About
THE REASON
Here's the space where students of English as a foreign language learn and practice to actually use the language. Some pour their hearts out, push on, despite limitations. Some fell to the lure of artificial comfort and float.
Here's the color they bring to the world. A drop of ink disintegrated, dissolved, and seemingly disappear. Beseeching the particles to journey on. From an overlooked spot on the blue dot where a line slices a day in half. Through the ripples of the murky waters, among the dark waves, and into the vastness.
Here's hoping, over yonder, they glisten. Or burn to ashes...
After kindling.
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THE PROCESS
R/W Course Restructure and Newsroom Workflow
Phase 1: Foundation and Roles
Assessment and Grouping: We started with an assessment (Paragraph, Sentence Construction, Verb Form) to sort students into Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced groups. This was non-negotiable for effective management.
The Newsroom Model: We established clear roles to create accountability and a natural audience:
Chief Editor (Me): Overall structure, final approval, and handling all L1-to-L2 translation (initially).
Editors (Advanced Students): Peer review and structural guidance for Mid-level writers.
Writers (All Students): Production of content for the class blog.
Shared Reading Component: We run a shared reading component using The Old Man and the Sea to unify the class with an authentic English text and build vocabulary through context, not rote memorization.
Phase 2: The First Article (AI Restriction and The Bottleneck)
The first article proved the concept but exposed a massive bottleneck: me.
The Rough Process: Basic students drafted in Indonesian (L1) to capture ideas. The editors and I translated it with them sentence-by-sentence into English (L2). This process was critical for foundational learning but was incredibly time-consuming.
The Editor Challenge: The Advanced students (Editors) were not effective in fixing basic grammar; they often struggled to move beyond finding simple errors to address structural issues like paragraph coherence.
The Time Gap: Students finished at different times, leading to downtime and classroom noise. We solved this by implementing the Flexible Newsroom Model, defining dedicated, productive “workstations” (Reading Nook, Reflection Desk, Editor’s Corner) for self-directed learning during wait times.
Phase 3: The Pivot (Article 2 and Beyond) — AI and Accountability
To eliminate the bottleneck and force accountability, we pivoted the workflow for the second article to use AI as a required mechanical editor, freeing human time for high-level structure.
AI as Translator/Editor (L1-to-L2): Basic students now draft in L1, use AI/tools for translation, and Intermediate/Advanced writers draft directly in L2. This eliminates the translation burden entirely.
Peer Editing Refocused: Editors now check two high-value items:
Mechanics: Simple punctuation and spelling (as a final check).
Idea Separation: Ensuring each paragraph has one main idea.
The Verbal Defense and Learning Loop: This is the core accountability mechanism for the final review (with me). While correcting the paper I ask the student to defend their writing:
The Test: I question them on the flow of ideas in their paragraphs, the intent behind their grammar choices, and their vocabulary.
The Consequence:
If they can’t quickly explain their ideas, they must rewrite to ensure full comprehension.
If they can’t explain a grammar rule or vocabulary choice, they must use AI to teach them the rule and report back the explanation.
This final step turns the AI from a writing crutch into a personalized, mandatory grammar tutor. It forces students to engage with the corrections and articulate the rules, addressing the deficit in grammatical intent and structural knowledge. It’s a challenging system, but it ensures that every student is learning the “hard way” while maximizing our limited time as instructors.