An archived stack of papers: 'Grading'

CommentPress

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Dec
  • 26
  • 2007

I want to get this out there before I head off to my brother’s for a few days so here’s CommentPress. This looks promising for grading student writing online. Thanks to James for mentioning this a few days ago. I wouldn’t have known about it, otherwise.

How

A... read more

Why You Should Change Grades

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Feb
  • 01
  • 2007

A student who earns a D or an F first semester can change that grade by earning a C the second semester.

Why?

Regularly, poor performance in my class equates to not doing the work assigned. A student earning an F usually can change that with a little effort. Attempting to do the writing, reading, speaking, or thinking I’m asking gives me ideas of what a student needs in order to do... read more

Drop Those Red Pens

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Dec
  • 11
  • 2006

My hand sits poised over the last of 51 Oedipus the King essays to read for this year. “Since the end of October, jeez…” I mutter and shake my head, taking another swig of black coffee. Putting Sunday morning on hold to correct papers never proves easy. But these papers have gathered dust on my desk or in my bag for going on 2 months.

Painfully aware of the fact that... read more

Use Your Data

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Oct
  • 06
  • 2006

Just a quick note before I head off for the weekend. First of all, I have a stack of 20 essays I simply must finish by Sunday night. Add that to the fact that I and about 6 other teachers will be back in my classroom tomorrow morning at 9:00 (that’s right, 9:00 on a Saturday) to grade some schoolwide writing prompts, I’ll be grading a lot of writing this weekend. That usually means that... read more

The Gravity Of Graduation

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Jun
  • 02
  • 2006

The excitement of the end of the school year, as infectious as any disease, prances around the room all day dressed in its summer finest. With the dawning of June, students see it and they often dance along, singing songs of the fair time off from school ahead. I see it, too, as vacations and airline tickets build up, though I keep my dancing shoes in the closet during the workday. But while the... read more

Essays Kill

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Apr
  • 02
  • 2006

I just got off the phone with a friend and fellow teacher. While talking about whether or not to get breakfast together (we decided we’d do it next week instead of today; I think the hour change messed us both up a bit), she asked, “Are you going to do any school work today?”

2 sets of 2 Siddhartha quizzes. 1 set of personal narratives. 1 set of essay rewrites. Another... read more

On Switching Comment Style

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Mar
  • 08
  • 2006

It’s amazing what the internet can do.

Last night, facing 60 papers to grade, I was about 3/4 of the way finished when I read a post over at Blog of Proximal Development. Thanks again to Cassandra for pointing that out to me. I’ve been to BPD before, but I haven’t been keeping up with my blog reading... read more

Teacher Comment Database

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Mar
  • 06
  • 2006

As teachers, we spend time pouring over student papers, making comments along the way that we hope will create better writers. Given the amount of time it takes to comment on papers, this makes grading stacks of essays even more of a burden than simply reading that many pages.

Databases: Just Great Big Lists Of Stuff

To take the sting out of grading written pieces, I suggest that we... read more

Objectivity And The Art Of Grading Writing

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Mar
  • 02
  • 2006

The chance to read another teacher’s papers presented itself with our schoolwide writing, which we completed back in the middle of January. I traded with the AP English Language teacher, so my opportunity to read writing from another class transformed into the opportunity to read writing produced by AP students. “This will be interesting,” my mind called out, staring at a few stacks of... read more

The Pain Of Autonomy

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Mar
  • 01
  • 2006

Talking with a friend today about grades, the issue of writing came up. We landed on an obvious topic for two English teachers.

It’s easy to fall into the trap, not realizing that what you see as a breath of fresh air in a stack full of dullard papers really isn’t all that fabulous when compared to competent writing. It’s only a breath of fresh air when compared to all the other... read more