All teachers are able to note the correctness or not of the answer in a task, the really good ones, however, are able to assign the grade in such a way that, regardless of the outcome, it is an encouragement to improve both for good students and for those less careful. Quoting the great poet and teacher Taylor Mali: "I can make a C + worth as much as a medal of valor and an A- burn like a slap in the face."
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Part 1: Reading the Assignment
Step 1. Learn the difference between serious and non-serious errors, which can also be classified as "main aspects" and "secondary aspects"
It is vital to prioritize important aspects such as content, creative thinking and textual consistency over grammatical correctness, punctuation and spelling.
All these aspects depend primarily on the track, but also on the student's year of study and on which aspects are actually of primary importance for each student. If the topic that you are dealing with in class concerns the correct use of the comma, it follows that punctuation will have great importance in the evaluation of an assignment. In general, however, when correcting a written assignment, whether it is to be done in class or at home, greater weight should be given to the most important aspects of those previously indicated
Step 2. Always start by reading each assignment in full without making any notes
When you are faced with a pile of 50 or 100 assignments to correct, another pile of questionnaires to review and even having to plan the next day's lessons, the temptation to hurry up and give everyone a B can be very strong.. Resist the temptation. Read each assignment thoroughly before making any judgments. Focus on the order of importance of the following aspects:
- Does the student adhere to the qualification / question and does the assigned track effectively?
- Does the student demonstrate applying creative thinking?
- Does the student clearly present his thesis?
- Is the thesis developed organically for the entire duration of the text?
- Does the student provide adequate arguments to support the thesis?
- Is the task structured coherently and is it the result of a thorough review, or has no review been made?
Step 3. Do not use the red pen
Being given a correct assignment paper that appears to be dripping with blood can be a source of great stress for a student. Some teachers argue that the color red inspires authority. However, there are other ways to assert your authority in the classroom than just the color of a pen.
Correcting homework in pencil can give the impression that mistakes can be easily recovered, prompting the student to look forward rather than dwell on their own failures and successes. The blue or black pencil and pen are great for proofreading written homework
Step 4. Reread the assignment with the pencil close at hand
Write comments, criticisms and questions in the margins of the paper in the most understandable way possible. Identify and circle or underline where the student could have expressed themselves more clearly in the text.
Try to be as specific as possible in asking questions. The notation "What?" at the edge of the page is not very helpful with respect to the question "What do you mean by 'among some civilizations'?"
Step 5. Check the punctuation, spelling and grammatical correctness of the text
Once you have considered fundamental aspects such as the content of the assignment, you can move on to reviewing aspects that are less important and yet necessary to make a judgment on the written test. Aspects such as grammar and spelling may have greater or lesser importance depending on the year of the course and the predisposition and preparation of each student. Some typical symbols in homework correction include:
- ¶ = start with a new paragraph
- Three dashes under a letter = the letter must be written in uppercase / lowercase
- "OR." = misspelling
- Word deleted with a serpentine above = word to be deleted
- Some teachers use the first page of a writing as a reference for the rest of the text regarding aspects such as language appropriateness and grammatical correctness. In this way, errors in the construction of sentences and lexical correctness are marked only on the first page as a reference for the entire task, especially in the case of texts that require in-depth revision.
Method 2 of 3: Part 2: Writing Effective Corrections
Step 1. Do not write more than one comment or annotation for each paragraph and write a closing note at the end of the text
The purpose of the corrections is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the assignment and thus offer the student concrete strategies with which to improve his writing. Completely dismembering a badly done paragraph with the red pen will not lead to any results.
- Use the comments beside the text to point out specific points or sections of the assignment that the student could improve.
- Write a longer note at the end of the assignment in which you summarize all corrections and show the student the way to improve.
- Corrections and the final note should never refer directly to the final grade. Don't write things like "You deserved a C because…". It is not your job to justify the grade assigned. Instead, use corrections to indicate where the text needs revision and to refer to upcoming occasions when the student will find himself writing a similar assignment, rather than fixating on the successes or shortcomings of the text you are correcting.
Step 2. Always try to find something positive to highlight
Encourage your students by highlighting the positive aspects of the assignment. Annotations such as "Well done!" in a written assignment they will remain well etched in the student's memory and will help him to adopt certain positive strategies again.
If it is difficult to find positive aspects in the assignment, praise for example the choice of the topic of an essay with comments such as "Great choice, this is an important topic!"
Step 3. Emphasize the room for improvement over the previous tasks
Even if the student has written a disastrous assignment, try not to bury it under an endless list of errors that should be corrected, but find at least three aspects by which the student has shown that he has accomplished or can make an improvement. This will help the student focus on where he can improve, rather than being crushed under the weight of his own failures.
Try to focus on what these three aspects could be in which the student could improve from the first reading of the text to facilitate the next phase of the actual correction
Step 4. Encourage the student to review the text based on your corrections
Instead of focusing your comments on everything the student did wrong with this assignment, try to refer to the next occasions when they will find themselves writing such a written text or encourage them to do a rewrite of the assignment itself in the case of a theme or essay.
"In the next task, try to better organize the paragraphs to make the argument more effective" is a better comment than "The paragraphs are distributed in a disordered way in the text"
Method 3 of 3: Part 3: Assigning the Vote
Step 1. Create a grading scale and make it available to students
A grade scale is used to assign a numerical value to the various criteria that contribute to the final grade and is generally based on a maximum of 100 points. Once a score is assigned to each aspect, a total of points must be reached to obtain each grade. Informing students of which grading scale you will use for corrections will promote the transparency of your work and allow you to dismiss the idea that you assign grades arbitrarily. Here is an example of a grade scale:
- Thesis and argumentation: _ / 40
- Textual organization and division into paragraphs: _ / 30
- Introduction and conclusion: _ / 10
- Grammatical correctness, punctuation and spelling: _ / 10
- Sources and citations: _ / 10
Step 2. Give each final grade a description of the level it corresponds to
Let students know what it means to get the highest grade, rather than a B or a C. Try to write the description of each grade based on your personal criteria and the goals you set for each class. Sharing this scale with students will allow them to give an interpretation of each assessment. Here is an example of a standard grade description:
- A (100-90 points): the task fulfills all the requirements of the delivery in an original and creative way. An assignment of this level exceeds the minimum requirements of the delivery and demonstrates initiative on the part of the student in the original and creative development of the contents, in the organization of the text and in the use of a certain style.
- B (89-80 points): The task meets all the requirements of the delivery. The contents of the text are developed in a satisfactory way, but the textual organization and style should be improved through a slight revision of the text. Grade B reflects a lower originality and creativity of the student compared to a task to which grade A is assigned.
- C (79-70 points): The task meets most of the requirements of the delivery. Although the content, the textual organization and the style denote coherence, the text requires revision and does not reflect particular originality and creativity on the part of the student.
- D (69-60 points): The task does not meet or inadequately meet the requirements of the delivery. The task requires a major revision and shows serious deficiencies in terms of content, textual organization and style.
- F (less than 60 points): the task does not meet the requirements of the delivery. In general, the student who applies will not receive an F. If a student receives an F (especially if he believes he has adequately committed himself to the task), the student is encouraged to personally address the teacher.
Step 3. Make the grade the last thing the student sees
Write the grade at the end of the assignment, after the grade scale and after corrections. Placing a large letter at the top of the assignment may dissuade the student from reading corrections and comments in detail.
Some teachers prefer to turn in their homework at the end of the lesson for fear of discouraging and distracting students during class. Consider giving students part of the class time to read corrections in class and make yourself available after class to discuss homework grades. This will make it easier for students to actually read and understand your corrections
Advice
- Avoid distractions while correcting. Correcting homework with the television on may seem like a good idea, but it will only waste your precious time. Set yourself an achievable goal, like correcting ten homework in one night, then stop correcting and enjoy a moment of relaxation.
- Divide the correction of your students' writings into several rounds and try not to correct everything at once. You would risk making corrections and writing shorter and more inaccurate annotations, repeating yourself or not noticing some mistakes as you correct.
- Don't play favoritism. Be fair in casting grades.
- Don't just stop at grammar. Focus on the concepts present in the text, verify that the task has a certain textual organization, but above all make sure that the text has a beginning (an introduction that attracts the reader's attention), a center (for each thesis there should be an argument) and an end (a conclusion that summarizes the contents of the text and helps the reader to remember them).
