I’m someone who hates putting things into writing on a laptop/device – especially if it is something like a blog. I mean, who wants to read the vitriol that inevitably comes out of my mouth?
Even with my study, first, in my Bachelor’s degree (officially a Flinders grad now!) and, today in my Master’s degree, I still print off stuff then scribble all over it; rather than annotating it online or in a Word document.
During my Professional Experience Placements (or Prof. Ex.), I had two different experiences. My first required hand-written drafts. The students would type them up them print them off and I would start drafting by hand. I loved it, I thrived with the handwritten drafting. Generally, I would use either a blue or red pen in order to make my annotations and thoughts more visible. My second placement required that all drafts were completed on the computer. My mentor teacher gave me the proforma to use and I followed that fairly well. I did learn quite a bit while using it too; but I felt that doing it all online, in a Word document, was impersonal. I could churn out two or three in around an hour depending on the number of errors, clarity and length of the piece. I also found myself struggling to stay focused on the screen while drafting assignments. As a Pre-Service Teacher, I struggled with drafting online and as a student, I hate it.
I still now, will type up my assignment, put it in 1.5-2.0 spacing and print it off and draft it. This blog post is being written at 10.45pm on the 7th of May 2019 in a notebook. I’ll type it up tomorrow (8th May) and post it.
(Quick side note here: I had full intentions of typing it up then but then got sidetracked by assignments. Assignments won out over typing up the blog posts.)
I find with reflective pieces of writing, that pen and paper is the way to go for me. It’s tactile and I can formulate my thoughts better because I’m not stopping to double check myself. I’m not being distracted by Facebook or Instagram (however, you can bet whatever you like that when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce the name of their son, I’ll be looking on social media!). It’s just me, my thoughts, pen and paper.
So why the little blog posts? Partly, life is nuts. Two jobs, study, plus other commitments. But also my thoughts on the modules aren’t on the computer; they’re on paper. In a notebook which I will type up and share but they’re not drafted and polished which annoys me; but I guess it helps with the reflection, right? Raw, unedited, real and (hopefully!) show what I have learnt.