Today I attended the writing session at Middlesex University. I have to say
this definitely helped me. I have never really been a confident writer. Maybe
this is because I love to express my emotions through dance rather than write
them on paper. I know I am not bad at writing; but I know there is room for
improvement!
Firstly we broke down writing into several categories:-
Firstly we broke down writing into several categories:-
1) Knowledge and understanding- the way you link the theory to your practice. Identifying and applying it to your practise.
2) Cognitive Skills- These are the skills you use when generating knowledge. Analysis (breaking it down) and synthesis (taking what you understand and piecing it together). It is about
being involved but asking questions which is also known as Critical Engagement.
3) Practical Skills- asking questions and putting it into practice. This is about your interpretation.
4) Personal and enabling skills- Your personal and professional development.
Peter Thomas showed us different ways in which you write. I feel the way you write is so similar to the way you talk to different people. For example, when I am with my friends I am totally at ease and don’t think about what I am talking about. In comparison, last week I attended an Executive Evening. At this event, I was much more precise and confident with the way I spoke and thought about what I said before talking. Again another example is when I teach children to dance; I am much more expressive, dynamic and lively. I come down to their level to engage them and rarely use high-level academic language. This I feel is similar to writing. On social network sites, I don’t necessarily think about my language, punctuation, vocabulary or my spelling. To be honest a lot of my “statuses” involve the acronym “lol”!!! Whereas in my university assignments and tasks, I am the total opposite! I think very carefully about the language, punctuation, phrasing I use and am constantly correcting it.
Our next task involved writing about an experience. Firstly we had to write our first thoughts and words on a page. Then we had to think of three themes we could divide these words into. After that, not thinking about grammar/ punctuation/ paragraphs we had to simply write without stopping. Next we circled what was important and had to expand on this. Following that we had to
concentrate on writing just one paragraph, thinking about what we were writing. I found by repeatedly re- writing this improved my writing dramatically. I now feel that this is the way forward for me. However I do feel I get carried away and sometimes I cannot stop re- writing my work. I have to be more confident when my task is completed.
Overall I gained so much from this session. I am very glad I attended and feel I will be so much more positive and secure with writing my tasks now.
Peter Thomas showed us different ways in which you write. I feel the way you write is so similar to the way you talk to different people. For example, when I am with my friends I am totally at ease and don’t think about what I am talking about. In comparison, last week I attended an Executive Evening. At this event, I was much more precise and confident with the way I spoke and thought about what I said before talking. Again another example is when I teach children to dance; I am much more expressive, dynamic and lively. I come down to their level to engage them and rarely use high-level academic language. This I feel is similar to writing. On social network sites, I don’t necessarily think about my language, punctuation, vocabulary or my spelling. To be honest a lot of my “statuses” involve the acronym “lol”!!! Whereas in my university assignments and tasks, I am the total opposite! I think very carefully about the language, punctuation, phrasing I use and am constantly correcting it.
Our next task involved writing about an experience. Firstly we had to write our first thoughts and words on a page. Then we had to think of three themes we could divide these words into. After that, not thinking about grammar/ punctuation/ paragraphs we had to simply write without stopping. Next we circled what was important and had to expand on this. Following that we had to
concentrate on writing just one paragraph, thinking about what we were writing. I found by repeatedly re- writing this improved my writing dramatically. I now feel that this is the way forward for me. However I do feel I get carried away and sometimes I cannot stop re- writing my work. I have to be more confident when my task is completed.
Overall I gained so much from this session. I am very glad I attended and feel I will be so much more positive and secure with writing my tasks now.
Hi Katy..thanks for this post! I'm not able to make any of the sessions on campus and it makes me panic a bit sometimes but it always helps when people write about what they've learnt. It's interesting how you've compared different styles of writing to the way you would change how you speak with different people..I've never really thought about it like that before!
ReplyDeleteKaty - I haven't been able to make any of the campus sessions so far and your post has really helped to make me feel part of the session and given me some great ideas on how to go about improving my academic writing.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about speaking and writing in different ways depending on the situation. I'm also guilty of 'lol' and 'lmao', and know that I change my language dramatically depending on the age group of the children I teach!
That's fine Clare and Sarah. I will try and keep my blog updated with the sessions I go too. It also helps me reflect on what I have been taught that day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all that info Katy! Look forward to our session on monday!x
ReplyDeleteNo worries Han. Look forward to Monday as well! x
ReplyDelete