On teaching: red ink and too many corrections?
In one of my other lives, I'm a college English teacher and (former) director of academic support. One who never uses red pens to make corrections. Mostly, this is because I think red sends a strong "you are wrong, I am right," message. And while there are MANY cut and dried issues in writing--grammatical mistakes, odd sentence constructions, etc--I don't feel that I'm the end-all, be-all in terms of writing. I like to show my students that writing is a process for everyone, during a draft is the place to make "mistakes", and I want to encourage them to revise. My students are also (mainly) visual learners, and blue or purple pens require them to pay a little more attention to my comments, since they don't stand out the same way against the paper as the red does (at least, that's what I think).
On Boston.com yesterday, I came across an article as to why red ink might not be the best choice in helping students to write better. Basically, it says that teachers with red pens grade more severely than those using blue. (Check it out. ) I know there's a huge contingent of people who believe that it's better to grade severely, that kids today can't write, etc, but my philosophy is also that if you nail a writer for every little error in his or her paper, they're going to get overwhelmed. When I'm working with a student, I'll typically pick one page of a paper and focus on the grammatical errors on that page, write in the margins through the whole paper asking for clarity and addressing thematic and structural points, and at the end, in a note to the student, will point out that "you have comma splices on every page--see the ones I marked on page 2 as to how to fix them"--or whatever their consistent grammar issues are.
The article also indicates that the more students read, the better models they have for good writing. Seems like a no-brainer; quality reading leads to better writing. In the next few weeks I have to start planning my fall courses. I think I have to have my book list turned in by July 1, actually. So, like every summer, I'll be spending some time trying to put together a reading list that will engage my students and also encourage them to stretch.
And I'll double check my stock of purple and blue pens.
On Boston.com yesterday, I came across an article as to why red ink might not be the best choice in helping students to write better. Basically, it says that teachers with red pens grade more severely than those using blue. (Check it out. ) I know there's a huge contingent of people who believe that it's better to grade severely, that kids today can't write, etc, but my philosophy is also that if you nail a writer for every little error in his or her paper, they're going to get overwhelmed. When I'm working with a student, I'll typically pick one page of a paper and focus on the grammatical errors on that page, write in the margins through the whole paper asking for clarity and addressing thematic and structural points, and at the end, in a note to the student, will point out that "you have comma splices on every page--see the ones I marked on page 2 as to how to fix them"--or whatever their consistent grammar issues are.
The article also indicates that the more students read, the better models they have for good writing. Seems like a no-brainer; quality reading leads to better writing. In the next few weeks I have to start planning my fall courses. I think I have to have my book list turned in by July 1, actually. So, like every summer, I'll be spending some time trying to put together a reading list that will engage my students and also encourage them to stretch.
And I'll double check my stock of purple and blue pens.