I received one more essay via e-mail today, which means I'm only missing essays from a handful of students rather than half the class. Not bad, eh? I haven't asked for any excuses, but they've offered them readily enough. My favorite: "Every time I sit down to send my essay, I forget how to spell your name." Ha. So this is my first rant: How can I even begin to grade a paper I don't have? Enlighten me.
I feel your pain, Emily. The first read-through was a painful experience, as I kept slapping my hand on my forehead. I realized pretty quickly that I haven't taught them much--and definitely haven't covered citations thoroughly enough (I thought five times ought to do). A few are grasping the concept, so I guess the key is constant repetition. Incidentally, a member of the Collective Brain wrote a beautiful paper, and when I start to get frustrated, I look at her intro to make myself happy again. Woooo! Go, Brain! You did it, girl!
My personal pet peeve--and major rant--is about drive-by quotations.
INTRODUCE YOUR QUOTES, PEOPLE!
During the workshopping I pointed these out right and left. The students were doing a great job of finding them in each other's papers, and I seriously thought we had the quote concept licked. I'm still finding them, though. It's like they can't help themselves. Oh, yeah, we're going to cover direct quotations again. And again. And again.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Rants
I started grading the essays today. So far, they have been pretty bad. I found myself marking comma splice after comma splice. I also started to wonder if they knew what connecting a text with another meant. I am getting sick of reading summaries that don't tell me anything, that don't argue anything, and that don't connect with a nonexistent thesis.
But, I just pushed forward and read one more. I found an essay that had a thesis, argued for it, connected the texts beautifully, and basically did the assignment correctly. I guess I am reading all of the terrible ones so I can have a purely joyous experience when I get to read one like this. I feel renewed and ready to read more just because of this one good essay. Pathetic? Maybe.
But, I just pushed forward and read one more. I found an essay that had a thesis, argued for it, connected the texts beautifully, and basically did the assignment correctly. I guess I am reading all of the terrible ones so I can have a purely joyous experience when I get to read one like this. I feel renewed and ready to read more just because of this one good essay. Pathetic? Maybe.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Seven Deadly Sins of Writing
I found this website today. It might be helpful. I think I might incorporate something like a "Grammar Tip of the Day" in my classroom so we can always be reviewing what they are struggling with in their writing. I think 5 minutes on an issue I see or something they have questions about will be worthwhile. Anyway, here's the website for the seven deadly sins of writing!
http://www.hamilton.edu/writing/sins.html
http://www.hamilton.edu/writing/sins.html
Constructive Criticism
I thought the essays we read about not grading were great ideas, but they could never really work. As a student, if my teacher did not give me a grade, I would be upset. Part of my drive for going to school is to do well and be competitive. I like to feel like I'm accomplishing something and moving forward. It is especially rewarding to receive a lowish grade on a first paper and then to improve throughout the semester and receive a high grade on a final paper. (No, I'm not suggesting that you should grade me this way, Dr. Rogers). My point is that grades help motivate me to want to do better. Maybe this is not true for everybody.
I have always been this way. When I did my first piano competition in third grade, I sucked. I received a horrible rating and found myself embarrassed because I realized that all the other kids could play a lot better than I could. Instead of going home and crying about it and quitting, I was motivated to practice more so I could catch up to the others. I spent an hour a day at the piano and eventually started winning the piano competitions. In this sense, receiving a "bad grade" helped to motivate me to become better. I think the same can be applied to writing.
However, giving somebody a straight grade without constructive criticism would be irresponsible. I think the point in the essays we read was largely this. Teachers need to tell students about their writing and how they can improve it so students will learn more from their teacher's "grade." Getting a C but not knowing why it was received is useless to a student who wants to improve the next time. Giving ways that students can improve, pointing out their strengths, and then giving a grade seems like a better way to evaluate student writing.
I have always been this way. When I did my first piano competition in third grade, I sucked. I received a horrible rating and found myself embarrassed because I realized that all the other kids could play a lot better than I could. Instead of going home and crying about it and quitting, I was motivated to practice more so I could catch up to the others. I spent an hour a day at the piano and eventually started winning the piano competitions. In this sense, receiving a "bad grade" helped to motivate me to become better. I think the same can be applied to writing.
However, giving somebody a straight grade without constructive criticism would be irresponsible. I think the point in the essays we read was largely this. Teachers need to tell students about their writing and how they can improve it so students will learn more from their teacher's "grade." Getting a C but not knowing why it was received is useless to a student who wants to improve the next time. Giving ways that students can improve, pointing out their strengths, and then giving a grade seems like a better way to evaluate student writing.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Grading Rants
As you grade, you will no doubt become acutely aware of what little things bug the crap out of you. I'd like to see you use this space to talk about what they're doing that bugs you and why.
I'll start:
WHEN I SAY FOUR PAGES, I MEAN ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH PAGE, NOT THREE PAGES AND HALFWAY DOWN THE FOURTH. NOT THREE PAGES AND A LITTLE AT THE TOP OF THE FOURTH. NOT THREE PAGES AND ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF THE WAY DOWN THE FOURTH PAGE.
Three students are simply getting their papers back to them Wednesday--along with an explanation that if they ask me for 4 dollars and I give them $3.50, I haven't given them what they asked for.
I'll start:
WHEN I SAY FOUR PAGES, I MEAN ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FOURTH PAGE, NOT THREE PAGES AND HALFWAY DOWN THE FOURTH. NOT THREE PAGES AND A LITTLE AT THE TOP OF THE FOURTH. NOT THREE PAGES AND ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF THE WAY DOWN THE FOURTH PAGE.
Three students are simply getting their papers back to them Wednesday--along with an explanation that if they ask me for 4 dollars and I give them $3.50, I haven't given them what they asked for.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Give Me A "G" (for grading)
I found these essays very interesting but largely improbable. You can't tear down a system without replacing it with something else--and neither author had a convincing assertion about what that replacement should be.
Like Tamar, I wasn't a huge fan of the Baumrind essay. I do agree with Baumrind that students will not automatically soar to success without the weight of grading to hold them down. Ha! Take away the grading system--or something like it--and you take away motivation for 99.9% of them. Baumrind suggests a grade based on the amount of work completed by the end of the term, but what quality of work will you be receiving? Will they actually do any of the reading they say they're going to?
One of my undergrad English classes was set up much this way. Our grade consisted of two essays, both handed in the last night of class, combined with the amount of reading we had done. We simply told the professor on the last night of class what we had completed. I've always been obsessive about my grades, yet I did the minimum required for my A. I didn't kill myself off writing the papers, either. It just didn't matter. Sure there was less stress, but I think I was capable of much better work. At the very least I would have liked more guidance.
Another professor graded solely on the length of the essays handed in. To him, more was better. This class drove me insane, especially because I suspected (and still do) that he didn't read the writing at all. I was so tempted to insert random sentences just to test him, but never did. My grade was tied to wordiness, and I learned how to perform.
I liked the Elbow essay much better than Baumrind. Evaluation takes more time, but seems more fair. Writing is a complicated business--it only follows that a single letter grade is too simple to account for all that goes into the process. Written comments can offer guidance and support toward better writing. If only we could ensure that students would read the comments! I'm sure, like me, you can tell which students in your class read what you write on their assignments.
Elbow mentions the need for an evaluation-free zone, or unevaluated assignment. This has a lot of merit. One student in my class was struggling with the in-class writing until I told her I was not grading her on her spelling or grammar skills. I wanted her to grab hold of the ideas we had talked about in class, but she was so worried about spelling she couldn't even complete a sentence. This experience changed the way I respond to in-class writing. If they give me an honest effort, they get credit for the writing. I limit my comments to the positive things that I see happening in their writing. I've noticed they write a lot more now.
Elbow argues that successful writing teachers like their students and their writing. He's on to something here. I do not want to turn into the grouchy teacher that everyone avoids and invents stories about. I do love a good story, though.
Elbow was uncomfortable with the power grading gave him, and I see his point. As a teacher, grading scares me to death. It is so arbitrary--but it does help motivate some students to work harder. There's a fine line between motivation and discouragement. Taylor, my complainer, can whine about the assignment, but he's still going to do it so he doesn't have to take 1010 for a third time (he told me this today). But what about the student who progresses from the "absolute train wreck" to "minor accident" paper? The Collective Brain on my front row are such examples. They are working so hard--and still falling far short of the ideal "A". Do I give them the grade I should and discourage them? Or do I take into account the progression and hard work I've seen? Which is most fair? Grades can never reflect determination, and these girls have it in spades. Grading is the best option for Taylor; evaluation would be best for The Collective Brain. As with most complicated questions, maybe the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
Like Tamar, I wasn't a huge fan of the Baumrind essay. I do agree with Baumrind that students will not automatically soar to success without the weight of grading to hold them down. Ha! Take away the grading system--or something like it--and you take away motivation for 99.9% of them. Baumrind suggests a grade based on the amount of work completed by the end of the term, but what quality of work will you be receiving? Will they actually do any of the reading they say they're going to?
One of my undergrad English classes was set up much this way. Our grade consisted of two essays, both handed in the last night of class, combined with the amount of reading we had done. We simply told the professor on the last night of class what we had completed. I've always been obsessive about my grades, yet I did the minimum required for my A. I didn't kill myself off writing the papers, either. It just didn't matter. Sure there was less stress, but I think I was capable of much better work. At the very least I would have liked more guidance.
Another professor graded solely on the length of the essays handed in. To him, more was better. This class drove me insane, especially because I suspected (and still do) that he didn't read the writing at all. I was so tempted to insert random sentences just to test him, but never did. My grade was tied to wordiness, and I learned how to perform.
I liked the Elbow essay much better than Baumrind. Evaluation takes more time, but seems more fair. Writing is a complicated business--it only follows that a single letter grade is too simple to account for all that goes into the process. Written comments can offer guidance and support toward better writing. If only we could ensure that students would read the comments! I'm sure, like me, you can tell which students in your class read what you write on their assignments.
Elbow mentions the need for an evaluation-free zone, or unevaluated assignment. This has a lot of merit. One student in my class was struggling with the in-class writing until I told her I was not grading her on her spelling or grammar skills. I wanted her to grab hold of the ideas we had talked about in class, but she was so worried about spelling she couldn't even complete a sentence. This experience changed the way I respond to in-class writing. If they give me an honest effort, they get credit for the writing. I limit my comments to the positive things that I see happening in their writing. I've noticed they write a lot more now.
Elbow argues that successful writing teachers like their students and their writing. He's on to something here. I do not want to turn into the grouchy teacher that everyone avoids and invents stories about. I do love a good story, though.
Elbow was uncomfortable with the power grading gave him, and I see his point. As a teacher, grading scares me to death. It is so arbitrary--but it does help motivate some students to work harder. There's a fine line between motivation and discouragement. Taylor, my complainer, can whine about the assignment, but he's still going to do it so he doesn't have to take 1010 for a third time (he told me this today). But what about the student who progresses from the "absolute train wreck" to "minor accident" paper? The Collective Brain on my front row are such examples. They are working so hard--and still falling far short of the ideal "A". Do I give them the grade I should and discourage them? Or do I take into account the progression and hard work I've seen? Which is most fair? Grades can never reflect determination, and these girls have it in spades. Grading is the best option for Taylor; evaluation would be best for The Collective Brain. As with most complicated questions, maybe the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
In The World We Live In
I think if I had read these articles a few years ago I might have completely agreed with what they were saying. I have frequently thought grades were a poor system to rank someone because they are not fair, at least not in the academic system. But then I read the articles and I did not like what they had to say.
First, as discussed last night, you cannot eliminate the grading system. So even if you go to Evergreen and you end up with an essay for a transcript you will still be ranked. This is how our graduate school and career system works. When you get into a career your salary becomes your ranking. Once again it's just a number that does not really tell you how you are doing something wrong, or how you can make it better. Could we reform the entire world? Maybe. But I think we would still have a type of ranking system it would just includ more evaluation. We like to know how we are doing in comparison with others. It's our nature and when we get a better grade or a better salary than someone that somehow makes us feel like we are better people.
Second, everyone has a different learning style. Emily or Cheyney mentioned that we need to have motivating factors to get us to do something. For many people those motivating factors come from grades. When you have someone in a position of authority tell you you are not measuring up it can spark some improvement. This may not work for all people, but why can't we accommodate different types of learners? We could keep grades for some people, give others more evaluation, and see who responds to what the best.
Third, these authors may be uncomfortable with authority, but they need to realize that someone has to fill that role. While students are not customers they are paying for something that is important to them. Some, not all, are finding a way to pay for their education and they expect to be paying for someone in a position of authority to give them guidance. Entirely student-led peer reviewing is not going to satisfy the requirement of having someone in a position of authority. Peer reviewing is great, but their peers may think something is great when in reality it's not. For example I had a student peer reviewing another student's paper today. I did not have a chance to read the paper but I know it was probably good because the writer is a strong writer. The reviewer wanted to know if a paragraph had too much opinion but when I looked it over it was a great paragraph that made a claim, used a quote to back up the claim, and then re-stated the claim and the conclusion that should be drawn from the evidence. There was no passive voice, the claims were not unfounded, and the quote was great. The structure worked well, and there was no "I believe" or "I hope" or "I think;" it was all based off the text. But the reviewer did not see that. He thought the paper was wrong and the claim had too much "opinion." I tried to help the reviewer see it as a good paragraph, but this this type of student is my worry. If these students are the evaluators how is anyone ever going to improve? In this example the paper would have become worse with the reviewer's suggestions.
Finally, I think we should try to encourage students to learn, but elminating grading completely may not accomplish this. There should be a good combination of evaluation and ultimately a grade. I will give you one last example. I had many opportunities for peer reviews in my English classes. I got some good feedback and some feedback I disregarded. I had teachers who gave me just a letter grade and little else. I had a teacher that everyone dreaded and avoided, and my first paper was one of my first B's ever. It was devastating. All of my peers had said I was great and my other teachers just gave me A's so I was confused. No one had really evaluated me as Elbow suggets. This professor had given me some comments, but upon further conferencing with her I was able to create that evaluation zone and by the end of the quarter I believe I was a much better writer. Her grade motivated me and the evaluation helped me know what to fix. Not everyone will work this way, but we need to take Elbow (disregard Baumrind because I did not like her) and find what works to help maximize our students' desires to learn and to maximize what they learn from our classes.
First, as discussed last night, you cannot eliminate the grading system. So even if you go to Evergreen and you end up with an essay for a transcript you will still be ranked. This is how our graduate school and career system works. When you get into a career your salary becomes your ranking. Once again it's just a number that does not really tell you how you are doing something wrong, or how you can make it better. Could we reform the entire world? Maybe. But I think we would still have a type of ranking system it would just includ more evaluation. We like to know how we are doing in comparison with others. It's our nature and when we get a better grade or a better salary than someone that somehow makes us feel like we are better people.
Second, everyone has a different learning style. Emily or Cheyney mentioned that we need to have motivating factors to get us to do something. For many people those motivating factors come from grades. When you have someone in a position of authority tell you you are not measuring up it can spark some improvement. This may not work for all people, but why can't we accommodate different types of learners? We could keep grades for some people, give others more evaluation, and see who responds to what the best.
Third, these authors may be uncomfortable with authority, but they need to realize that someone has to fill that role. While students are not customers they are paying for something that is important to them. Some, not all, are finding a way to pay for their education and they expect to be paying for someone in a position of authority to give them guidance. Entirely student-led peer reviewing is not going to satisfy the requirement of having someone in a position of authority. Peer reviewing is great, but their peers may think something is great when in reality it's not. For example I had a student peer reviewing another student's paper today. I did not have a chance to read the paper but I know it was probably good because the writer is a strong writer. The reviewer wanted to know if a paragraph had too much opinion but when I looked it over it was a great paragraph that made a claim, used a quote to back up the claim, and then re-stated the claim and the conclusion that should be drawn from the evidence. There was no passive voice, the claims were not unfounded, and the quote was great. The structure worked well, and there was no "I believe" or "I hope" or "I think;" it was all based off the text. But the reviewer did not see that. He thought the paper was wrong and the claim had too much "opinion." I tried to help the reviewer see it as a good paragraph, but this this type of student is my worry. If these students are the evaluators how is anyone ever going to improve? In this example the paper would have become worse with the reviewer's suggestions.
Finally, I think we should try to encourage students to learn, but elminating grading completely may not accomplish this. There should be a good combination of evaluation and ultimately a grade. I will give you one last example. I had many opportunities for peer reviews in my English classes. I got some good feedback and some feedback I disregarded. I had teachers who gave me just a letter grade and little else. I had a teacher that everyone dreaded and avoided, and my first paper was one of my first B's ever. It was devastating. All of my peers had said I was great and my other teachers just gave me A's so I was confused. No one had really evaluated me as Elbow suggets. This professor had given me some comments, but upon further conferencing with her I was able to create that evaluation zone and by the end of the quarter I believe I was a much better writer. Her grade motivated me and the evaluation helped me know what to fix. Not everyone will work this way, but we need to take Elbow (disregard Baumrind because I did not like her) and find what works to help maximize our students' desires to learn and to maximize what they learn from our classes.
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