Post
by revel » Fri Jun 25, 2004 5:24 pm
Hello all!
Writing is not a skill we concentrate too much on in the academy where I work. We are native teachers supposedly teaching kids how to speak English in Spain. However, last year as an extra activity, I suggested that we publish a small "newspaper" to get the kids writing short things as a support activity to their other studies. Needless to say, suddenly I became the editor of our Gazette and I was faced with the decision on if I ought to correct their essays or print them "as-is". My final editorial decision was similar to that suggested by Lori. I corrected spelling and abusive grammar mistakes, but left the rest of it alone. Naturally, once the paper comes out (three thematic issues a year, each focusing on something like: imaginative or factual biography writing, if I were king of the world first conditional writing, etc) the kids rush to see if their article has been included (I include all articles received, but lead them to believe that I don't, I'm tricky with them!) and the students from my classes get their original back and we spend a quarter of an hour comparing the handwritten version with the printed version that the other 300 students of all levels will be reading.
I had my doubts, I have always considered writing a task to be taken up long after speaking has been conquered, but the experiment has been well accepted. Just finished up the "vacation" issue and was pleasantly surprised when I found that I had enough material for the four pages the paper usually fills. A very imaginative project that everyone seems to like.
On correcting classwork, well I remember my composition classes in high school, the teachers never corrected spelling, simply put a "sp" in green ink next to the word in question. Grammar, style, construction, thought processes were also not openly corrected but rather brought to our attention and alternatives were explained to the entire class. The intent was not to give us the correct answers that we would then have to learn, but rather to make us recognize our sloppyness or lazyness and proofread and correct ourselves. The "fold the paper and write doubts in the left column" sounds like an excellent idea which I will be using for my exam-preparation classes next year.
peace,
revel.
<Oh! that is how you do it! See, Larry, you already know part of this language. You are never too old!