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Hello. This is a short video on reviewing, revising and editing your piece - finishing
your SAC or exam task well.As a teacher, it's interesting to observe how students behave
in a SAC or exam.
Almost without exception, students begin well: focused, determined, active, engaged, productive.
Hopefully they're aiming for their best level of performance. It may not be an A+, just
their own best. Look at the concentration on this guy's face. I see that in classes.
But with some students something funny happens somewhere beyond the halfway mark. They stop
and call it a day. It's like they feel they're finished, job done.
They're thinking may I be excused now? Sorry, guys, but no. Unless they're in the Year 12
final exam, they're there for the whole time.
And so for the rest of the SAC or exam there they are, "so bored". But what's harder? Sitting
idle and bored for the next 50min or doing something with that time? How about proof-reading,
editing, revising?
Maybe at this point in the task you're thinking, "Can't do that...I just WROTE the piece. My
brain is toast." That's OK.
Check the clock. Gauge the time you have left. Give yourself maybe 5-10min, put your head
down if you want...
Have a little rest.
But then get going again and look over your work with new eyes.
Start with proof-reading.
Take your time. Check over your piece sentence by sentence, each in isolation. Proof-read
each sentence for correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Does each sentence make sense?
Then move on to reviewing and revising, which is different to proof-reading for errors.
A good memory devide is to think ARRR!
[Pirate voice: Arrr!] Actually, not that kind of ARRR. This ARRR is 4 steps in reviewing
your piece.
A stands for ADD. What can you add to what you've already written? Are there words missing
you need to add in? Do you need to add a sentence to clarify a point or idea? Would an extra
quote or example improve your piece?
R is for REMOVE. Are there any ideas, words, sentences or even whole paragraphs that should
be removed?
The second R is for REPLACE. Look for expression, words and vocabulary that can be replaced
with more effective alternatives to improve expression and achieve your purpose more effectively.
The final R is for REARRANGE. Look at the structure of each paragraph, and the overall
structure of your piece. Are you happy with the sequence of ideas? Is the fluency and
logical progression of ideas improved by rearranging some of your piece?
So next time you finish that SAC or exam task early, maybe do think like a pirate and use
all the time you've been blessed with for the task - after all your teacher has allocated
a certain duration for the task because they believe it's what you'll need to complete
the task well. And why not aim for your best, and keep working toward it right to the end?
After all...
Remember the alternative? Do you want to be THIS guy?
Or THIS guy? Not that I'm saying that you can't get an A+ if you stop early... It's
just that in my experience it rarely happens. On the contrary, usually the highest achievers
for a particular SAC went right down to the wire. Don't YOU want to achieve your best?
I really hope so.