Transcript Learning Development & Student Writing

Writing ACTIVITY
Writing is easy – you just stare at a blank piece of paper till
your eyeballs bleed!
Student responses to writing:
I’ve been humiliated in ways I’d never have put
up with outside that institution
I am still not sure if my work is considered
academic, I still don’t know what makes one
of my essays better than another.
And:
Academic language, the kind of language that doesn’t
readily flow off my tongue: the type of language I rarely
use when speaking to my peers. The type of language
that I don’t readily understand and the type of language
that means spending hours at a computer turning
something quite simple into something that sounds
moderately impressive with elitist results.
Perhaps it is not that we cannot write, but …
We need:
• Time to ‘write to learn’
• To practice writing
• To write little and often
• To discover that writing gets easier with
practice.
• So …
Participant Activity
Free writing
Each person should have in front of them:
• Two sheets of paper:
• One, blank, to write upon,
• One, the ‘commentary’ sheet, to note reasons for
not writing
• Pens or pencils
Participant Activity
• The Activity
• When asked, turn to your blank paper and write
for ten minutes without pause (on anything you
see, hear, think or feel)
• If you stop writing for any reason, write that
reason, no matter how trivial or insignificant on
the ‘commentary’ sheet.
• After ten minutes we will discuss the exercise,
leaving enough time at the end for the Q&A
session
Participant Activity
• Collate ‘reasons for stopping’
• Discuss solutions
• How will this help with future writing?
Some reasons for stopping:
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Thinking
Searching for a word, spelling, tense
Uncomfortable
Distracted
Couldn’t see the point
Some solutions …
• Get into a good physical & mental space:
Be comfortable – your way
Accept the task – or fake it!
• Brainstorm & plan before you write
• Once you start – go with the flow
• Don’t stop!
• Do not search for the right word – re-draft and
improve later.
Writing …
• How will this help with your writing?
Writing …
Useful websites:
• Quiz:
http://learning.londonmet.ac.uk/LMBS/study/reports_essays/
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Write Now resources – especially upon student authorship:
http://www.writenow.ac.uk/resources.html
EXCELLENT site for linking phrases and for WRITING:
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
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Resource to describe & support the reflective writing process
http://www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk:8080/rlo/reflective_writing/reflective_writing.html
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Our Preventing Plagiarism – in WebLearn:
http://learning.londonmet.ac.uk/TLTC/learnhigher/Plagiarism/