What comes through so clearly is that exemplars aren’t just a student support; they’re a form of professional thinking for the teacher. Writing the task yourself is less about modelling polish and more about surfacing the invisible decisions, hesitations, and strategies that experienced writers use without realising. That’s where the real instructional power sits.
I especially appreciate the insistence on writing as your best writing self. It reframes exemplars away from “teacher pretending to be a student” and toward something far more honest: this is what the work looks like when the thinking is clear. The point about rigor living in the task, not in artificially constraining the writer, feels important here. Students don’t need watered-down models; they need to see what’s possible and then be taught how to move towards it.
Absolutely agree. When I taught, I would write the essay first, and it was eye opening! It gave me so much insight to be able to then share with my students. Sometimes it told me I had made a bad prompt, so it turned out to be a lesson for myself! All in all, a great practice -- I wish every teacher would do it!
Yay, another exemplar lover! EVERY time I sit down to write the essay...or the paragraph..or the sentence, I think "I'm a pro. I don't need to do this." And EVERY time I'm glad I actually did it.
Congratulations on unpacking so well the benefits of exemplars in learning to write! When I was teaching, I sometimes shared student work as exemplars, but I never thought of producing one myself. I greatly admired my late mother-in-law who taught calculus. Every time she set an exam, she took it herself first.
I
She timed her own process and then had a writing.conversion for setting the amount of time that the students should be given to complete the exam.
Such a clear and compelling case for teacher as writer. You gain students’ respect because they know you are walking in their shoes- and along the way you can fine-tune time management and consider strategies to teach.
Any chance you’d be willing to share your analysis strategies resource? This is something I work so hard on with my student teachers. Or we could work out a resource swap.
Totally understand if not—I KNOW how much work you put into it!
I’m so obsessed with exemplars
What comes through so clearly is that exemplars aren’t just a student support; they’re a form of professional thinking for the teacher. Writing the task yourself is less about modelling polish and more about surfacing the invisible decisions, hesitations, and strategies that experienced writers use without realising. That’s where the real instructional power sits.
I especially appreciate the insistence on writing as your best writing self. It reframes exemplars away from “teacher pretending to be a student” and toward something far more honest: this is what the work looks like when the thinking is clear. The point about rigor living in the task, not in artificially constraining the writer, feels important here. Students don’t need watered-down models; they need to see what’s possible and then be taught how to move towards it.
Absolutely agree. When I taught, I would write the essay first, and it was eye opening! It gave me so much insight to be able to then share with my students. Sometimes it told me I had made a bad prompt, so it turned out to be a lesson for myself! All in all, a great practice -- I wish every teacher would do it!
Yay, another exemplar lover! EVERY time I sit down to write the essay...or the paragraph..or the sentence, I think "I'm a pro. I don't need to do this." And EVERY time I'm glad I actually did it.
Every time! Exactly right.
"Be quick, but don't hurry," John Wooden
once per essay: ergo, manifest, supercilious
If only my teachers had shared exemplars!
Great preachers write/prep one hour per minute spoken.
So easy for teachers to miss the "customer" perspective
Congratulations on unpacking so well the benefits of exemplars in learning to write! When I was teaching, I sometimes shared student work as exemplars, but I never thought of producing one myself. I greatly admired my late mother-in-law who taught calculus. Every time she set an exam, she took it herself first.
I
She timed her own process and then had a writing.conversion for setting the amount of time that the students should be given to complete the exam.
How I wish this Substack had been available to me when I was teaching.
Wow! Highest praise!!!!
Such a clear and compelling case for teacher as writer. You gain students’ respect because they know you are walking in their shoes- and along the way you can fine-tune time management and consider strategies to teach.
Any chance you’d be willing to share your analysis strategies resource? This is something I work so hard on with my student teachers. Or we could work out a resource swap.
Totally understand if not—I KNOW how much work you put into it!
100% I’m working on a post about it! I’d love to see your favorite resources too!