Usually, I'd give my kids multiple days on a long writing assignment, but I had to have it completed for the school by the end of October and tomorrow we have a field trip.

I told them it was old school. 45 minutes to complete the task.

I've never seen my kids so locked in but also so stressed, I even told them I'd be more lenient in my grading since it was our first timed writing task.

Overall, I feel like it's something I want to try more of, like giving them timed writing tasks so they get in the habit of being able to write well under pressure. I remember when I was student teaching, my mentor teacher would do it often, and she said her kids tended to do better on the state test.

It's also helped me to learn that many of my students, who do write well, will sometimes add extra to their writing without getting directly to the point, which is something I might focus on in the future.