how much help is enough/too much?
September 15, 2004
To blog or not to blog…that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler to endure the prospect of online criticism, or to leave the blog unfulfilled—Shakespeare is no doubt positively spinning in his grave.
I think maybe I help too much. Of course, the person I’m thinking about needed help (and a match).
He came in yesterday afternoon and tried hard to hand me his paper and go sit somewhere else and wait for me to finish it. I explained that isn’t how we do it. I had him read the paper out loud to me—Oh. My. Goodness. It was one page long, as assigned. Of course, it was also in 14-pt font. I told him his teacher wouldn’t go for that, but he is completely confident in the “coolness” of his professor. The paper included at least three periods. There was not one single paragraph break; the title flowed directly into the paper, forming the first sentence.
I had him read it, asked him about what he was trying to say, and tried to be constructive without just taking it away from him and doing it myself! I explained the evils of spellchecker and of 14-pt font—it stuck like olive oil, no doubt. I told him to put the title on a line all its own, corrected the most horrible of the grammar and spelling, and tried to encourage him to explore the wonders of paragraphs. I WAS NICE, but it was challenging.
Then I asked him when his paper was due, and he told me it had been due the day before, but he was planning on turning it in right now. The paper was an outline of his plans for a successful college experience. One of his plans is to avoid procrastination.
I couldn’t send him to his professor with a paper that poor, so I think I probably gave him more help than I should have, a tendency I’ll have to really watch.
Today I did my first online submission, and I wanted to re-write that, too. It’s really hard to know where to stop on those. Mostly I made suggestions on organization and narrowing down his thesis. I pointed out places where I would have chosen a different word but didn’t give it to him—I think I did a little better. I’ll get a feel for it.
To blog or not to blog…that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler to endure the prospect of online criticism, or to leave the blog unfulfilled—Shakespeare is no doubt positively spinning in his grave.
I think maybe I help too much. Of course, the person I’m thinking about needed help (and a match).
He came in yesterday afternoon and tried hard to hand me his paper and go sit somewhere else and wait for me to finish it. I explained that isn’t how we do it. I had him read the paper out loud to me—Oh. My. Goodness. It was one page long, as assigned. Of course, it was also in 14-pt font. I told him his teacher wouldn’t go for that, but he is completely confident in the “coolness” of his professor. The paper included at least three periods. There was not one single paragraph break; the title flowed directly into the paper, forming the first sentence.
I had him read it, asked him about what he was trying to say, and tried to be constructive without just taking it away from him and doing it myself! I explained the evils of spellchecker and of 14-pt font—it stuck like olive oil, no doubt. I told him to put the title on a line all its own, corrected the most horrible of the grammar and spelling, and tried to encourage him to explore the wonders of paragraphs. I WAS NICE, but it was challenging.
Then I asked him when his paper was due, and he told me it had been due the day before, but he was planning on turning it in right now. The paper was an outline of his plans for a successful college experience. One of his plans is to avoid procrastination.
I couldn’t send him to his professor with a paper that poor, so I think I probably gave him more help than I should have, a tendency I’ll have to really watch.
Today I did my first online submission, and I wanted to re-write that, too. It’s really hard to know where to stop on those. Mostly I made suggestions on organization and narrowing down his thesis. I pointed out places where I would have chosen a different word but didn’t give it to him—I think I did a little better. I’ll get a feel for it.
posted by Anonymous at 3:38 PM
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