As we near the end of the quarter, I sit relieved that I've finished grading 138 Poetry Notebooks but a little anxious that a similar amount of Literary Fair entries will be soon trickling in. Enjoying my very brief reprieve, I came across this interesting article:
http://www.edutopia.org/grading-dilemma-strategies-tactics
Now, as a Language Arts teacher, I find grading is often difficult. If you don't know what you are doing well in your writing, as well as what you are struggling with, I can't hope to help you grow. Effective feedback takes time, though - and, as evidenced by the recent thorn in my side of the Ode Rough Draft - is not always viewed. As the recipient of the grade/feedback (since not all work is assigned a letter grade, but it is often returned with a comment) how do you react? What, in your opinion, is the most valuable type of feedback you've received? Do you like when the teachers offer more comments, or less? In this age of Pinnacle, do you even read comments since you may already know how you scored on an assignment?
I'd be curious to learn how you view grading. Bonus points for incorporating a relevant reference to the article in your response.
Well, based on the article you posted above, I have researched this article that I thought would be similar. I'm not sure if this is what you meant, but I gave it a try! :D
ReplyDeletehttp://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/grading.htm
I find the comments on Pinnacle to compliment the letter grade very nicely, making a perfect combo of the structered way of grading (the letter grade) and the comments which provide great feedback for me that I can recieve from my teacher. The more comments I get, the better I can perform next time I get an opportunity similar to the last one I had.
Sometimes kids think that the more comments you get, the worse you did on that assignment. But for me, I think there's a flaw and a great side in every piece of writing.
I rarely get comments these days, but seeing one in the column on Pinnacle makes me happy that the certain teacher that typed it in there took the time to do so and to help me improve. The small things people do for us are done every day, but are rarely noticed. We should take more time to notice these comments and to get better with them every step of the way. :)
I realize that grading 138 assignments each time we do an activity is.... well it's no walk in the park. I can't even imagine how long that would take! It must be hard for higher grade teachers to grade and comment all of those papers without going insane. Elementary school teachers only have one class worry about, middle school teachers have 5 or 6! The teachers must be udergoing a lot of stress, the students as well. As the article mentioned, there are many ways to make life for teachers a little bit easier such as using peer and self assessment for checking, commenting, and grading work. I wouldn't mind our class creating our own grading chart and using peer review to grade some of our classroom activities and assesments. Mr.Jones sometimes has us peer review some of our projects and homework and I'm sure it makes things much easier as well as it would be fun too! In my opinion, it is better to recieve more comments than less. Constructive criticism is always nice, although you may not always agree with it. I always like to look at the constructive criticism so that I know what I have to improve in or what I have to include in my work. Comments and pinnacle are nice because they make things easier for students. Now that we have pinnacle students and teachers have an easier way to see progress in the students work. It is better to look at both comments and pinnacle because in pinnacle the teachers do not usually write comments. The good thing about pinnacle is that it organizes the grades for each class and assignment and neatly lists them. I enjoy using technology and pinnacle more than reading the teachers comments, but maybe teachers can write comments using pinnacle.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the article. It expressed that students are not the only ones that feel swamped with work and tired from a long day of work. Although, teachers have 150 times more work than us, which only makes me appreciate my teachers more! I love the suggestion that sometimes we would grade ourselves on our work. I know as a person, that I go a lot harder on myself than most teachers would go on me. I think it's the same with many of my peers, however, there are always some acceptions. Also, I like the idea of stamps. My teacher last year had a pack of six stamps that stated one word that summarized your work. They said things from "Amazing" to "Unfinished". Another idea that strikes me is stickers. If everyone who got an "A" on their work got a sticker, I think people would work harder. It may be hard to believe, but knowing the kids in my classes, I think they would love to show off a sticker. I, myself, would be proud to see a sparkly sticker of some sort on my paper. Overall, I found the article very...refreshing. It proved to me that maybe teachers don't think so different from us after all.
ReplyDeleteHey! I like it when teachers give me comments because then it helps me know how to do better next time.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this article, I learned that many of our hardworking teacher have homework too.......(Grading assignments!!!)After I read this I realized that students should be happy about the amount of the work the teachers give us. I have a friend whos mom is a teacher. When ever I went to her house I was in shock!!
ReplyDeleteShe would just sit in a chair all day and grade papers and comment on them. So teachers work really hard for us.
The article made a lot of sense. I can't imagine grading so many papers. I can't believe that people think that being a teacher is just assigning work! I like it when teachers give me feedback on what I've done wrong or right. I like hearing from other students as well. It shows that there is always room for improvement, and that people care about your grades as much as you do. Whenever I hear what I do wrong, I try my hardest to correct it. It's like when my coach tells me I need to improve my shot or something. Ever since 3rd grade, my class swapped papers with the person next to us and we graded each other's work. I also liked the article because it was interesting to see something from a teacher's point of view. We may think we have a lot of work, but teachers have way more. Teachers have to not only grade work, but come up with lesson plans and the work itself too. Sometimes, it can be a relief to have Quia to grade some tests.
ReplyDeleteI love when teachers leave comments. It helps me what I did wrong and how to improve. Also if I disagree with the grade I can come to the teacher and know where they are coming from. Also positive feed back shows me what I am doing right and what I need to continue to do so. With writing I love any comments. I am a new writer and need lots of advice from teachers because they bring a different opinion. Also my mother was a teacher and was always grading papers. I would like grading for a little while but it got very boring and tiring. This is why I really value teacher's comments on papers. Good things come from people who work hard no matter how long it takes. Thank you Mrs.Zuri for all the comments!
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting. I now have a new appreciation for my teachers and what they go through to prepare for each day. I am a very competitive person and I am very hard on myself. I know that most teachers aren't that way when they grade work. I know when I have a lot of homework I am very overwhelmed. I can't imagine what teachers have to do. They grade more than 100 papers, grade projects, lesson plans, parent conferences, after school detentions, etc. I have one comment though. I don't think that teachers should assign work if they aren't gonna grade it. Most kids put a lot of effort into their work and appreciate the feedback to improve.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely nice to hear that many of you do value the feedback you receive, though so far you are a small sampling of the overall students. Trust me, I don't mind grading and I know it's part of my job. What I don't like is doing things inefficiently, and if taking an extra few minutes to write a comment on someone's paper isn't going to help them do better, then I'd rather focus on something else!
ReplyDeleteDanielle makes an interesting point - I know I try to grade everything I have you all complete, and I do not assign work unless I think it has meaning at any time, but not all activities get the same level of attention. I think we will definitely incorporate some peer editing/review as we continue to write. It's an excellent strategy for that area in particular.
I really do like when teachers give me a comment on my work. ALthough some of the comments make me upset, It would help me learn more. I can understand the assignment better and I would know how well the teachers like my work. If no one says anything about my papers, I wouldn't really know how well I'm doing, even by the grades I get. Comments that teachers and other people post for me help me know what the person is viewing from their point of view of my work.Do they like it or not? I especially like when the comments are written in pinacle because I often check it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the posts above..teachers deserve a break too, and we should appreciate them more...they have homework as well, like Sam said. And it's nice to see that some teachers care about what their other students have in point of view, so we can see both sides of perspective...it's important to learn that way. You need to know BOTH sides of the story (or whatever the case may be) to come to a fair conclusion. Teachers have more homework than we do, and they are desperately trying to help us grow (whatever subject it may be) so we can become knowledgable people in the future, thanks to our caring teachers.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy when i receive a paper that has a teacher's comment on it. In the article, it stated that teacher's have a great hassle during the day, and they do not feel welcomed by the looming stack of ungraded papers by the time they get home. My mother is an English teacher and i know that this is how she feels when she gets home. What my mother does though, is she only writes comments on writing assignments or very large projects that involved creativity and her student's writing. If that is what my teacher did, I would be quite satisfied. I would prefer a comment on a writing assignment then on a worksheet. I think a good idea is to just comment on the things we put most of our creativity into.
ReplyDeleteI to agree. The feedback you give me and the rest of the students is very important. If we do not know where we went wrong, how will we improve? It is very helpful that you can give us feedback and guide us to success!
ReplyDeleteI have to learn to be patient. The feedback helps me correct myself and improve. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comments. It helps to know that I seem to be (for the most part) putting the grading energy in the right places. :) And remember that there are options you have, too - if there is an assignment where not enough is written, you can always ask and I can provide more specific feedback. :)
ReplyDeleteThe most frustrating thing to a student is when they recieve work that has a letter that covers the whole page, and no comments or feedback. It is upsetting to know that your effort hasn't been taken into any consideration and even if you get a 100%, it is nice to know what you did well on and the areas you could have improved in. Comments and feedback are appreciated no matter what, but it is also nice to recieve comments for individual sections. For example, if there was an improper example in a certain section, you could write next to it, "Improper example, -5. (And how you could make it better, or why it was wrong.)" Also, it is better when you inform your students of the total score, and what you got out of it. The average should then be calculated accordingly, and accurately. This way, you might not have as many students lined up at your desk to ask you exactly why they got the grade they recieved. Personally, I like to get back an appropriate grade with frank reasons to why I recieved it. I hope you take my ideas into consideration.
ReplyDeleteI read the article above and I agree with certain things. The observation (which is actually a quite obvious one) of students grading themselves more than fairly is completely true. All students believe that their work is the best it can be and of course are going to inflate their grades. I think that the writer is completely correct on some assignments being give solely for the purpose of whether or not you did it. There are some things that do bother me about what the article suggests. One of these things is saying that a stamp being given. The author says that she had stamps that she would use on papers that she would use to show student what stage they are at. This is one thing that I consider a pet peeve. I understand that the amount of papers that teachers have to grade is astonishing, overwhelming, and at some times just plain cruel, but simply being given a smiley face on a paper that I spent my time on can sometimes make me think, "What were the certain things that I included in this specific assignment that she liked?" As the people above have said I do appreciate when teachers write comments on Pinnacle. I do prefer to wait a longer period of time to get my paper back and have comments on. The comments don't have to be a whole page of specific little things but certain things that are important. I completely agree with what Annika wrote. I do think that having students help create a rubric could be beneficial, but at the same times things could get messy. I hope that you enjoy my response Mrs. Zuri.
ReplyDeleteAshley,
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't see your post right away, but I definitely enjoy your comments because they are honest. :) Clearly, the message I'm getting here is that when you do get feedback, it needs to be specific.
There are definitely times in school, and my class in particular, that completion grades are perfectly appropriate. Sometimes it's about practicing a skill, and the assessment comes later. There's no need to assess performance on a grammar worksheet, for example; that's what the quiz is for, and why we review concepts in the meantime.
However, on a piece of writing, where you are constantly evolving and improving, and each assignment has implications for the next, feedback needs to be included. I appreciate knowing that you don't mind waiting for feedback, either - it can definitely take time!
It's great to hear your views. Thanks for posting. :)
I know it kinda took me a long time to comment, but, I personally enjoy getting feedback. It helps me recognize areas where I went wrong and the little notes help me improve the next time. I think the idea of feedback will really prepare us for 7th grade!
ReplyDeleteI always check the comments. They help me understand what I did wrong and how I can fix it. This especially helps with writing, because there is many ways you can do something, while in math, their is usually a definate answer.
ReplyDelete