Blog Post #2


Based on the reading, it seems important to take more time assessing the needs of ESL students. It is important not to engage in “native-speakerizing,” or make assumptions about what they do or do not know. Though it may seem obvious, I was particularly struck by the recommendation to pick up a pen and make corrections on ESL student papers. As a tutor, I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the numerous grammatical errors in an ESL student’s paper, and thus, choose to focus on global revisions. “Serving ESL Students” made me realize the importance of bringing repeated grammatical errors to the attention of ESL students, and how it is essential to furthering their writing development.  

I absolutely love when I come up with an original idea that I am able to let flow seamlessly from my brain and onto the page; however, this does not happen every time. Quite often, when writing a paper, I struggle with wanting to make each sentence perfect from the start. I can spend hours working on one paragraph. Even worse, sometimes I realize that the paragraph that I just spent an hour writing is completely useless. I have discovered that a combination of blocking out the negative voices in my head, freewriting, and writing terrible first drafts helps me work through the arduous process of beginning a paper.

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