During the Heat of Battle

I've been walking around the classroom so much my feet hurt. Today, by chance, I even have on jogging shoes. The students are writing. They need to make a simple set of instructions, and then make a process paragraph from it.

Although this sounds simple, it never proves to be. Just making the instructions with all the hints we learned takes time. It's sometimes hard to be simple. They've each chosen their own topics but concise, action-oriented imperative verbs are not always a part of everyday language. It's also tough picking verbs that can be changed to passive in the paragraph. Some work while others don't. For example:

Remove the lid of the pan. The lid of the pan is removed.

Wait for the water to boil. The water is waited for to boil.

I don't mind answering vocabulary questions. I'd prefer they ask for help than immediately grab their electronic dictionaries. Robert had to learn to lower the car before removing the jack. He is writing about changing a tire. Because she is telling how a dog is washed, Terase needed to know the difference betweeen a brush and a comb. Shao needed to know the past participle for withdraw as he will write the process paragraph about how money is taken from a bank machine.

I've taken a few minutes of break to type this. Class finishes at 5:00 and there's only twelve minutes remaining. I should get back to checking how they're doing.