The National Llama

Don’t let the prior post fool you, we had fun today.

Some of the problems students face with writing papers is that they have a difficult time coming up with topics of their own.

I faced this last year when I had the kids write about their dream jobs. Many said, “I don’t have any dreams.”

There’s nothing you want to do in life that would make you happy?

“Nope.”

That’s a bummer. Don’t you do anything for fun?

“Yeah.”

Like what?

“I like to play video games.”

Dude! Did you know there are people who get paid to play video games?!? They play the games, find problems, and report back to the people who make the games. THAT’S THEIR JOB! Wouldn’t you like to do that and get paid to do it?

“Yeah.”

Then maybe that’s a topic for you. You should write about your dreamjob playing video games. How’s that sound for a topic?

“I like it!”

Then there you go.

And then this year I found that a number of students had a hard time coming up with funny stories — many said they’d never had a funny experience in their lives.

Really!?! Nothing funny at all?

“Nope.”

You’ve never farted in class?

“Nope. but I was in a class where this guy farted once…it was the funniest thing ever!”

So what’s your problem with writing this paper. Sounds like you’ve got a story right there.

“Ohhhyeahhhh! I’m gonna write about that!”

And with this persuasive essay, I had to help a few kids come up with some topics. Here are the few we came up with, on the fly:

• I shouldn’t have to write this paper
• We need to get rid of the Language Arts class
• I deserve an A in this class; I don’t know why I’m failing
• We need to lower the reuired age for a driver’s permit

And believe it or not, I had to struggle to find a way to make a couple of students write this paper — they’ve been working nonstop trying to find a topic that would pique their interest. After a little banter, and because I’ve talked with the students a few times before, we came up with the following topic: Instead of a National Bird, We Need a National Llama.