I used to be the King of Grading. Self-anointed, I walkedaround school with a huge stack of essays under my arm and a red pen behind my
ear. Many nights I’d head out to Peets after putting my kids to bed, and grind
through essays until the workers started mopping the floor to close. Then I’d
come home, still jacked up on caffeine and grade a few more, quitting when the
words started blurring. Life was a constant tally of the paper load. A passable
day would be ten, a fair day fifteen, and there were a few epic bender weekend
days where I could touch forty.
I burned through red pens in those days and left the essays
bleeding with feedback. I considered myself a master at articulating personal
writing advice that would make each student more aware of her writing self. I
was part judge, part coach, part machine. It became my mission to give students
feedback that would present a clear path towards improvement.
bleeding with feedback. I considered myself a master at articulating personal
writing advice that would make each student more aware of her writing self. I
was part judge, part coach, part machine. It became my mission to give students
feedback that would present a clear path towards improvement.
Before each class began, I returned the work I had graded
face down on the desks. The anxiety in the room was thick, as students entered
and began flipping over the papers. But instead of diving into my feedback and
considering my carefully articulated suggestions, most students just looked at
the grade on top and put the essay away. Often, they would ask the nearest
classmate what she had gotten to affirm their own place in the class hierarchy.
It made me wonder how many of my comments were read, let alone applied to
future writing assignments.
face down on the desks. The anxiety in the room was thick, as students entered
and began flipping over the papers. But instead of diving into my feedback and
considering my carefully articulated suggestions, most students just looked at
the grade on top and put the essay away. Often, they would ask the nearest
classmate what she had gotten to affirm their own place in the class hierarchy.
It made me wonder how many of my comments were read, let alone applied to
future writing assignments.
My feedback in those days started to feel like a
justification of the grade more than anything else. I learned early on that many
Carondelet parents really care about
their daughters’ grades. Those parents had a strong voice, and I needed a
well-mounted defense before the attack came. While I would sometimes force my
students to read my comments, or write metacognitive responses to my feedback,
most of that time I had spent gouging away at their essays had merely been for
the possibility (and hope) that something would happen afterwards.
justification of the grade more than anything else. I learned early on that many
Carondelet parents really care about
their daughters’ grades. Those parents had a strong voice, and I needed a
well-mounted defense before the attack came. While I would sometimes force my
students to read my comments, or write metacognitive responses to my feedback,
most of that time I had spent gouging away at their essays had merely been for
the possibility (and hope) that something would happen afterwards.
Grading and assessment has always felt like one of the holes in my teaching. I’m sure that’s why I overcompensated for so many
years by pouring feedback onto every piece of writing. I have used many
different rubrics in many different ways, but I still feel like this last piece
of my students’ writing process is lacking. One challenge is having so many
students, and knowing that they need to write often to really grow. We all know
that feedback is best when immediate, but how can we orchestrate that with 150
students? Staggering major assignments can only buy so much time. Is carefully
crafted feedback that comes back two weeks later better than cursory feedback
given two days later? My gut tells me that the value of any feedback diminishes with each passing day.
years by pouring feedback onto every piece of writing. I have used many
different rubrics in many different ways, but I still feel like this last piece
of my students’ writing process is lacking. One challenge is having so many
students, and knowing that they need to write often to really grow. We all know
that feedback is best when immediate, but how can we orchestrate that with 150
students? Staggering major assignments can only buy so much time. Is carefully
crafted feedback that comes back two weeks later better than cursory feedback
given two days later? My gut tells me that the value of any feedback diminishes with each passing day.
So here I find myself, rocketing into another school year,
still searching for the magic bullet that will resolve my issues with assessing
writing. Despite my best intentions, once the essays start coming in, I usually
settle for whatever works to keep the paper flow from bogging down. I still don’t
know if rubrics are best, or wholistic grading is best, or conferencing is best.
I suspect that a paper saturated with red ink is overwhelming, but how much
feedback should I give to really direct my students? Does every piece of work
that students turn in deserve credit that impacts the grade, or should a grade
be truly an assessment of student skills and mastery? What about portfolios?
And how do I take something as complex as a piece of writing and use some hocus-pocus translation to quantify it with a number? Eighty-seven or eighty-eight?
Seventy-two or seventy-three? Can someone get a hundred? Why sixty?
still searching for the magic bullet that will resolve my issues with assessing
writing. Despite my best intentions, once the essays start coming in, I usually
settle for whatever works to keep the paper flow from bogging down. I still don’t
know if rubrics are best, or wholistic grading is best, or conferencing is best.
I suspect that a paper saturated with red ink is overwhelming, but how much
feedback should I give to really direct my students? Does every piece of work
that students turn in deserve credit that impacts the grade, or should a grade
be truly an assessment of student skills and mastery? What about portfolios?
And how do I take something as complex as a piece of writing and use some hocus-pocus translation to quantify it with a number? Eighty-seven or eighty-eight?
Seventy-two or seventy-three? Can someone get a hundred? Why sixty?
As with many aspects of teaching, I’m left with more
questions than answers. And that’s with twenty years of experience. But I
remind myself that this is what also draws me to the field of education. It is
such an ever-changing puzzle, and correct answers are slippery and transform
with time. If you’re not able to face constant ambiguity, this profession can
make you crazy. Fortunately, I kind of like puzzles.
questions than answers. And that’s with twenty years of experience. But I
remind myself that this is what also draws me to the field of education. It is
such an ever-changing puzzle, and correct answers are slippery and transform
with time. If you’re not able to face constant ambiguity, this profession can
make you crazy. Fortunately, I kind of like puzzles.
I started this blog intending to declare that this is the
year I face the assessment question head on. I’m working as part of a team of
English 2 teachers who are recreating our curriculum. My team members often
don’t let me settle for what is going to be easiest, which is something I
really value. Tiz has given me two books on grading that are slowly moving
upward on my stack of next books to read. But the papers still keep coming in,
and I need to keep churning them back out. I think the best I can commit to is
wandering out blindly in this direction and see where the journey leads me. Hopefully
my thinking is transformed when I get to the other side. If you have any
epiphanies or struggles, please share – I know there are better ways; I just
don’t know what they look like yet.
year I face the assessment question head on. I’m working as part of a team of
English 2 teachers who are recreating our curriculum. My team members often
don’t let me settle for what is going to be easiest, which is something I
really value. Tiz has given me two books on grading that are slowly moving
upward on my stack of next books to read. But the papers still keep coming in,
and I need to keep churning them back out. I think the best I can commit to is
wandering out blindly in this direction and see where the journey leads me. Hopefully
my thinking is transformed when I get to the other side. If you have any
epiphanies or struggles, please share – I know there are better ways; I just
don’t know what they look like yet.
It's a breath of fresh air to hear that you question rubrics, I needed to hear that, thank you.
Great post!
Yes the struggle is real… I can't help to think that the big problem is we feel the feedback has to come necessarily from US…
Something I've found fun, rewarding, and a time saver, is letting other students grade work. It makes them put on their critical-thinking-caps on writing, and give a score themselves. To elaborate:
(before class)
~I write a number 1-30 on both their multiple choice page(already graded) and free response page. The FR page does not have their name.
~I disconnect the two stapled pages and separate them into a FR stack and MC stack.
(In class)
~I pass out FR pages to random students.
~We discuss what exactly I'm looking for and how to find it. Students inevitably have questions and, as a class, we discuss what is good enough for each score. Basically, we make a rubric as a class.
~I ask students to score each section based on the rubric the class made.
~Students pass them back to me. I call out names to return the MC section, and then call out numbers to give them back their FR page. They write the overall score on top, staple it back together, and return it to me.
Students have to think about what makes a good score, and to grade another students questions, they have to look at answers in detail and consider if it fits all of the requirements for any particular score. When they get theirs back, they inevitably worry about how another student graded their test questions, so they read back their own answer and verify that they shouldn't have received more points than whoever gave them.
I think the students benefit a lot by seeing how I grade. (and how their AP tests will be graded). I benefit by having some of the grading done for me 😉
I just finished an essay assignment. Over a hundred essays at 700+ words each takes a while to grade. Instead of ending it there, I gave all students who did not get 90% or above one chance to do a rewrite. Each student doing a rewrite had to meet with me first to make sure they had read and understood my comments.
This took additional time, but most of the rewrites were much better. We will see during the next go around how much of this sticks. I really want to go beyond basic writing skills grading to content grading. It should not be if they can develop an argument, but how well they develop an argument.
I have a number of other strategies I use to help improve the quality of essays. Interested parties should get together to compare ideas that work.
Oh I love that you had them meet with you before they could rewrite, that is clever
Michael, we talk about it all the time – managing our time with the stack of essays. I want to provide meaningful feedback to my students in a timely manner. As of now, my best form of writing feedback is writing conferences. The ability to access student thinking and for students to access my thoughts (instead of trying to decode my written comments) is what I have found my most success in. However, it can be exhausting as it is time consuming and forces us to think "on our feet" quickly and frequently.
I can totally relate to your struggles with grading essays. I've tried different methods with varying degrees of success. My favorite way to provide feedback right now is the writing conference. I try to make time during writer's workshop to conference on first drafts. Then, like Mitch, I usually offer a revision opportunity after I've graded them but only if they conference with me outside of class. No matter how detailed my written notes are, I find that speaking one-on-one with the student is far more effective.
The mountain of papers to read and grade is overwhelming. The teacher's feedback is an important part of the conversation, but student feedback with each other, and a reflection on one's own work is also important. Of course, this is also a skill to be taught.
I'm feeling this pain but also love the puzzle of figuring out a solution that works for me. Like Jeff and Jenny, I've moved toward valuing the conference. My ideal situation: provide feedback on an early draft, allow time for peer feedback, evaluate quickly w/o written feedback, but offer a one-on-one conference to discuss their grade and improvements for a re-do. The hard part is giving the feedback on the early draft in a timely way. I'm experimenting with whole class feedback based on trends: Collect the rough drafts, read through them quickly and keep a tally of issues. Teach to the whole class on the 3-4 issues that came up the most. Have them create a new draft. This seems to work well. I've also tried writing stations to further teach on the common issues, where one station is 2 minutes with the teacher to ask a specific question. This is a work in progress …