In my previous workshops, the students broke up into groups and everyone exchanged papers

and proofread them. After proofreading, each student read over the paper again circling and

underlining errors and leaving feedback on how to improve the paper. Next the paper would be

exchanged again with another student who read through to pick up any errors that the previous

student may have missed, then the paper would be handed back to the writer of the paper.

Once the students revised their papers, they would then give them to the teacher for them to

give feedback. I feel that having the students correct each other first and give feedback worked

a lot better than when teachers just have students turn in their papers for teacher feedback and

the have them revise the paper on their own. Being able to have a peer help give you ideas on

how to improve your paper makes writing a lot easier and I believe that it makes one’s paper

even better.

I can’t really say that I have any concerns about peer workshopping. I quit enjoy editing with my

peers and getting feedback from them.

The difference between editing and revising is that editing involves reading through the text and

seeing what needs to be added or taken away. In editing you check spelling and grammatical

errors, you are making corrections. Revising is when you read over the text to make sure that

everything runs together smoothly and makes since. You rearrange sentences or take them out

completely. You can also look to see if anything in the text needs to be elaborated on or if

anything needs to be added to enhance the paper. When revising you are altering the paper in

some way. Editing takes place first when editing. Revising comes second as you read through the

paper to make sure that the way everything is arranged makes sense. You can’t rearrange

sentences until the grammatical and punctual mistakes are corrected within the sentence so

that you can fully understand what the sentence is saying. It is necessary to do both editing and

revising. Both work hand in hand to improve your paper. There’s no need to have perfect

grammar if your sentences don’t make sense in the way they’re arranged, and even if your

sentences are arranged nicely, if punctuation isn’t correct, they still may be misread.

I like the advice that Straub gave to look at the paper in a positive way but to also look for an

area for improvement, “Be always of two (or three) minds about your response to the paper.

You like the paper, but it could use some more interesting detail.” (140 Straub) You should

always look for always present your comment in a positive way first and then at the end leave

constructive criticism. Another piece of advice that I liked was to respond as a friend in your

comments, “Sound like you normally sound when you’re speaking with a friend or

acquaintance.” (139 Straub) People respond so much better when they feel that you’re talking

with them and not at them. I know that I am always more willing to accept guidance when it is

given in a genuine manner and not condescendingly. Lastly my favorite piece of advice given

was to give details about what you mean in your comments, “Don’t rely on general statements

alone.” (I140 Straub) I absolutely hate when I receive my paper back and all that’s written is,

“unclear” “needs more”. That doesn’t help me at all when you give me vague feedback. I’m left

in the dark, unsure what to change when you don’t point out specifically what you’re talking

about. Obviously I don’t know what to correct if I had it there in the first place and thought it

was ok where it was. So I feel details are very important when proofreading drafts. During

workshops I’m going to make sure that when I comment I start out with a positive and then give

a comment about what can be changed and or corrected. When I leave these comments I’m

going to do so in a friendly manner and not talk down to whoever’s paper it is. I am going to talk

as if I am speaking to a friend of mine and am also going to be very specific, giving examples of

what I mean and am speaking upon when I point out areas of improvement.