Mr. Rewrite is in the building
People were tweeting that "Mr. Rewrite," was in the building.
"I'm so nerdy, they think I'm cool," said Steve Elliott - AKA Mr. Rewrite, referring to tweets that were circulating at a conference he once attended.
In the right circles, Mr. Rewrite is a legend.
Nerdy really means obsessed. Elliott has the AP Stylebook app on his iPhone so he can look up mistakes in the media when he is traveling. He also purchased the AP Stylebook online so he can check style quickly at his computer.
Elliott is serious about following the AP Stylebook. He said, "Torture your students with this."
"What are the states you don't abbreviate? Drill your kids on that.... Every fifth story you write, put in a semicolon. Why? Because people will think you're smart," said Elliott.
Check out irewrite.net for entertaining videos to teach AP Style!
Gosh, I hope there are no mistakes in this blog. Mr. Rewrite is watching.
Paula Wolfe
Dubuque Senior High School
Dubuque, IA
Thanks, Paula. I appreciated Steve saying that he doesn't know everything that's in the book and that he still has to use it to check his work and his students' work.I'll have to make a conscious effort to avoid looking up answers for my students. I have the tendency to do that, especially when deadlines are approaching. I plan to buy the online edition, too, and install it on my editor-in-chief's computer.
ReplyDeleteDonna Owen
I also appreciated, like you Donna, that Steve acknowledged he doesn't know everything in the book. Few do. The point, though, is whether we know it or not we need to look it up to verify. That's a great lesson we can and should teach our students who hail from a "whatever" generation where checking details seems annoying. Just this morning I chatted with Dean Callahan praising Steve's passion for fundamentals as the "Coach Popovich" at the Cronkite School (referring to legendary tough San Antonio Spurs basketball team coach insists on the basics and argues everything should radiate from there. Lastly, to Paula's great headline, "Mr Rewrite is in the building," my inner city journalism students would simply say, "Steve-Dogg's in 'Da House!" Word!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the whole session. Can't wait to watch the rest of the Mr. Rewrite videos. I'm definitely getting the mobile app. It's the perfect nerd app!
ReplyDelete