What Teachers Can Learn from On Writing Well
Mrs. Alvarez sat at her kitchen table with a stack of parent newsletters to finish before the printer deadline. She'd written that the class was "engaging in cross-curricular literacy initiatives designed to scaffold higher-order thinking skills," a sentence she'd copied almost verbatim from a district template because it sounded like what a professional newsletter should say. Her own daughter, reading over her shoulder, asked what that actually meant. Mrs. Alvarez opened her mouth to explain and realized she'd have to translate her own sentence into normal words before she could answer. What she actually meant was that the kids were reading a novel and then writing persuasive letters about it. She rewrote the line that way, plainly, and felt oddly exposed — as if the simple version admitted she wasn't doing something more impressive. But she knew which version a tired parent would actually read to the end.
The whole book, compressed
This edition works through 4 core lessons — take them one at a time, not all at once.
What's different for your conditions
Tap whichever ones sound like you. Nothing here is sent or saved — it's just for your own noticing.
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The core lessons, applied to you
Clutter is the enemy in your parent communications
A teacher writes a newsletter full of terms like "differentiated instruction" and "SEL competencies" without explaining what either means in plain terms. A parent skims it, understands none of the substance, and simply forwards it to another parent asking, "Wait, what is this actually saying?" Practice: After drafting any newsletter or note home, read it as if you were a parent with no background in education jargon. Replace each specialized term with the plain classroom activity it refers to, or add a short plain-English clause right after it.
After drafting any newsletter or note home, read it as if you were a parent with no background in education jargon. Replace each specialized term with the plain classroom activity it refers to, or add a short plain-English clause right after it.
Clarity of writing requires clarity of thought about what actually happened in class
A teacher writes a progress note saying a student "would benefit from continued growth in self-regulation strategies" without having pinned down what specific behavior prompted the comment. The parent reads it and has no idea what happened or what to do differently at home. Practice: Before writing any comment about a student, first note the one specific moment or pattern that prompted it — what the student actually did, once, in plain terms. Build the sentence from that fact rather than from a bank of stock phrases.
Before writing any comment about a student, first note the one specific moment or pattern that prompted it — what the student actually did, once, in plain terms. Build the sentence from that fact rather than from a bank of stock phrases.
Revise ruthlessly, even on report card comments written at volume
A teacher writes thirty report card comments in one evening, reusing the same padded template sentence with only the student's name and one adjective changed. Every comment reads almost identically, and no parent can tell what's specific to their own child. Practice: Write the first comment fully, then for each additional student, delete the template's filler and keep only the one or two sentences that are actually true of that particular child. A shorter, specific comment beats a longer generic one every time.
Write the first comment fully, then for each additional student, delete the template's filler and keep only the one or two sentences that are actually true of that particular child. A shorter, specific comment beats a longer generic one every time.
Personality survives simplicity in a teacher's writing
A teacher's classroom personality — the humor, the directness, the particular way of noticing a student's effort — comes through more, not less, once the jargon is gone. A newsletter that sounds like the teacher talking, rather than like a district style guide, is the one parents actually read and remember. Simplicity here isn't a lesser version of professional writing; it's what lets a family feel like they know the person teaching their child.
Administrators sometimes expect reports to use specific framework language for compliance or evaluation purposes, which can pull against writing plainly for parents. When that happens, write the required term once, then immediately translate it into a plain sentence for the actual reader — satisfying the requirement without letting it be the only thing a parent sees.
Name one thing, honestly
Which piece of jargon do you reach for most often in communications home, and what plain sentence would you write instead if no template were available?
Good. Now look back at the "Try this" line under whichever lesson feels most connected to what you just wrote, and treat that as this week's actual assignment — not all 4 at once.
The practices from this edition
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Run this for seven days
Write the first comment fully, then for each additional student, delete the template's filler and keep only the one or two sentences that are actually true of that particular child. A shorter, specific comment beats a longer generic one every time.