Write More - Grade Less - by Mike Schmoker. For more than 30 years, Marzano and others have demonstrated that conventional grading practices are not only unnecessarily time-consuming for teachers, but also have a negative impact on student writing performance. The key issues are Overload: we grade for and comment on too many dimensions of a single writing assignment (which students ignore—because these comments discourage and overwhelm them—with no clear direction on how to revise).
Infrequent writing assignments: because grading papers very thoroughly takes so much time, we wind up reducing the number of assignments—though frequent guided writing assignments are essential to becoming an effective writer. Delay: writing assignments are commonly returned weeks after they are completed--which nullifies any benefits for students. And we seldom provide guided opportunities for students to revise their papers, based on feedback.
There is a better way. Vet thesis statements! Online Schools - K-12, Colleges and Grad Schools | Share on LinkedIn. This I Believe | A public dialogue about belief — one essay at a time. Homepage. Media and Advertising. Write a book in a day « Day 1 of the ‘Book in a Day’ creative writing project with 9th graders ended in an almost party like atmosphere from the 60 students who took part today. The final hour had 60 students in one big room, furiously working in groups to finalise their work and publish it. The scene reminded me of the buzz that advertising studios generate in the final moments before some suited up account representative takes the creative thoughts of the writers and designers to pitch for the account.
What also stuck me was the organisational skills and co-operative skills that the students have. No teacher was pushing them along or giving motivational speeches. We presented a short video montage of themes from Orwell’s Animal Farm – spliced between images taken in Second Life from Tempura Island (a recent field trip with the Jokaydians). We didn’t want them to start getting into graphic design, so the supplied material negated them spending time there.
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