bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Friday, May 09, 2003 ::

Everything they ever needed to learn about writing...
As an end-of-semester ritual to help bring closure to my English 60 class, I always ask students to compile a list of "top 10 things I learned about writing, research, journalism or myself from this class." Here are some of the responses from this semester's class:

How to "get to the point" in my writing.
To narrow a topic which is broad such as NATO.
If a word ends in a letter than sounds like "s" and the word after it begins with "s" (like "for goodness' sake"), the possessive of the first word is "s'."
Pay attention to world events (at least for a time).
How to learn from constructive criticism.
Fold papers vertically.
To write about what I enjoy or know.
Interviews are a pain.
Newspaper writing usually uses inverted pyramid style.
Pear edit. (Blogger's note: I think the student means "peer edit.")
Editors can be harsh.
You can write a paper like an upside-down pyramid.
Reading examples of similar papers helps.
I learned how to ask the right questions for interviews.
How to report objectively on public events.
I enjoyed having only papers due, no tests.
Always come prepared to class with dry-erase markers.
The importance of the opening paragraph as an attention getter.
Kept me on my toes with current event quizzes.
MLA is the most commonly accepted form of citation.
I am not good at conducting phone interviews.
Learned to use Bedford Researcher.
I am good at conducting e-mail interviews.
The news media requires "bad" news.
I learned that newspapers cut stuff from the bottom, so less important stuff's @ the end.
I learned when to use "its" and "it's."
I leanred that talking about basketball with your professor isn't such a weird thing after all.
How to write an annotated bibliography.
Learned how to fold vertical papers to turn in.
I learned that putting something off until the last minute doesn't work.
Because of the quizzes, I started reading the newspaper daily.
Bibliographies are impossible to get correct.
How to write objectively.
How to fold papers of 12 pages vertically.
The difference in style between magazine and newspaper writing.
I learned that I probably would not make a very good technical writer.
I leanred how some newspaper articles use the vignette style of writing.
I can write a long paper that is a good piece.
Not all my research should be used. That was a big problem for me in the past. I have now reached a point in my writing where I give enough research to support my paper, but not so much that I overwhelm the reader.
I learned that the most effective sentence is 7 words long. (Blogger's note: actually, we talked about having an average sentence length of 17 words, but to vary sentence length throughout a paper.)
I would rather not lead a research group.
I have improved my writing skills.
Pay attention to current events.
I actually improved my writing a little.
How to use the campus's library article database.
Learned to more effectively interview someone.
I learned that when I don't procrastinate and work ahead I do better on papers.
Inverted pyramid style was designed for telegraphs that might get cut off.
Interviews are sometimes hard to get.
About NOT using passive sentences.
MLA format has little or no point.
I learned a lot about Pulitzer Prize winners from our book.
Why the Wall Street Journal uses a bunch of thin columns.
Editors are not your enemies, they're your friends.
I learned I use way too many commas.
How to write in the inverted pyramid style.
Learned methods of brainstorming.
English classes don't have to have terrible paper topics.
How to write in the vignette style.
How to sift and choose research sources.
I learned that folding papers to turn in gives you paper cuts.
How to write a review.
How to document sources.
I learned that I enjoy writing more than what I originally thought.
I learned how to fold vertically.
Don't procrastinate.
I must be better at English than I thought cause I have an 'A.'
9:00 a.m. is a fairly good time to have class provided one didn't stay up until 2:00 the previous night.
That I am not a terrible writer.
The grammar review was helpful.
How to write a magazine feature.
I leanred that completing this class wasn't going to be as difficult as I thought it would.
Objective = no opinion.
Improved grammatical skills in writing.
I have a "good grasp of the English language."
Where to put apostrophes on possessives.
Pay attention to details.
Sitting hear the windows is the warmest spot on cold mornings.
English doesn't have to be about boring books no one ever reads anyway.
How to fold vertically.
Writing research papers are much easier to write if they are done as newspaper or magazine articles.
I am definitely a more versatile writer than I was.
English doesn't have to suck!
Fold vertically.

If you haven't figured it out by now, the number one thing students learned from this class was how to fold their papers vertically. I hope that counts on my teaching evaluation.

:: Andrew 11:20 + ::
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