The Sloppy Copy

This week was interesting in class; we discussed writing, and focused on prewriting. When I was in elementary school my teachers stressed the importance of prewriting. We always would have to brainstorm for ten minutes before we could begin a first draft. The first draft was always referred to “sloppy copy” (which I learned was not a good idea, because this phrase makes it seem like the first draft is not important). Everyone in my class would rush through the “sloppy copy” so we could type our final draft. My class also had a word wall with words we were learning, and a “make it beautiful wall”. The “make it beautiful wall” was full of adjectives and we were required to use at least ten words from the wall to make our papers “beautiful”.
Having a blog has made me concerned about my writing and thinking about what I say before I type, and definitely has made me aware of the importance of proofreading. I am not sure I like the blog yet, I do not really like having to make sure I write on it once a week, I think I would like the blog more if it wasn’t graded and I could just write about my experiences with my tutoring or something like that. Although I don’t really like having to write on it, I see the importance of it because it makes me reflect on class (Meredith College is REALLY BIG on reflecting) and on my past experiences. So although I don’t “LOVE” the blog, I know it is really important.
My opinions have of writing have really changed this semester about the “sloppy copy”. By being referred to as sloppy copy in school it made me rush to finish it, therefore, when I write papers now, I don’t plan, I rush through my sloppy copy, proofread, fix, and I am done. If my teachers had referred to it my best first draft I might not be this way now. I feel the context we use when referring to something can really affect our students’ future
A project we are beginning is the book project I really think my book will include my experience of leaving home and going to college but I am not a 100% sure yet, it might be about when I found out my dad had cancer, or it could be a mix of it all my senior year of high school losing my band director to sleep apnea, my brother attempting suicide and then finding out about daddy’s cancer then having to leave home. I am not sure I want to do the last topic yet because I am still dealing with it in a way and I am not sure I am ready to confront that yet.