readin' and gradin', that's my life
By diana on Sep 17, 2014 | In capricious bloviations
Hey, people! I'm still here! Yes indeedy.
I've just been busy. With what? (you may ask, because y'all are polite like that).
Well, lessee. I read a lot. That's been my escape of choice for months now. I mean, I read the Odyssey and Brideshead Revisited over the weekend, for fun. I've probably read 30 books in the past three months. The weekend before, I read a couple of versions of Lysistrata, a bunch of stuff on ancient Greek comedy, and Acharnians, just for kicks. I'm reading War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning right now, as well as rereading In Pharaoh's Army, because I'm teaching it.
Speaking of which. This book--by Tobias Wolff--is excellent. The prose is clean and muscular. It doesn't pretend to great things any more than Wolff, as a lieutenant in Vietnam, pretends to great things. It's very real about the nature of Army life and interactions (and about war), and probably isn't taught at West Point. It's also funny as hell.
I told my students to read the first third of it for yesterday's class and there would be a quiz--they could count on it. Turns out, about three in each class read it (so, 1/5th of my seniors). The rest took abysmal grades on their quizzes. I looked over the quizzes and said, "OK. I see y'all aren't reading. That means you're getting another quiz on the book Thursday, and it will cover the part you should have already read as well as the part you're to read for that class."
If they make me stand up there and try to hold up all ends of the classroom discussion because they're too damn lazy to read their texts, they will suffer. That's my policy.
I'm also amidst ongoing paper grading. I've produced a rubric I'm using with all classes this semester. It breaks down points into categories like content, organization, mechanics, style, and format, and each of those gets a continuum from "very good" to "abysmal." There's a brief explanation for what types of mistakes are marked under each heading, and at that bottom, in bold print, I wrote: "I'll be delighted to give this paper an extensive line-by-line reading in person. Please schedule extra instruction."
I got this idea from a blog a friend linked me to back in the summer. The woman who pioneered it advises we make no comments on the paper. Just mark the rubric and put the grade on there. The students who care what they did wrong and want to improve will come to you, and it won't be very many. (So far, I've had three students come for the promised extensive line-by-line reading--out of 33--which means that her promised averages of how many students will come see you is accurate, even for USAFA.)
The point is this: Grading is a huge time sink, and it's tempting to make copious comments to help out all the little buggers. As a matter of fact, it's hard not to make comments on their papers. The goal here is to teach you to read and grade without all that trouble, saving you tons of wasted time.
"Wasted?!" I can hear you say. "But what about feedback?!"
They don't care. Swear on my dog and hope for pie...They. Don't. Care. Most just want to know what their Almighty Grade is (and that's on the paper). Some want some idea of what they're doing wrong (and the rubric takes care of that). Precious few, however, want to understand how they're screwing up so they can improve, and those? Those come to me.
It really works. It's brilliant.
I still don't like grading, but it's now far less onerous than it was.
d
5 comments
Diana,
I tip my hat to you for finding a way to make your dream job even dreamier.
(Now there’s a word I never thought I’d use.)
It makes perfect sense. You’re right; most of the students don’t care beyond the grade and the few who do probably already have a clue where they went wrong, and will ask if it’s important to them.
Isn’t it great how much easier life can be when you quit trying to be proactive? Being prepared is one thing, but there’s no reason to do work that doesn’t add any value.
Dave
Quit trying to be proactive. Ugh. Do you realize how much that goes against my grain, though?
But you’re right. Students don’t learn any faster if teachers are proactive. The students have to want to understand something first. Otherwise, I can talk ’til I’m blue in the face and give them reference material and correct them but until they care, it’s all wasted effort.
It’s a bit sad to me, really, that this is how it works (at least in regards to things they’ve already learned WRONG). If I start telling them something they’ve never heard, I have their full attention and God forbid–so to speak–I get anything wrong, because someone someday will have to fight to undo the damage I’m doing.
Frightening thought. I do my best to make sure that what I’m teaching them is right, of course, but I ain’t perfect, neither.
d
“Do you realize how much that goes against my grain, though?”
Diana,
You and me both. Part of my job is trying to anticipate needs and problems and have solutions in place when they’re needed. But the latest project I’m working on has shown me very clearly that I can’t give information to people until they think they need it.
Have you ever taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test? I get the impression you’re strong on the J axis.
Dave
Diana,
Me too. Once you know what to look for we kind of stand out. (grin)
Dave
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