Q8

"When you're ready to revise a draft of your writing, ask yourself whether you've expressed yourself in the best possible way."

Do people really do this?
Usually when I write something, I throw down whatever comes through my brain and hit SEND or close my journal. End of story. These days, no one is terribly concerned with grammar, punctuation, spelling, or even any resemblance to English with MSN and other chat languages. With the commencement of the new school year, I have been reflecting on my experiences over the past few years of teaching; I now have a new found respect for every Language Arts teacher I've ever had, not to mention those who are currently helping mold the minds of little ones as we speak.

My 11th graders seem to be eager learners, but face the challenge of having English as a second language. Though most of them have attended private schools for their entire educational career, there are still aspects of English that remain tough for those whose first language is Arabic. I am a huge supporter of being bilingual (obviously), so I post these quotations from a recent homework assignment with a light heart. I am in no way making fun of my students' intelligence (I have some bright ones!), but find that the mid-brain translations can often be funny.

My all-time favorite is from last year, when a student found something to be too difficult: "Miss, why you make for me like this?"

1. My wish in this world is to become an engineering person.
2. I want to be skinny thin.
3. This is a huge different year for me.
4. I am half American, half Kuwaiti. My father is half American, half Egyptian, and my mother is Kuwaiti.
5. We need to open the lights.
6. My wish is to be a great architecture and design amazing buildings.
7. My color is not so good today.

Opening quote from Revising English with Style, Glencoe Language Arts,