Similar but oh-so-different

I have always thought of editing and proofreading to be the same thing. Apparently, I've been really wrong. Upon reading the assignment for today, I was able to clearly distinguish the difference between editing and proofreading- something I definitely could not have done before.
I found the part on editing (which took up 3/4 of the reading) to be the most helpful. Usually when editing a paper, I simply start at the beginning and go through correcting things as I go. I usually have to do this quite a few times before I notice everything. I liked how this reading narrowed editing down to 3 different sub-categories: editing paragraphs, editing sentences, and editing words. This simiply showed me a new way of doing my editing. I actually used this on my narrative final draft- so hopefully it worked. I went through, editing only the paragraphs the first time. I checked for things like a topic sentence, where my information was positioned, and if there were good transitions. Next, I went through a second time, only looking to edit the sentences. I made sure all of my sentences were complete, and I check to be sure I was using a variety of kinds of sentences. The last time, I went through only editing the words. I checked for spelling, correct word usage, etc. After doing all of this, I knew I was ready to proofread. I went through and read my story... not to pick it apart but to read for content... to make sure everything made sense as a whole. Luckily, it did to me. I thought this reading was very helpful- i've bookmarked it for further use incase I forget later!