I have spent a lot of time recently viewing student blogs. I also work with students who have their own KidBlog accounts. They are really enjoying the comments and the connected feeling they get when they receive comments on their posts. The interactivity is heart warming. Children really do seem to like to read other children’s writing.
Obviously, our students are not all precision writers or word perfect scholars and there are often errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. I have seen a few conversations between teachers on the question of editing student work. This is how I see the debate so far ..
| Complete teacher edit before publish | Child controlled edit before publish | ||
| For | Against | For | Against |
| Children see that correct conventions must be followed for publishing | Stifle enthusiasm | Children are given ownership of the written material | Teaching opportunity may be lost |
| Readers can easily take in content without having to decipher incorrect spelling and grammar | Takes away children’s ownership of work | Children learn from experience that poorly edited posts are not received as well | Poor conventions are displayed to other readers |
| Correct conventions are displayed to readers | Slows down process as requires adult intervention | Displays ‘true’ image of child’s ability – more accurate portfolio | Importance of conventions is diminished |
| Children are modeled proofreading and editing skills | Children learn editing and proofreading skills | ||
I am a fence sitter on this issue at the moment, I can see merit in both sides of this argument. I admit to cringing when I see posts and comments that have so many errors they are difficult to understand. I wince when the Shift Key is ignored and comments come in chat format. I have iterated and re-iterated the importance of correct conventions with limited success. I also admit to editing many posts and comments before approving them.
On the other side, I love the interaction I see and do not want to stifle that in any way.
What do you think???? I am sure there are other elements to consider.