Preparing for Half-Time

In Kelly Gallagher's presentation at the Iowa Council of the Teacher's of English's Annual Fall Conference, I could not write fast enough to keep up with the new ideas and practices he was offering. Amongst many of the ideas I hope to try out, one focus he had was his approach to grading, wait, assessment.  With 197 students in his classes, he has to be doing something right.

He explained with a football metaphor or any sporting event for that matter.  The coach (or teacher) needs to provide feedback half way through the process.  If the coach tells how the players could have played better after the game is over, there is no point as the circumstances - opponent, conditions, purpose, atmosphere - will be different the next game.

The same is true for writing.  Yes, I can give feedback for students to improve their writing overall, but there are two problems with that.  First, they are not going to look at it and use it towards their next draft.  The grade is all they search for.  Second, the circumstances - assignment, purpose, mood, ideas - will be different the next paper.  It really seemed so logical.

The how-to part:

1. Collect the first drafts of student papers.
2. Read quickly and "assess."  This read is a skim to look for the areas a students could make the most growth between the first and second draft to improve their paper.  Gallagher suggest finding two points for each student to focus on in their writing.  Write this at the end of the paper.  
3. Make notes of common errors.  Chart how many times unclear thesis statements are written and how often a paragraph lacks development.  These criteria will become the rubric pieces and will make for good whole class mini-lessons.
4. Give each paper a "score," not a grade.  The students are all too familiar with the "A-F" system that has tarnished them.  Instead, Gallagher uses: exemplary, accomplished, promising, developing, and beginning.  Yes, they correspond with the standard scale they are accustomed; however, the word choice seems to distract them.  Write this at the top of the paper.
5. Create the Scoring Guide as a class.  Based on the information from the notes complied, select three elements for the class to focus on.  Work as a class to decide the criteria of writing that "meets standards" and "exceeds standards."  Use student examples as triggers to start this conversation.
6. Students finish the Scoring Guide.  On their own, students fill in the last two rows of the scoring guide based on the teacher feedback provided.  These are focused areas for development.  

A blank scoring guide:

A student example of how the finished scoring guide.  This student filled in the last two rows based on the specific elements I named in the paper.  

The benefits:

• Less of the "one and done" mentality. Students know about what their score would be if they turned in the paper they have.  It's usually enough to get them motivated to improve.
• Better return on feedback.  Trying to fix everything a student has done wrong in their paper is overwhelming and frustrating for both the teacher and student.  By narrowing this to the areas that will have the strongest impact on the overall paper, the student can learn that one task well and feel accomplished when practicing it. 
• Finding enjoyment in grading.  It's true.  I do enjoy reading their rough drafts because I know they are going to do something with it.  One, because I am going to make them.  Two, and more importantly, because they are going to want to be better writers.  

However, my procrastination on that final draft is still pretty high...