Editing Writing as Students Blog
Classroom Technology Integration and Student Blogs Improve Writing
Aug 26, 2009
As students blog, editing is a necessary part of the writing process. The key is to help students learn without squelching their love of writing and enjoyment of new classroom technology.
Edit and Revise Student Blogs
Editing and revising can feel like the hardest part of the writing process, but in terms of cognitive effort, generating a topic for writing and getting started are often the toughest portions.
Most students don’t want to edit and revise though. They’ve written the piece and now they’re done with it; they have moved on to something else.
There are a couple of tips that will help the student through this process. First thing to keep in mind is the difference between editing and revising. Revising student blogs relates to content. Does the sequence make sense; are there too many details here; has the writer confused the reader there; is that the best word choice; how does it flow? Editing relates to the mechanics of writing – spelling, grammar (verb usage, pronouns) and conventions (capitals, punctuation).
Editing Student Blogs
There is a fine balance to working with a piece of writing when it comes to editing. If a student struggles with all kinds of spelling, grammar and punctuation issues, it might be good to refrain from correcting everything at once and asking the student to re-write it correctly. This is too overwhelming an activity for any learning to take place, and it is disheartening to a writer.
Keep Editing Focused as Students Blog
Teachers can choose one area to focus on during the drafting stage. For instance, after a brief lesson on periods coming at the end of a sentence, a teacher might say, “Today when you blog, I want you to really focus on putting in punctuation.” Then as the writer begins drafting, the teacher can help prompt a little until the student is putting in the punctuation on a more regular basis. She will need to let the other spellings and issues go until later.
When it comes time to edit student blogs, teachers can review the pieces with students for punctuation; hopefully at this point, most of the punctuation is in. This could be a good time to look at one other thing students have done partially well – perhaps capitalization – and to tidy that up the rest of the way.
Benefits of Focused Editing for Student Blogs
As students learn skills in editing and revising, they will show up in drafting down the road. For now, teachers can let the other errors go. This will have several benefits: first, it will be focused instruction; second, the writer will not lose motivation as easily; third, it will not be overwhelming for the student or the teacher; and fourth, the writer will be able to see growth in his own skills over time. At the end of the year the writer can look back at his first student blogs and be amazed at how much he has learned and is learning.
For more information on classroom technology and student blogs, teachers can check out related articles on starting student blogs , and ideas for integrating educational blogs into a writing curriculum.
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