Testimonials
The best learning activities are easy to grasp but challenging to complete. They capture learners’ attention and keep them engaged. Stylefit successfully combines both of these important qualities. Students get it straight away and want to keep trying until they succeed. The instant and accessible feedback and feed forward direction shows them how to create the style of writing they are aiming for.
Stylefit is a powerful pedagogical tool for improving students’ writing.
With Stylefit, I’ve got more efficient at [writing]. It helps me work on the parts I’m struggling with.
It’s good because it makes you think for yourself.
Recently we were fortunate to have three young people (10 years to 16 years) trial Stylefit . They were interested to see if it would help them with their school work … and so were we. Each had a different device: android smart phone, iPad and laptop. This was really exciting because we believed it could not work on a smart phone yet this young student accessed Stylefit, ran his work through it and was soon playing with the words to get his essay to shift into different sections of Stylefit. His younger brother typed some words directly into the submit box and it landed outside the grid to the right and to the bottom. We suggested he add adjectives, perhaps a few nouns and see what happened. We then went on the work with the other student whose work landed on the grid but she wanted to see if she could shift it. She set about doing that. When we went back to young lad with the iPad he had shifted his piece onto the grid. When we asked what he thought of his piece now compared to when it landed off the grid he said, “It was better because it had more detail, was more interesting and read better.”
I would like to acknowledge Suraya with a big thank you for the help she has given me with The Story Mint and writing styles. I am a 47 year old Maori male who never had the skills for writing. Suraya has shown me different ways to improve my writing skills. The Story Mint programme online was presented to me step by step.
Stylefit
After the first introduction, I had a fair idea how to use Stylefit. I had prepared a written story “thinking that it was or good.” I put my story in Stylefit and submitted it. My understanding is that this programme has got an automated writing assessment tool. To me this means it can give you fine tuning with your writing.
The Stylefit programme has got a colour-coded grid system. Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and Adverbs are colour-coded to show your writing style. My story didn’t even get on the grid. It was way off in never land. The Stylefit feedback was suggesting me to add more adjectives, adverbs in the story. It was confusing at first but slowly following the instruction of the Stylefit programme and with Suraya’s support, I eventually got on the grid. I was ecstatic
I believe this Stylefit is going to help me to improve the way I write reports, speeches and all round writing. I have still got room to learn more and to share my experience with others. I’m always going to continue using The Story Mint’s Stylefit.
I’ve never seen my teachers so excited!
My senior teachers came to me excited about discovering the benefits of Stylefit. They had entered our students in the competition and trialled Stylefit with Year 4-6 and couldn’t believe how good it was. Suddenly our capable writers were being extended beyond their comfort zone and it was the software that was giving them the student agency to grow their writing skills. Now we have signed up for the rest of the year and will look at carrying on next year. With the new expectations coming in as prerequisites to NCEA our students will have an advantage being part of Stylefit.
It was great to see my students using Stylefit. I could immediately see the benefits for their writing skills. I think you have a really good product.
It is great because teachers can set work for the class and then concentrate on those students who need help.
I can see all of their stories and their analysis. They have loved using Stylefit to get feedback!
Stylefit was an absolute god-send for me writing my first book. It enabled me, as a novice writer, to write in the style I most admired in certain well-known authors. As a result, readers find the story engaging and easy to read. One 5-star review on Amazon said in part, “Explaining the process as part of the story made the book much more readable and enjoyable. Even a few laughs. How often do you get that from a business book?”
Stylefit is a fantastic product, now made even better with the recent upgrade.
When we demonstrated Stylefit at Matipo School we became acutely aware of two Maori boys playing rock, paper, scissors and laughing out loud. We had to instruct them to ‘be quiet’. Eventually they were. However, we later learned that this was usual behaviour. Marion Clark, their teacher, said she could not get them engaged in school work regardless of what she tried. We set the class the writing task of telling us what they liked about Matipo School. These two boys wrote a few things and were amazed when their result put them in an almost perfect position on the grid which reflects a pictorial analysis of some of the western world’s best writing. When their teacher read out their piece of writing and asked the class why it was so good, the class agreed it had great description and was interesting. Those two boys changed in that moment. Their faces lit up and they gave each other high fives. From that day on they continued to arrive at school early so that they could do their writing.
I believe that The Story Mint is a great way to not only show your work but receive amazing critique. What sets it apart from other writing sites is its professionalism throughout the community that make reviews more constructive. Anyone can participate while interacting with published and aspiring authors world-wide. The Story Mint is a mature, user-friendly site that is active for all members and offers the best of criticism and improvement.
