Grading Papers

1. I tell students that they must take notes on my general comments to the class.
2. Before I return the essays, I give overall feedback to the class on the types of mistakes I found, as well as the strengths. I real aloud excerpts from student papers to be improved (anonymously, of course), suggest ways to improve that writing, and read aloud good excerpts from peer papers as models for writing.
3. Once I have completed giving overall feedback, I return the individual papers.
4. I tell students at this point that they must write a reflection on how to improve. For example, "How to Improve Summer Reading Analysis" as the title on a separate sheet of paper.
5. Then I tell students to recopy the notes they took from my overall feedback (in bulleted lists, numbered lists, whatever works for them; the important thing is that the writing ensures reflection).
6. I also tell students that they must include references to comments I made on their papers. For example, if I said, "you used the word 'there' when you should have used 'their,' " they should write something like, "I will be careful of how I use 'there' and 'their.' " Another example may be that I have commented on too much summarizing rather than analyzing. The student would write "I need to be careful not to summarize too much in an analysis essay." Yet another example might be, "Your essay lacks a strong specific thesis statement." The student should then write, "I must write strong, specific thesis statements."
7. I tell them not to worry about messiness or how they choose to organize their reflections; the important part is that they are reflecting and writing, which will ensure they do better next time. I also encourage them to write what they did well in the paper.
8. Once they have completed the reflection (metacognition--thinking about their thinking), I tell them to staple the reflection sheet to the back of their essay, which they return to me. I allow them to rewrite one of their essays towards the end of the semester if they choose. The reflection sheet is a great help for revising. It also ensures that they are listening and actively engaged in the 'reflection loop' of the writing process, rather than giving a cursory glance to the comments and focusing on the grade only, as we know most students do. I explain that if they do not go through this process of reflection, they will never learn. In addition, I tell them that it would be a waste of time for teachers to grade and write comments if students did not take them seriously, which this exercise ensures.