My students are scared, no-- mortified of something so heinous and repugnant that they can barely speak its name... their own writing.
I remember when I was a senior in high school. It was Mrs. Mitchell's AP English class and we had to write a paper on Hamlet. She gave a good two weeks to write the essay, but of course I wrote it the night before it was due. It was back in the stone ages, when paper was printed on reams that had the feeder dots on each side. Each time I would print a paper, I had to a) spend ten minutes disconnecting and collating the papers and b) remove these silly dotted ream-feeders that eventually got wrapped around my fingers and became curly-qs. So here is my point, I was tearing off those silly things and I chanced to look at this epic essay written a mere 12 hours earlier. I had five type-os on the first page alone. I got that sinking pit stomach feeling. I realized I couldn't change anything about it. I got the paper back a couple weeks later and the type-os were the least of my problems.
Procrastination and fear are two separate things. I procrastinate lots, its my way. But my students not only procrastinate, they don't revise or self-edit. Is this because they do it at the last minute? They just don't have the time? Maybe, but they do this in timed writings as well. I will give them 30 minutes to write an essay, and they will finish in 15, then they will place the essay on the furthest corner of their desk, put down their heads, and sleep. When did sleeping become more important than self-reflection?
My theory is that none of us WANT to self-reflect. Why is that? Are we afraid to self-reflect? Are we afraid of what we will find?
2 comments:
I like this post - revision of one's written work is all too rare on school assignments. I think most avoid it because they have a certain petty pride that makes them believe they couldn't have made mistakes. Another, and paradoxical when compared to the first, is that people don't have the confidence to know if a change will be an improvement or not.
In high school I always felt very unsure of my ability to distinguish good writing from bad. As you mentioned, that could be fixed by "teachers" become "coaches" of writing students.
I think that the resistance to editing links to how much technology has improved--I remember actually writing out first drafts in longhand during writing time in class before going home to type and print. Technology can be great, but it can also give the false impression that writing is clean-looking so must be correct. A little sloppy handwriting can make you look at your thoughts again before they look, but aren't, perfect on the computer screen. When I'm writing something that I want to be really good, I still brainstorm in pen.
I also think that being edited can feel like your soul is being corrected--especially if it's a personal piece. I've developed a thicker writing skin and learned to trust and respect editors, but it's tough to switch and let that piece of me on the paper go. I'm much better at turning over impersonal journalism or horse training stories than letting folks see my personal writing. There's still a line.
As for the sleeping--throw water on them. That's just disrespectful and you deserve to expect more.
Cool blog.
H
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