Friday, February 8, 2008
Red Pen Junkies
I have an answer to Amy's red pen junkies, because I know plenty of them myself. Use a green pen when correcting student papers, not just their writing. It still stands out, but it doesn't share the negative connotations a red pen carries. It's a simple thing that just may help one or two of your students with confidence.
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2 comments:
A few years ago I learned a technique that seems to work for me. Instead of marking on my students' papers I use another sheet of paper and write my comments on it. It shows my students that I respect their work and the time spent on it. I usually make comments that will make them think about what they have written and improve upon it. A couple comments might include I enjoyed reading about ... Can you tell me more about what happened? Do you remember the sounds or smells around you? Another comment might be paragraphs 2 and 4 seem to refer to the same thing. Could you move your paragraphs and combine them to improve on your organization?
I loved both of your thoughts on the "dreaded corrections". Red pens is the same as seeing the lights of a police car in your rear window-you just know something is wrong. Amy's positive criticism (is that too outlandish?) seems ideal.
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