Here's what I see though. Students are less afraid to write. Many are eager to do so. They are not so worried about mistakes that they seem paralyzed in front of pencil and paper. Their stories show more of their natural inventiveness.
Writing becomes fun.
Activities that are fun are engaged in more frequently, and frequency increases skill. Surely this is better. In late April the Bobcats began to plan for a campout at the school. They worked together to plan their own menu and activities, keeping in mind that we would not have access to the kitchen and would be cooking on a cookstove and grill. An afternoon was spent clearing out the tent sites and deciding where the outhouse should be.