But I'm Not an English Teacher! Part One
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Teaching Report Writing:
“But I’m Not an English
Teacher!”
Part One
by Jean Reynolds,
Ph.D.
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I’m Jean Reynolds, an author and
longtime English instructor.
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I often discuss report writing with
academy instructors.
Here’s something I
hear all the time:
“But I’m not an
English teacher!”
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Many students have a similar complaint:
“But I wasn’t good
at English when I
was in school!”
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The good news is that you don’t have to be an
English whiz to write effective reports—or to
be an effective instructor for report writing.
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The keys to success are…
instruction
practice
accountability
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Today you’re going to watch three
videos that offer practical strategies for
raising students’ writing levels quickly.
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First, here are some essential
principles.
1. Students should
practice writing
every day.
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This is why your lesson plans always
include a journal activity.
Some students
may not have done
much writing in
school.
They need to
develop fluency
and confidence.
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2. Everything students write should be
checked twice before it’s graded.
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It should be checked by the
writer…
(this is why
students must
complete a writing
checklist)
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…and by a small group of students.
(this is why every
writing assignment
is followed by a
group process)
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3. Most writing problems have three
causes:
Students are in a
hurry
Students write like
they talk
Students have some
gaps in English
usage
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4. Most usage problems can be
prevented...
…by writing
simple,
straightforward
sentences.
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If you start most sentences with a
person, place, or thing, you won’t need
sophisticated punctuation.
You can usually
just put a
period at the
end of the
sentence.
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Here are two versions of the same
information.
Richards started to slide his right hand into
his right front pocket. Upon seeing this
movement, I proceeded to grab his right hand
and told him to stop.
Richards started to slide his right hand into
his right front pocket. I grabbed his right
hand and told him to stop.
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Which version is easier to write?
Richards started to slide his right hand into
his right front pocket. Upon seeing this
movement, I proceeded to grab his right hand
and told him to stop. COMPLICATED
Richards started to slide his right hand into
his right front pocket. I grabbed his right
hand and told him to stop. BETTER
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Sometimes students are confused by
what they’ve learned in the past.
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In fact students sometimes disagree with
me about English usage!
For example, I
require students to
spell a lot as two
words.
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But students have told me that a past
instructor told them to spell a lot as
one word.
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And then I’ll get an argument about this
sentence: The chief commended my
partner and me for our quick thinking. ✔
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“The chief commended my partner and I
for our quick thinking.” X
“The chief commended my partner and
me for our quick thinking.” ✔
Some students say they were told it
should be my partner and I.
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And then there are quotation marks.
In American
punctuation,
commas and periods
always go inside
quotation marks.
There are no
exceptions, ever.
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But in every class I’ve taught, there are
always a few students who say they
were taught a different system.
Who’s right, and
who’s wrong?
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Here’s how I handle it.
I explain that sometimes students forget what a teacher said years ago…
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…or they may
have misheard
what the teacher
said…
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Or the teacher may have
unintentionally passed on some
misinformation.
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The information in Criminal Justice
Report Writing is based on professional
writing principles.
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I have a doctorate
in English, and I’ve
published 11
books.
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Students who continue
to doubt can verify the
correctness of the rules
by checking Internet or
library resources.
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The Online Writing Lab at Purdue:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu
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This video is going
to review some
basic punctuation
issues—a kind of
heads-up of
questions that
might arise when
you’re teaching.
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You can refer to
Criminal Justice
Report Writing for
additional
examples and
practice exercises.
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First, let’s deal with
commas.
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You can avoid most comma problems by
starting each sentence with a person,
place, or thing.
Simple,
straightforward
sentences don’t
require fancy
punctuation.
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If you start a sentence differently, you
may need to deal with commas.
Clarkson told me her husband usually worked
until 10 or 11 PM.
When I questioned Clarkson, she told me her
husband usually worked until 10 or 11 PM.
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Commas are also necessary if you
change your voice in a sentence.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it,
is to seize the illegal shipment.
Jane’s brother, who has a cocaine habit, has
been stealing from her.
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What about semicolons? They’re just like
periods, but there’s no capital letter.
You’re making two sentences into one.
I approached the dog. It snarled at me.
I approached the dog; it snarled at me.
There’s no need to use semicolons in a police
report. Just end every sentence with a
period.
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Our next topic is
quotation marks.“”
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First I want to talk about a problem
always comes up when I teach
quotation marks: Students start
arguing!
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In the US, periods
and commas always
go inside quotation
marks.
You can verify this
yourself by picking
up any book,
magazine, or
newspaper published
in the US.
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In the United States, periods and
commas always go inside quotation
marks.
When I questioned Phillips about the
argument, he told me it was “a
private matter.”
“It’s just a scratch,” said Benton.
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But there’s always a student who insists he
was taught to place periods outside
quotation marks.
When this happens, I always ask the student
to do some research and report back to me.
That usually clears up the issue.
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What about apostrophes? There are
three simple rules:
1. Use
apostrophes only
in contractions
(didn’t, couldn’t)
and “of”
expressions
(Taylor’s badge).
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Apostrophes don’t mean “more than
one.”
We’re serving hot
dogs, hamburgers,
sodas, and
cupcakes at this
year’s Open
House.
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This year’s Open House = “Open House
of this year.”
We’re serving hot
dogs, hamburgers,
sodas, and
cupcakes at this
year’s Open
House.
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Place the apostrophe after the last
letter of the word or name.
Bill Carter
The Carters
Sally Jones
the baby
the babies
a family
the families
Bill Carter’s job
The Carters’ house
Sally Jones’ wallet
the baby’s medicine
the babies’ health
a family’s vacation
the families’ problems
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The old “before the s if it’s singular, after
the s if it’s plural” rule isn’t reliable.
Bill Carter
The Carters
Sally Jones
the baby
the babies
a family
the families
Bill Carter’s job
The Carters’ house
Sally Jones’ wallet
the baby’s medicine
the babies’ health
a family’s vacation
the families’ problems
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Here are three words that students will
be required to memorize.
Notice that the apostrophe comes after
the last letter.
men men’s
women women’s
children children’s
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Criminal Justice Report Writing offers
detailed explanations that students can study,
along with practice exercises.
As students work
step-by-step through
the book, they will
gain confidence and
competence with the
writing skills needed
for effective reports.