Comments

March 26, 2023

Comments

When reading slices, do you read others’ comments before writing yours? I normally read them after I have written mine, as I want to share my perspective before getting influenced by others’ thoughts and ideas about the slice. There is so much you can glean and learn from the comments others share.

The slice has it’s own eloquence and speak in many ways to us individually, but the comments have their own way of shedding light on the text. The different perspectives and the rich thoughts and opinions make the slices even richer.

As some slices may be quite cultural and some of mine are, sometimes readers may lose the meaning and have to depend on the comments to help understand.

This reminds me of social media, when posts mean nothing to the readers, but the comments of others bring the whole story to life and takes the reader on different trajectories and lands them pondering about the meaning-what is going on and many other points.

Our students may feel that way with some of our lessons and may depend on their peers’ questions or comments to help them grasp the content.

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Juliette Awua-Kyerematen

8 responses to “Comments”

Erika

March 26, 2023 at 10:48 am

You raise some great points! One thing I dislike about reading someone’s comments before I write my own is that then it may seem I am copying another comment, even when the earlier commenter may have expressed it more clearly.

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Melanie Meehan

March 26, 2023 at 10:59 am

Love this reflection, Juliette. I try NOT to read other comments until I’ve written mine UNLESS there’s something in the slice that confuses me or that I’m not sure about. You nailed that tendency. And yes, I think there could be mirroring of this tendency that happens for students.

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Elisabeth Ellington

March 26, 2023 at 1:17 pm

Such a thoughtful reflection! I had never thought about how we might have different processes as commenters. I always read the comments first, but now I see why others would prefer to write their own comments first. I have definitely had that experience many times when I’m not sure what to think or say about a piece, and the comments bring the whole writing to life for me and help me understand on a deeper level. Thanks for inspiring my own slice this morning!

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Denise Krebs

March 26, 2023 at 2:52 pm

I love the analogy you draw at the end of your post. Yes, I like to think of it as “together we are smarter” here on the Slice of Life challenge and our students in our classroom. Amen to this: “Our students may feel that way with some of our lessons and may depend on their peers’ questions or comments to help them grasp the content.”

And I’m like you, I write my comment and then I scroll up and read previous comments to see if I am on the right track, if I can learn anything else!

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Suzanne

March 26, 2023 at 3:31 pm

I can see why Elisabeth Ellington was inspired to write on this topic after reading your slice today, Juliette. The community we create through our comments is the true beauty of what we do here. All of our varied experiences create the unique lens through which we read, process, and comment. And the educator in each of us pushes us to keep doing it, even when there is no time. And that is why we come back year after year!

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Melanie White

March 26, 2023 at 7:56 pm

You point out something incredibly important for me to consider and a perspective which I always raise with my students: “As some slices may be quite cultural and some of mine are, sometimes readers may lose the meaning and have to depend on the comments to help understand.”

What does a reader know culturally about the author or about the author’s identity and life experience which might influence their writing and the ways that they communicate an experience. I know that my close friends will understand the topic of my poems because they will have heard the story or know aspects of my life. This interaction of reader and writer is never settled and this reflection is the highlight of my reading day!

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natashadomina

March 26, 2023 at 8:44 pm

I love your ending. I hadn’t ever thought about that. Thank you for expanding my thinking!

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britt

March 27, 2023 at 2:28 am

Juliette, I’ve never thought of this!! I don’t know if it’s from nosiness or because I don’t want to say something stupid, but I definitely read or at least skim other comments before writing/posting mine haha! Thanks for sharing this thought.

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