Still Handling the Paper Load:
Alternatives to ‘Batch Processing’
for English Teachers
Hopkins, 1912:
• When we decided that “pupils should learn to
write by writing, English composition,
previously known as rhetoric, became
ostensibly a laboratory subject, but without any
material addition to the personnel of its
teaching force; there was merely a gratuitous
increase in the labor of teachers who were
already doing full duty.”
“Can Good Composition Teaching
Be Done Under the Present
Conditions?”
• Yes, if we try to limit the time
spent in marathon grading
sessions
• No, if we continue to treat time
responding to student essays as a
“side job” or “homework”
Hopkins, 1912:
“Every year teachers resign, break
down, perhaps become
permanently invalided, having
sacrificed ambition, health, and in
not a few instances even life, in the
struggle to do all the work expected
of them.”
Using Class Time for Response
• Newkirk: “Read the Papers in Class” (1979)
– Treat writing classes as writing laboratories
• D’Agostino: “Conference Class Sessions” (2005)
– “Response is instruction.”
– “Response time is instructional time.”
Sideshadowing Teacher
Response
Nancy Welch (1998)
The Process:
• Read through the first paragraph, considering
the following questions, and write back to
yourself in the margins of your paper:
– What questions or hesitations did you have as you
wrote?
– What were you thinking or feeling as you wrote?
– Where did you leave out ideas or
information? Why did you leave them out?
– What lines or phrases don't seem relevant? Why?
Questions from the PowerPoint Presentation: "Sideshadowing: Engaging the Student Through the
Sideshadowing Response to Writing" by Jill Moyer Sunday, Waynesburg University.
ftp://classes.waynesburg.edu
Students also Write an
“End Comment”:
• After you have written back to yourself in the
margins of each paragraph, read over all you
have written.
– What does this new material tell you about your
writing?
– How can you revise taking this the marginal text
into consideration?
• While teacher comments
“foreshadow” what a text should or
must become…
• Student comments “sideshadow”
what a text could or might become.
• Welch uses Bakhtin to theorize
sideshadowing as a “centrifugal,
diversifying force.”
• It makes the student and teacher focus
on the “here and now” of the text rather
than what the teacher wants it to be in
the future.
Sideshadowing Alters Our Time Use:
• Sideshadowing takes some class time to introduce
as a concept and about one class meeting per
paper for students to complete the process.
• But it takes less time for the teacher to make his or
her way into a text and discover what the student
wants to address.
• The “work of locating the draft within a field of
possibilities is no longer up to [the teacher]
alone.”
Works Cited
• D’Agostino, Karen N. “Conference Class Sessions:
Reducing Paper Load While Supporting Student
Revision through Effective In-Class Response.”
More Ways to Handle the Paper Load, on Paper
and Online. Urbana: NCTE, 2005).
• Newkirk, Tom. “Read the Papers in Class.” How to
Handle the Paper Load. Urbana: NCTE, 1979.
• Welch, Nancy. “Sideshadowing Teacher
Response.” College English. 60.4 (1998). 374-95.
Cold Conferences
Positioning Writers at the Center of
Response and Revision
Steve Smith
Assumptions
• The writing and all writing decisions belong to
the student.
• Teacher is a reader, as well as a writing
resource and mentor, not an editor.
• The student leads the conference.
• Cold conferences can provide more access to
the student’s writing process and mental text.
Practices
• Student delivers document with marginal
comments and questions inserted.
• Questions are open-ended to encourage
discussion instead of easy answers and “fixes.”
• Teacher quickly reads revised draft, after peer
review, for first time – cold -- during
conference.
• Student leads discussion of paper, using
inserted comments if necessary.
Process (cont.)
• Teacher listens and addresses student’s ideas
and concerns.
• Student and teacher discuss the paper.
• Student takes notes.
• Student writes a revision plan and emails it with
conference notes to the teacher within 48
hours.
• Student revises writing.
Benefits
• More student and teacher one to one
interaction.
• Teacher is able to work with the writer, not just
the writing.
• Encourages student ownership of writing and
self-identification as a writer.
• Supports teacher reflective practice.
• Helps to manage paper load.
Using Screen Capture Software
for Video Comments
Barrie Olson
What are video comments?
http://screencast.com/t/vikvOzsnVM
Why I Like Video Comments
•
•
•
•
Starts the conversation
Makes you focus on the bigger picture
It limits how much you can comment on
Shows your students that you’ve really read
their work
• Allows you to do more with less
• Makes you as a reader seem more human
How does it work?
• I use Jing though there are many other free
options available.
• Once downloaded, you click “capture” and it
will record your screen as you talk
• Limited to five minutes
• Once saved, it is stored on your Screencast
account and students can access it via a link.
Related Resources
• Anson, C. (1997). In our own voices: Using recorded
commentary to respond to writing. New Directions
for Teaching and Learning, 69, 105-113.
• Anson, C. (2003). Responding to and assessing student
writing: The uses and limits of technology. In B. Huot
& P. Takayoshi (Eds.), Teaching writing with computers:
An Introduction (234-246). Boston: Houghton Mifflin..
• Sommers, N. (2006). Across the Drafts. College
Composition and Communication, 58(2), 248-257.
• Sommers, N. (2012). Beyond the red ink. New York:
Bedford/St. Martins.
Using Rubrics to Help Handle the
Paper Load
Hollye Wright
Assessment: Formative and Summative
• Formative assessment is given throughout the
learning process to measure how well students are
learning the material. These assessments can take
many forms but in all cases they provide feedback
to the instructor on what students are learning and
where knowledge gaps exists. These assessments
also provide information for the students and
allows them to see where they need to focus their
attention in order to meet course goals and
outcomes. Formative assessments are low stakes
and allow additional learning to occur before the
final graded assessments are administered.
Assessment: Formative and Summative
• Summative assessment is given at the
conclusion of a unit of study to measure how
well students mastered the learning outcomes.
These assessments are high-stakes and end
with an evaluation or grade.
Holistic Rubric
– A broad, overall, general assessment of the entirety
of the process
– Groups performance dimensions so that student
performance is assessed as a whole across multiple
dimensions
Taken from: Cathy L. Bays, PhD, RN
"Strategies For Using Rubrics As A Form of
Assessment”
Holistic Rubric
Informal Class Work
3
Clearly and successfully addresses all components
of the assignment with unique insight.
2
Addresses all components of the assignment.
1
Addresses parts of the assignment.
Analytic Rubric
– Provides specific information abut student
performance on multiple dimensions so that their
performance may be assessed on those dimensions
across the scales
– Allows for separate scale assessment of student
performance on each dimension
Taken from: Cathy L. Bays, PhD, RN
"Strategies For Using Rubrics As A Form of
Assessment”
Evaluation Argument
Writer:
Criteria
Goal
Thesis and
Purpose
The thesis uses a clear set of criteria to
evaluate films of this particular category and
provides strong reasons to explain why these
criteria were chosen and how they are
weighted. The beginning of the paper
establishes why this film is controversial
Criteria match
The paper makes good use of evidence from
the film to support the argument that it is/is
not a good example of this type of film.
Use of Sources
The writer uses other critics to support his or
her argument and provides clear rebuttals of
critics who might disagree with him. All
perspectives are represented fairly and
respectfully.
Organization
A clear thesis and strong topic sentences help
order the paper. Each paragraph contains one
main idea and the order of the paragraphs is
logical.
Mechanics
The paper maintains an efficient style and
contains few, if any, grammatical errors.
Works Cited
The essay has a correctly formatted list of
Works Cited.
Dr. Wolfe
Excellent Satisf.
Needs
Work
Comments
Tips for Using Rubrics Effectively
• Limit your comments to areas addressed on the
rubric
• Comment on two or three areas and mark a
score on other areas
• Write only on the rubric
• Evaluate the rubric after grading and note
changes that you want to make in the future
Sources
• http://www.csub.edu/TLC/options/resources/h
andouts/Rubric_Packet_Jan06.pdf
• http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
• Angelo, Thomas A, and K P. Cross. Classroom
Assessment techniques: A Handbook for
College Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1993. Print
Responding to Student Writing:
Joys and Concerns
Shannon Howard
According to Nancy Sommers, This
Method Isn’t Helpful for Them or You.
Consider Focusing on Three Major Joys and
Concerns Per Student Essay.
• Place no marks on the student’s actual essay.
Instead, write suggestions on an attached
page/checklist/rubric (handwritten or word
processed).
• List 3 “joys” or positive characteristics. List 3
“concerns” or areas for improvement.
• Keep suggestions clear, concise, but
enthusiastic.
• Discuss revision expectations with the class.
Joys and Concerns are Used to Start Dialogue,
Not Just to Identify Strengths and Weaknesses.
Joys:
1. I had NO idea that you could use ____ to do that! Can you tell
me how you learned about this?
2. The part where you write ____ is the most memorable for me.
What made you think of it?
Concerns:
1. Wait, didn’t you say that ___ never happens? Why do you talk
about it on p2?
2. Your point about ____ never comes up after the first page. Am I
missing something?
This Method Asks Students to See Writing
as Conversation.
• These joys and concerns can become the basis
for conferences (see Dethier).
• They reflect your experience as a reader as well
as your role as a teacher.
• They keep you focused on “big picture” ideas
rather than just occupied with correcting
errors.
Works Consulted
Dethier, Brock. The Composition Instructor’s
Survival Guide. NH: Boynton/Cook, 1999.
Sommers, Nancy. “Responding to Student
Writing.” CCC. 33. 2 (1982): 148-56.
Welch, Nancy. “Sideshadowing Teacher
Response.” College English. 60. 4 (1998):
374-95.