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Welcome to the final episode of the Dyslexic Student Social Worker. This post will provide you with tips and tricks on how to proof-read your work. A vital skil that will follow you into your working life.
Proofreading
Proof reading was not something I was accustomed to before university, and it took me the full 3 years to get into the swing of it. So, what is proof reading? And do you have to do it?
Proof reading is the process of identifying your own mistakes in your written work and correcting them ready for submission. It is an important part of academic writing as it ensures what you’re writing makes sense, your argument is evidenced and your argument is well communicated/structured. Proof reading will additionally enable you to bag a few extra points in your essays for polishing your written product.
Proof reading is not just a must at university whilst you are studying, it is also essential in your practice moving forward. After all we will be expected to write referrals, assessments, and case notes. All of which could be read by those you are writing them for and are being read by other professionals. Thus, it is important for all of your written work in practice to be coherent, informative and mindfully written, which will provide informative information to children should they request their file later in life.
Try to- leave a day between finishing your essay and proofreading it. You won't be so close to your work, so you will see your errors more easily and be less precious about the essay. This is not always easy in practice, you may need to send a referral the same day or have a tight timescale to complete an assessment. In this instance, try and have a break in-between reading and ensure your mind is taken away from the written work fully before returning (otherwise you have to ask, was it really a break?).
Read aloud- reading aloud will slow you down, make you focus on each word, and show you when your sentences are too long. Similarly, if you’re working on Microsoft Word, use the read aloud feature. You will be able to hear the mistakes out loud and also adjust the speed it reads at. At work, try and book a private office space when you know you will be sitting down and writing, this way you won't distract or be distracted by others. If you're working from home (and no one in the home can hear you) mutter to yourself.
Once paragraph at a time please- If you get feedback that you need to improve your sentences and sentance structure, try working on one paragraph at a time when proof reading. Additionally, when proof reading or writing, try putting each sentence on a new line. This will make it much easier to spot common errors, for instance, sentences which depend on another sentence for their meaning, or are missing parts. Once you've checked it, you can join all the sentences back up in the paragraph again and move on to the next.
Use your friends- It can help to have a friend read through your work. Ask them to do this on a hard copy or tracked changes so you can see their comments-it will help you improve your own proof-reading skills. In practice, you can ask a colleague or your manager to review a piece of work, and you could return the favour as a fresh pair of eyes for them too.
Multi-task- While you're proof-reading, be cheeky (or smart) and check that your references are complete, accurate and consistently formatted. Check for sweeping statements and references missing a page number or year!
I hope you are able to use at least one tip or trick from this series of blog posts created to assist you in your Social Work studies- and in this one, placement! If you have any tips which I have not mentioned, please get in contact, leave a comment or share on your own social media account.
If you would like to see a particular topic or question answered, or you would like to write your own post, please get in touch.
Thank you for reading!
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