Whenever someone gives me suggestions on academic writing I always go into fight or flight mode.
I'm sitting in this writing workshop learning about APA formatting and academic writing, and let me tell you, it makes me feel like I've never written anything before. I spent all of my school life working with MLA and Chicago/Turabian formats and, for some reason, APA has been difficult for me to learn in a day and a half.
Imagine that.
So what's my reaction? To shut down and start not paying attention like a big ol' dummy. Then slowly I come back to the lesson, get outraged again, and think something like "who does this PhD having so and so think they are!?" Today, that was followed up by a lesson correcting my use of "they" and "their" to talk about singular people.
Ok Doctor, you've got my attention.
By the end of Day 1, I started making changes to my paper. Half way through Day 2, I'm looking back and that changes I've made, and I think I'm on board with this stuff. My paper looks way better to me. So what was that whole rigmarole for in the beginning? Writing, like teaching, is personal. Those are your thoughts and your words.
It's not easy to listen to someone tell you that you sound like a dumb dumb and need to smartify yourself.
Student me is making teacher me understand students better by the day. Blogger me? Blogger me is going to keep on punctuating things incorrectly.
***Honorable Mention***
All time favorite email from a person that signed as "PowerfulTeacher." Shout out to you for the nicest, meanest, most enjoyable email exchange I've had in our young year and a half blog life.
PowerfulTeacher: This is the poorly punctuated blog I read every day.
Me: But you still read every day, right?
PowerfulTeacher: Yeah, but the punctuation makes me really angry.
Me: Ok, thanks for reading.
PowerfulTeacher: Are you going to fix it?
Me: Probably not.
PowerfulTeacher: I hate you.
I just wasn't ready for your feedback, PowerfulTeacher. Still not fixing it, but I'm very appreciative for your dedicated readership. Send me your address and I'll send you a pen or something!
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Imagine that.
So what's my reaction? To shut down and start not paying attention like a big ol' dummy. Then slowly I come back to the lesson, get outraged again, and think something like "who does this PhD having so and so think they are!?" Today, that was followed up by a lesson correcting my use of "they" and "their" to talk about singular people.
Ok Doctor, you've got my attention.
By the end of Day 1, I started making changes to my paper. Half way through Day 2, I'm looking back and that changes I've made, and I think I'm on board with this stuff. My paper looks way better to me. So what was that whole rigmarole for in the beginning? Writing, like teaching, is personal. Those are your thoughts and your words.
It's not easy to listen to someone tell you that you sound like a dumb dumb and need to smartify yourself.
Student me is making teacher me understand students better by the day. Blogger me? Blogger me is going to keep on punctuating things incorrectly.
***Honorable Mention***
All time favorite email from a person that signed as "PowerfulTeacher." Shout out to you for the nicest, meanest, most enjoyable email exchange I've had in our young year and a half blog life.
PowerfulTeacher: This is the poorly punctuated blog I read every day.
Me: But you still read every day, right?
PowerfulTeacher: Yeah, but the punctuation makes me really angry.
Me: Ok, thanks for reading.
PowerfulTeacher: Are you going to fix it?
Me: Probably not.
PowerfulTeacher: I hate you.
I just wasn't ready for your feedback, PowerfulTeacher. Still not fixing it, but I'm very appreciative for your dedicated readership. Send me your address and I'll send you a pen or something!
Follow us on Facebook; Twitter; iTunes; Soundcloud; Stitcher
Related Content
Dallas Teachers Forgetting Lessons They Teach Their Students
Dallas Students Don't Write Anymore
Dallas ISD Student Reads Our Blog
Dallas Education Podcast - Dallas ISD District 2 Election Debrief w/ Keri Mitchell
Dallas ISD News and Politics Rundown - June Week 3
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