An archived stack of papers: 'evaluation'

Positive Feedback Only

In a stack of papers called Writing.

  • Apr
  • 30
  • 2013

What if you only gave students positive feedback on their writing? Could you leave a comment that begins with “I like” on every student’s paper? How would that change the way you evaluate writing? Would that impact scores or instruction? Might that make you dread evaluating writing just a leeeeeeeeettle bit less?

Think about how far negative/constructive comments have gotten... read more

The (First Semester) End Is Nigh

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Nov
  • 22
  • 2010

We have about fourteen school days left and I am drowning. I’ve got two sets of essays from my three sections of English 3. We are only about a quarter of the way into Lord of the Flies in English 2 and I have to move at breakneck speed to make it through before the day of the final. My Read Journals are backed up to two weeks ago. Vocabulary has not been as prominent as it should be. We... read more

Writing Assessment By Numbers?

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Sep
  • 01
  • 2008

Having just finished grading a small writing sample from my English 1 Support students (those students who we’ve identified through test scores and grades as in need of a little extra for them to make it through English 1), I figured I’d share how I did this first one and welcome any evaluation of my method.

I struggled with how to grade this. Since this class counts as an elective... read more

Is It Time Yet?

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Aug
  • 04
  • 2008

I hesitated to flip the calendar last Friday. Four days in, now there’s no denying it: August arrived early. I swear I was cheated out of a few weeks last month.

What have you started planning? Any ideas for the first week? How about for the first day? Decided on any new policies (homework, late work, attendance, behavior, etc.)? I’ve written about it already, but the ideas that have... read more

Fix, Create, Save, Think

In a stack of papers called Instruction.

  • Jul
  • 17
  • 2008

Use this summer to fix things. That handout full of typos? That paper you typed up last year that uses a semicolon instead of a colon? That lesson plan that started strong and ended with a fizzle? Fix them.

That handout you wished you’d given before your lecture? That killer video/audio/comic intro to the first unit of study? Create them.

Those sample assignments you... read more

Formulas FTW

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Jun
  • 27
  • 2008

I’ll expand on these thoughts later, but I want to help this conversation about English assessment grow as much as I can. Eric Hoefler brings up some interesting thoughts, admittedly from a distance that might skew his interpretations. His theorizing feels spot on at first read and that’s a good... read more

Can’t Separate

In a stack of papers called Writing.

  • Apr
  • 07
  • 2008

In theory, my idea for writing assessment this year was good. In practicality, it did not work.

I started off with the idea of assessing writing for only one thing at a time. Every so often, I’d assign a piece of writing that evaluated several of those skills at once. As I tried to keep that going, the realization hit me that when... read more

After Day Three Of Finals

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Jan
  • 18
  • 2008

Not many kids wrote papers that raised their F to a D-. It helped a small handful of students, but all were already only a few percentage points away from passing. No one managed to raise, say, a 22%/F to a D-. That’s what I was hoping for. There’s one student for whom the jury is still out, but I don’t think she’s going to make it. [Update: She made... read more

After Day Two Of Finals

In a stack of papers called Grading.

  • Jan
  • 17
  • 2008

Two functions of grades came up in a discussion today. One is to accurately reflect a student’s ability. A second is to help students understand their ability. Initially, I said in no uncertain terms that the first trumps the second, all day, every day. It’s much more important that the grade be an accurate reflection of skill than a student be able to understand how he got that grade.... read more

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