Reading Reflection #7

Editing and revising are such importantthough frequently neglectedsteps in the writing process and in the process of learning to write effectively. In Edward Whites chapter titled Revising and Editing, he asserts that it is important to distinguish ed iting from revising, a much more elaborate activity. During revision, we move paragraphs about, insert new pages, discard whole chunks, reorganize, and come up with new ideas (White 41). He then goes on to define editing as the last phase of writing, a matter of tidying up the mechanics so that readers will not be distracted by errors or inconsistencies (41). Before reading this, I had never really given much thought into the differences between revising and editing I usually edit and revise as I write, and by the end of the paper, I am too tired and burned out to proofread. However, these steps of editing and revision are so important for writing teachers to emphasize to their students, as many high school students do not have the skills necessary to self-edit as they write. During my writing unit in my student teaching classroom, I made time in the schedule for a peer-editing session. The goal of the session was to have fellow classmates (3 for each paper) proofread and offer advice on the rough drafts in order to aide them in their final draft writing. The students were given a checklist that accompanied their papers, and they passed the papers around three times, with each pass-around looking for a different thing. For example: the first pass around was for structure and organization, the second was for quality of arguments and counter arguments, and the third was for spelling and grammatical errors. This session was a great exercise in helping them learn to look for errorsbut unfortunately the

majority of them were not strong enough writers themselves, making it difficult for them to evaluate another students work. If I had more time, I would have spent more time overviewing basic grammar rules (run-ons and fragments in particular) so that they would know what those errors looked like.