User talk:Krozruch

Welcome

Hello! I am assuming you have come over from the English Wikipedia, so you are probably familiar with the way this wiki works. I hope you like it here and decide to stay. Here are a few links to help you adjust:

There is much to do here. For example, there are a lot of articles that do not exist yet, which you can bring over from the English Wikipedia and simplify. Do have a look around and see what you would like to do. Thank you for joining us, and you know how to contact me if you need help. MathXplore (talk) 09:13, 11 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. That's appreciated. Yes, I started over at English Wikipedia and occasionally use Simple English Wikipedia for teaching. I'm not brave / bold enough to start articles yet but I may get there in time. Krozruch (talk) 09:26, 11 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

November 2024

Welcome to Wikipedia. You might not have done it on purpose, but your recent change removed helpful information from Wikipedia. We ask that you do not remove things from pages, as you did to "Wikipedia:Schools/Projects", without giving a good reason in the change summary. If it was a mistake, do not worry. The part of the article you removed has been put back. If you want to try things out, please use the sandbox. If you would like to learn how to help Wikipedia, please see the welcome page. Thank you. Auntof6 (talk) 16:42, 21 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wow! My apologies. It was certainly a mistake and I would never intentionally remove material without a reason and a summary.. I'll take some time to puzzle over how I came to do this. I remember checking the preview of each change I made so this is somewhat puzzling (the diffs were a shock).. I must have somehow thought I was editing only one section when in fact it was more.. A mortifying error. Thanks for A> correcting it and B> the tone of your message above. Krozruch (talk) 09:47, 22 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello

Hello, Krozruch. How are things going with your class.

I was looking at some of the things your students are editing, and I noticed that they are adding complex language to articles without linking or explaining it. Is that something you plan to take care of before you and your students are finished with the articles? Here are some examples of what I'm talking about (I did not look at all the articles you're working on):

In Crohn's disease:

Complex words: chronic, immune-mediated
Complex wording: Using "such as"; we prefer using "for example," because "such as" doesn't literally mean what it's usually used for

In Caffeine:

The two lead sentences from the article were combined into one, making it less simple. The guideline Wikipedia:How to write Simple English pages explains about simple sentence structure. Generally, each sentence should have one subject and one verb, but there are exceptions.

In Anorexia nervosa:

Use of "such as" (see above)
The section on prevention has complex words and sentences. It also reads as instructional, which we try to avoid.

I am not saying that the things your students are adding are poorly written. They just need to understand the requirements for simple language that we have here. If you have any questions about this, feel free to ask. -- Auntof6 (talk) 19:32, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, thanks for the constructive comments.. This being the first time I'm working with Wikipedia in-class, I was not sure quite what to expect from the students and must confess that I expected them to be more cautious in their edits. Many of them threw themselves in and made pretty audacious edits. In giving them feedback, I tried to balance being encouraging (my typical approach in a class) and explaining what might be considered appropriate to the tone of the article. I settled on trying to let them learn as much as possible by being bold, while giving feedback with every edit...

You give some examples. I have a different approach, and a different reason for each, but do aim to encourage the students to work towards simplicity / an appropriate style over a number of edits.. The group working on Crohn's disease spent a lot of time trying to work through whether or not it is an autoimmune condition and combined two paragraphs.

The caffeine edit was one I almost rolled back myself. The group had missed all classes about the project and then threw themselves in. Even now a roll back might be the most appropriate action.

The anorexia group was pretty bold. I read it over before they posted and told them that the final paragraph is instructional and does not suit an encyclopedia article but held back from telling them to delete it. Instead, I told them they might come back to edit it later. This may have been the wrong approach as an editor. It felt right at that moment as a teacher. In time, I would know better how to balance those two roles.

In terms of the level of complexity, I worked with Simple English Wikipedia much more a few years ago when I taught kids. I will find a level and work towards it. It may be that I may make a few edits myself before the class next week but I will certainly have a list for them to work over before we break for Christmas...

Thanks for your help. I appreciate your constructive tone and hope we're not making too much of a mess of things. Krozruch (talk) 21:59, 16 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Krozruch: We try to be more lenient with class projects, at least while the class is still ongoing. It's certainly reasonable to expect things to change/improve over time. It may seem counter-intuitive, but it's actually harder to write in simple English than to write in regular English. -- Auntof6 (talk) 01:20, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]