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Part two of the Dyslexic Student Social Worker moves on from exploring how to write lecture notes and moves on to discuss essays. Read more to find some tips on essay planning, essay hacks and advice on how to break down essay questions.
Writing Essays
Essay writing is a daunting task, dyslexic or not. There is reading, planning and time management to tackle... all for one task, which is pivotal for your knowledge, understanding and getting you to your social work career. I was fortunate to receive 1:1 dyslexia support with my essay writing, from this support, I was taught from the very beginning what essay writing is and how to prepare to write an essay/present an argument.
Below are a few tips that my amazing tutor shared with me along my journey, which eventually enabled me to pass the social work degree. I hope these are useful tips for your own essay writing and preparation.
Break the question down- My biggest mistake when writing my first essay was reading the question once and then writing a plan straight away. The mistake here was that I didn’t decipher the question and look for the ‘instructional verbs’ (Eg. argue, analyse and compare) and would go off explaining something rather than following the instruction. So… read the question a couple of times and break it down. Highlight the key instructions in the question and write down what it is asking you to do. See below for a list of common instructional words and their meaning; also see: https://blogs.bath.ac.uk/academic-and-employability-skills/2020/10/02/understanding-instruction-words-in-academic-essay-titles/
Speak into a recorder before you put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)- The thinking here is that a lot of dyslexic students are often great verbal communicators, articulating their points very well and hence show what wonderful learners they can be. However, we are often non-linear thinkers, it can often be a challenge to convert that lovely learning into the traditional linear format of an essay.
Create a flow diagram of your argument so you can see its sequences and order- Creating a flow diagram of your essay and the points you want to make will also help with writing an essay in the traditional linier format. If this is done on a word document, I-Pad or on a whiteboard, it can be edited as you go along and read new things.
Plan- Planning is very important as a dyslexic learner. Because of this, I have a few planning points to make:
Plan every project you have, especially a written essay. Plan your introduction, your main body and your conclusion. Show this plan to the marking lecturer to ensure you have included everything you need in order to gain the mark you want, additionally ask for guidance to see where you could strengthen your essay and to see if you have missed anything out. (see my very old and brief example that I have pulled off of my dusty undergraduate memory stick).
Outline the tasks before you start an essay/project- What do you need to read? How many days will you need to read? How long will it take to write a plan? How many sections do you need in the essay? How can you break the words up? Think it through in your head and figure out what steps you’ll have to take so you know what you’ll need and how much time to allow to get it done.
Physically draw out a calendar of your task timescales that you can pin up in your room and see- colour coordinate the tasks to each assignment so you can see them explicitly. Don’t be afraid to ask a teacher, peer, or tutor to assist you, they may benefit from this technique too.
Reading first, or plan whilst reading?- My advice would be to do your general reading before planning and writing. This will enable you to get a feel for the topic before you set out to plan. When you are planning, this means you can go into greater depth.
Adjust your computer settings- When you are finally sat at your computer writing the essay, having planned the most informative and constructive essay you can, adjust the background colour of your screen. This can reduce distractions and make it faster to navigate a desktop. Whilst you’re making adjustments, use a bigger text size, this will make documents easier to read!
Work your words- Working your words could mean expanding your vocabulary, it could also mean utilising your current vocabulary to be as clear and informative as possible.
Whilst completing your reading, figure out which vocabulary is important for this particular subject, find a creative way to remember these words- put them on a poster or create a character for the word- and play around using them in a sentence. This could help pick your grades up and is kind of fun at the same time.
Use plain language - you don't have to search for a more "academic-sounding" word when a simple one will do. Markers are looking for clear and accurate expression of ideas, not jargon or confusing language. Shorter sentences are usually clearer than long complex ones, but make sure it is a whole sentence and not just a clause or phrase.
Be kind to yourself- Write in short stints. Do not feel as though you need to be sat in front of the computer for hours at a time. I often found that I was at my most productive when I was working for 1.5-2 hours at a time. It helped me focus and meant I wasn’t wearing myself out.
Bit by bit- Divide your ideas into sections and tackle one section at a time.
I hope you are able to use at least one tip or trick from this blog post to assist you in your studies. If you have any tips which I have not mentioned, please get in contact, leave a comment or share on your own social media.
Thank you for reading and look out for episode 3 of the Dyslexic Student Social Worker!
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