may not be attained because the original course of action had run down in problems and there is a need to explore possible paths of action. Given the fact, that I am good in bringing out innovative ideas, I should apply the same notions to help my team colleagues. At the same time, I should introspect and ask questions prior to presenting innovative ideas to the team. This will help to identify whether the idea is full proof and can be smoothly implemented or whether there may be inherent obstacles. At the same time, asking reflective questions on the functioning of a particular idea will also help to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the innovative idea that I am presenting.

Gamero, N., Gonzalez-Roma, V. & Peiro, J.M. (2008). The influence of intra-team conflict on work teams’ affective climate: a longitudinal study. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 81(1), 47 – 69. Greer, L.L., Jehn, K.A. & Mannix, E.A. (2008). Conflict transformation: a longitudinal investigation of the relationships between different types of intragroup conflict and the moderating role of conflict resolution. Small Group Research, 39(3), 278 – 302. Lantz, A. (2011). Teamwork on the line can pay off down the line. Journal of Workplace Learning, 23(2), 75 – 96. Peltocorpi, V. & Clausen, L. (2011). Linguistic and cultural barriers to intercultural communication in foreign subsidiaries. Asian Business & Management, 10, 509 – 528. Tekleab, A.G., Quigley, N.R. & Tesluk, P.E. (2009). A longitudinal study of team conflict, conflict management, cohesion, and team effectiveness. Group Organization Management, 34(2), 170 – 205. Watson, W., Cooper, D., Torres, M.A. & Boyd, N.G. (2008). Team processes, team conflict, team outcomes, and gender: an examination of U.S. and Mexican learning teams. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32(6), 524 – 537.

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How not to write your college essay.

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If you are looking for the “secret formula” for writing a “winning” college essay, you have come to the wrong place. The reality is there is no silver bullet or strategy to write your way to an acceptance. There is not one topic or approach that will guarantee a favorable outcome.

At the end of the day, every admission office just wants to know more about you, what you value, and what excites you. They want to hear about your experiences through your own words and in your own voice. As you set out to write your essay, you will no doubt get input (both sought-after and unsolicited) on what to write. But how about what NOT Notcoin to write? There are avoidable blunders that applicants frequently make in drafting their essays. I asked college admission leaders, who have read thousands of submissions, to share their thoughts.

Don’t Go In There

There is wide consensus on this first one, so before you call on your Jedi mind tricks or predictive analytics, listen to the voices of a diverse range of admission deans. Peter Hagan, executive director of admissions at Syracuse University, sums it up best, saying, “I would recommend that students try not to get inside of our heads. He adds, “Too often the focus is on what they think we want.”

Andy Strickler, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College agrees, warning, “Do NOT get caught in the trap of trying to figure out what is going to impress the admission committee. You have NO idea who is going to read your essay and what is going to connect with them. So, don't try to guess that.” Victoria Romero, vice president for enrollment, at Scripps College adds, “Do not write about something you don’t care about.” She says, “I think students try to figure out what an admission officer wants to read, and the reality is the reader begins every next essay with no expectations about the content THEY want to read.” Chrystal Russell, dean of admission at Hampden-Sydney College, agrees, saying, “If you're not interested in writing it, we will not be interested when reading it.” Jay Jacobs, vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Vermont elaborates, advising. “Don’t try to make yourself sound any different than you are.” He says, “The number one goal for admission officers is to better understand the applicant, what they like to do, what they want to do, where they spend the majority of their time, and what makes them tick. If a student stays genuine to that, it will shine through and make an engaging and successful essay.”

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Don’t Be Artificial

The headlines about college admission are dominated by stories about artificial intelligence and the college essay. Let’s set some ground rules–to allow ChatGPT or some other tool to do your work is not only unethical, it is also unintelligent. The only worse mistake you could make is to let another human write your essay for you. Instead of preoccupying yourself with whether or not colleges are using AI detection software (most are not), spend your time focused on how best to express yourself authentically. Rick Clark is the executive director of strategic student success at Georgia Institute of Technology, one of the first institutions to clearly outline their AI policy for applicants. He says, “Much of a college application is devoted to lines, boxes, and numbers. Essays and supplements are the one place to establish connection, personality, and distinction. AI, in its current state, is terrible at all three.” He adds, “My hope is that students will use ChatGPT or other tools for brainstorming and to get started, but then move quickly into crafting an essay that will provide insight and value.”

Don’t Overdo It

Michael Stefanowicz, vice president for enrollment management at Landmark College says, “You can only cover so much detail about yourself in an admission essay, and a lot of students feel pressure to tell their life story or choose their most defining experience to date as an essay topic. Admission professionals know that you’re sharing just one part of your lived experience in the essay.” He adds, “Some of the favorite essays I’ve read have been episodic, reflecting on the way you’ve found meaning in a seemingly ordinary experience, advice you’ve lived out, a mistake you’ve learned from, or a special tradition in your life.” Gary Ross, vice president for admission and financial aid at Colgate University adds, “More than a few applicants each year craft essays that talk about the frustration and struggles they have experienced in identifying a topic for their college application essay. Presenting your college application essay as a smorgasbord of topics that ultimately landed on the cutting room floor does not give us much insight into an applicant.”

Don’t Believe In Magic

Jason Nevinger, senior director of admission at the University of Rochester warns, “Be skeptical of anyone or any company telling you, ‘This is the essay that got me into _____.’ There is no magic topic, approach, sentence structure, or prose that got any student into any institution ever.” Social media is littered with advertisements promising strategic essay help. Don’t waste your time, energy, or money trying to emulate a certain style, topic, or tone. Liz Cheron is chief executive officer for the Coalition for College and former assistant vice president of enrollment & dean of admissions at Northeastern University. She agrees with Nevinger, saying “Don't put pressure on yourself to find the perfect, slam dunk topic. The vast majority of college essays do exactly what they're supposed to do–they are well-written and tell the admission officer more about the student in that student's voice–and that can take many different forms.”

Don’t Over Recycle

Beatrice Atkinson-Myers, associate director of global recruitment at the University of California at Santa Cruz tells students, “Do not use the same response for each university; research and craft your essay to match the program at the university you are interested in studying. Don't waste time telling me things I can read elsewhere in your application. Use your essay to give the admissions officer insights into your motivations, interests, and thinking. Don't make your essay the kitchen sink, focus on one or two examples which demonstrate your depth and creativity.” Her UC colleague, Jim Rawlins, associate vice chancellor of enrollment management at the University of California at San Diego agrees, saying “Answer the question. Not doing so is the surest way we can tell you are simply giving us a snippet of something you actually wrote for a different purpose.”

Don’t Overedit

Emily Roper-Doten, vice president for undergraduate admissions and financial assistance at Clark University warns against “Too many editors!” She says, “Pick a couple of trusted folks to be your sounding board when considering topics and as readers once you have drafts. You don’t want too many voices in your essay to drown you out!” Scripps’ Romero agrees, suggesting, “Ask a good friend, someone you trust and knows you well, to read your essays.” She adds, “The goal is for the admission committee to get to know a little about you and who better to help you create that framework, than a good friend. This may not work for all students because of content but helps them understand it’s important to be themselves.” Whitney Soule, vice provost and dean of admissions at The University of Pennsylvania adds, “Avoid well-meaning editorial interference that might seem to polish your writing but actually takes your own personal ‘shine’ right out of the message.” She says, “As readers, we connect to applicants through their genuine tone and style. Considering editorial advice for flow and message is OK but hold on to the 'you' for what you want to say and how you want to say it.”

Don’t Get Showy

Palmer Muntz, senior regional admissions counselor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks cautions applicants, “Don’t be fancier than you are. You don’t need to put on airs.” He adds, “Yes, proofread your work for grammar and spelling, but be natural. Craft something you’d want to read yourself, which probably means keeping your paragraphs short, using familiar words, and writing in an active voice.” Connecticut College’s Strickler agrees, warning, “Don't try to be someone you are not. If you are not funny, don't try to write a funny essay. If you are not an intellectual, trying to write an intellectual essay is a bad idea.”

Anthony Jones, the vice president of enrollment management at Loyola University New Orleans offers a unique metaphor for thinking about the essay. He says, “In the new world of the hyper-fast college admission process, it's become easy to overlook the essential meaning of the college application. It's meant to reveal Y...O...U, the real you, not some phony digital avatar. Think of the essay as the essence of that voice but in analog. Like the completeness and authenticity captured in a vinyl record, the few lines you're given to explain your view should be a slow walk through unrestrained expression chock full of unapologetic nuances, crevices of emotion, and exactness about how you feel in the moment. Then, and only then, can you give the admissions officer an experience that makes them want to tune in and listen for more.”

Don’t Be A Downer

James Nondorf, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at The University of Chicago says, “Don’t be negative about other people, be appreciative of those who have supported you, and be excited about who you are and what you will bring to our campus!” He adds, “While admissions offices want smart students for our classrooms, we also want kind-hearted, caring, and joyous students who will add to our campus communities too.”

Don’t Pattern Match

Alan Ramirez is the dean of admission and financial aid at Sewanee, The University of the South. He explains, “A big concern I have is when students find themselves comparing their writing to other students or past applicants and transform their writing to be more like those individuals as a way to better their chances of offering a more-compelling essay.” He emphasizes that the result is that the “essay is no longer authentic nor the best representation of themselves and the whole point of the essay is lost. Their distinctive voice and viewpoint contribute to the range of voices in the incoming class, enhancing the diversity of perspectives we aim to achieve.” Ramirez simple tells students, “Be yourself, that’s what we want to see, plus there's no one else who can do it better than you!”

Don’t Feel Tied To A Topic

Jessica Ricker is the vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid at Skidmore College. She says, “Sometimes students feel they must tell a story of grief or hardship, and then end up reliving that during the essay-writing process in ways that are emotionally detrimental. I encourage students to choose a topic they can reflect upon positively but recommend that if they choose a more challenging experience to write about, they avoid belaboring the details and instead focus on the outcome of that journey.” She adds, "They simply need to name it, frame its impact, and then help us as the reader understand how it has shaped their lens on life and their approach moving forward.”

Landmark College’s Stefanowicz adds, “A lot of students worry about how personal to get in sharing a part of their identity like your race or heritage (recalling last year’s Supreme Court case about race-conscious admissions), a learning difference or other disability, your religious values, LGBTQ identity…the list goes on.” He emphasizes, “This is always your choice, and your essay doesn’t have to be about a defining identity. But I encourage you to be fully yourself as you present yourself to colleges—because the college admission process is about finding a school where your whole self is welcome and you find a setting to flourish!”

Don’t Be Redundant

Hillen Grason Jr., dean of admission at Franklin & Marshall College, advises, “Don't repeat academic or co-curricular information that is easily identifiable within other parts of your application unless the topic is a core tenant of you as an individual.” He adds, “Use your essay, and other parts of your application, wisely. Your essay is the best way to convey who your authentic self is to the schools you apply. If you navigated a situation that led to a dip in your grades or co-curricular involvement, leverage the ‘additional information’ section of the application.

Thomas Marr is a regional manager of admissions for the Americas at The University of St Andrews in Scotland and points out that “Not all international schools use the main college essay as part of their assessment when reviewing student applications.” He says, “At the University of St Andrews, we focus on the supplemental essay and students should avoid the mistake of making the supplemental a repeat of their other essay. The supplemental (called the Personal Statement if using the UCAS application process) is to show the extent of their passion and enthusiasm for the subject/s to which they are applying and we expect about 75% of the content to cover this. They can use the remaining space to mention their interests outside of the classroom. Some students confuse passion for the school with passion for their subject; do not fall into that trap.”

A Few Final Don’ts

Don’t delay. Every college applicant I have ever worked with has wished they had started earlier. You can best avoid the pitfalls above if you give yourself the time and space to write a thoughtful essay and welcome feedback openly but cautiously. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect . Do your best, share your voice, and stay true to who you are.

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• False or intentionally out-of-context or misleading information
• Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language or threats of any kind
• Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
• Content that otherwise violates our site's  terms.

User accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in:

• Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
• Racist, sexist, homophobic or other discriminatory comments
• Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.