How to teach: English - Chris Curtis 2019

Time and distance
How to teach accuracy

We want students to write with accuracy, but they often get the wrong view of writing. They assume, incorrectly, that accuracy just happens and that the quick two-second look they did will spot everything. Of course, we live in an age where people want things done quickly. We do want writing to be fluent by the end, but students need training for accuracy. A quick five minutes at the end of the work is not enough. Accuracy is improved by repeated reading.

Like most people, I make mistakes. I don’t notice straightaway because I am too close. I often read what I think I have written and not what is actually there. And, annoyingly, the odd error slips through. Two words that always escape my brain when reading are ’think’ and ’thing’. A quick read can well and truly confuse the reader. Students are like this too. They write in the moment. That’s why they can write whole paragraphs without using full stops or whole stories without using paragraphs. To most, the ideas are more important than the style when you are in the flow of creativity. That is why handwriting can also be a problem. Students rush because they are worried that those really good ideas, like mice running around in their brain, are going to escape and disappear.

Build time in for students to forget what they have written. I don’t think the next lesson is enough, to be honest. It needs to be at least a week. Coming to the text as a new reader gives them fresh eyes: students can then spot their own mistakes a mile off. They are quite happy to spot your typo on a PowerPoint or worksheet from ten paces with glee and pride. We are attuned to the errors of others. So many times I have been tempted to write to a publisher when I spot an error in a book. Of course, to speed things up you can get students to proofread each other’s work; however, I think it is important that they each understand their mistakes.

Another solution is to get the students to read their work out loud. I often do this with my own writing and my wife thinks I have finally cracked under the pressures of work. Reading aloud helps, in my opinion, to break the link between what you think you have written and what you actually have. You see the mistakes and hear them glaringly. You look mad, of course, especially if you are reading a piece of creative writing and doing the various voices, but this is OK, good even.