So THAT'S why professors don't read papers...

I think my biggest surprise has been along the same lines as Shaun talked about: how far there is between the students who get it and the students who don’t. Along with that, I’ve been really surprised by how often A-student announces the answer (“in this essay Zinczenko is arguing that fast food industries are to blame”) and I’ll still get in-class writing and re-submitted summaries that say Zinczenko is talking about latch-key kids and personal responsibility. I’ve also been surprised how much work it is to grade papers. Whoa. I know novice teachers spend too much time trying to say everything and fix everything, so I’ve started setting a timer. It keeps me moving. It also keeps me mindful – Student B doesn’t participate in class and only comes half the time, so I catch myself skimming over it and moving on to Student C who comments every day and comes to class prepared. I try to minimize my comments, then worry that I’m denying them a valuable learning experience, so I go back and add more, then realize just how much stuff I’ve written and how the student doesn’t care so I need to just move on. Yikes. Now I understand why so many professors hand back papers with a few check-marks in the margins and 1-2 notes at the end. The 6822 readings we’ve had about feedback have been helpful. Now it’s a matter of practice and getting a system.