some examples of student comments

"After this insightful reading into the types of dialogues, I think that I for one have been using speech that I thought was "formal" but actually isn't. I also learned a lot about how there are different ways to express certain types of speech when writing." MT

"After reading this informative article on appropriate words, I realized that some things that I say on a regular basis or when I am writing, people make take personal offense to." LG

"There is such a thing as sexism, but a lot of these examples are really pushing it. Stereotypes are a good thing to avoid, I agree, but I guarantee that 90% of the people reading this packet said "But that's true!" to at least one of the examples. I think that stereotypes have their place, but I agree they should be kept very far from formal writing. But take my comments with a grain of salt, I have never been described as an advocate for political correctness." NH

"This really informed me on different words that I am not supposed to use. Before i read this i used probably 1/3 of the things it says not to use. So from now on my writing will be better and won't offend anyone with the words that i use." JS

"This was quite a fascinating read, I don’t think I have ever thought about words themselves so much! Words and sentence meaning can have large implications..." JR

Blogging gives everyone a chance to form and express their opinion before presenting it in a face-to-face classroom discussion, where a student will also be thinking about how others, including the teacher, will react to his or her views. I have found it to be a very effective way to start the conversation. And, I don't know if I have ever encountered a student who would admit that a reading about grammar was at all "fascinating"!