Teacher Comments on Papers

As a student, one of the most valued components of the receiving of graded papers is not necessarily the grade, but the teacher comments. If I receive a 90% on a paper, rather than 100%, I would like to know reasons why I didn't get the grade I thought I deserved and how I can improve my writing. It becomes very frustrating to see points taken off a paper, but no explanation, or worse yet, to see "Great job!" or some other bullshit feedback.

Since I know the frustration of lack of feedback or lack of quality of feedback, I hope to use that as perspective into what my students need to improve their writing. "Given the labor-intensive nature of writing comments..." (Williams 314). Hold it, right there. Yes, it's labor-intensive. Isn't it your JOB to provide feedback via written comments? "...teachers have only two choices when deciding on a method. They can assign little writing but try to provide copious written comments, or they can assign much writing but make few, if any, written comments. Most teachers opt for the first choice," (Williams 314). I believe that written feedback is important, but if a teacher is limited on time to write those comments, they can meet with students through conferences, allowing the students to receive that feedback they so desperately need.

Currently, my placement at Ben Franklin (Harrisburg School District) has revealed to me that 1. Kids aren't reading enough, leading to 2. Kids aren't writing enough. In a staff meeting yesterday, the principal told the teachers on my "team" that no matter the content area, the students need to be writing everyday. To most, this may seem excessive, but Harrisburg School District is ranked 498 out of 502 in standardized testing scores, leaving them far behind many schools in the area and almost the worst in the entire state. A component of the tests that was especially low was in writing proficiency, so to improve this, the assignment was given to have students writing everyday. That said, teachers cannot possibly look at 100 entries each day, and offer constructive, thorough feedback that the students both need and deserve. Over the next few weeks during my placement, I hope to try and problem-solve how these writing opportunities can turn into learning opportunities. Sometimes kids need to write just to become comortable with the process, but whenever possible, teachers need to (dare I say!?) earn their paychecks and do something other than a scantron sheet test.