To answer these questions, I will consult Beth Hewett, author of The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors. Overall, it seems as if Hewett feels that commenting on students’ work and writing is situational. Hewett says that answering a student’s question via e-mail may only take between two and ten minutes. However, Hewett also says that some student conferences may require more attention and be more formal, taking 30-40 minutes (134).
After taking this into consideration, I agree with Hewett’s assessment. I don’t really have any teaching experience under my belt, but from a student’s perspective, this sound accurate. As a teacher, I want to give the amount of attention necessary to each student and their individual situation. I know this is easier said than done, but that would be my goal, and I’m sure my students would appreciate that.
As far as grading papers and commenting on them, this seems to also be situational. Some students may need more attention than others for a particular assignment. However, as Hewett points out, all students need a lot of attention –meaning comments—at one point or another (133). As a student, I always appreciate comments, especially when I need them. Constructive criticism is not always east to swallow, but it helps each and every one of us grow and become better writers.
But, in order to provide useful and meaningful comments, Hewett suggests not tiring yourself out while commenting on students’ paper:
Nonetheless, I have found that I must measure my online work by some unit or I become fatigued and write unhelpful comments. And, when those formative responses are the primary means of teaching, as they are in some networked classes and most online courses and online tutorial settings, the quality of the response is critical. (133)
In order for us as instructors to provide good-quality comments, we must know when we need a break. Teachers, instructors, and tutors are not machines. Reading, commenting, and grading for hours on end can be mentally and cognitively taxing on us as time elapses. Therefore, we must know—not only for our students but also for ourselves—when enough is enough! What I gather from this is that we must give each of our students the attention they need and deserve when they need it. However, we must doll out this attention in a manner so that it does not hinder our ability to provide quality feedback and commentary.
Overall, I don’t think there is any fool-proof formula we can adopt for providing feedback and to tell us how much time we should spend on each of our student’s papers. All we can do is help our students to the best of our abilities, so long as it does not impair our cognitive functioning. If we reach that point, it’s time for a Starbucks or Diet Coke break, depending on your beverage of choice.
So, what do you all think? How do you measure the amount of time you put into providing feedback and comments on your students’ work? What signs do you look for that your comments are no longer useful or helpful and that it may be time for a break?
Work cited
Hewett, Beth. The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishing, Inc. 2010. Print.
You're definitely talking about something here that i think i struggled with as i began teaching. I would set aside grading time that really meant i needed to grade about 10-20 projects all at once. And, while this was effective as far as time budgeting, it starts to wear on you. Comments become less thorough (and less legible if you're having a glass of wine while grading). There really is something to be said for spacing those comments out. I do find that i like always grading in the evening though. My energy level is just right, and i tend to then have the most even comments across the board.
ReplyDeleteI think this is where audio can come in handy. I think talking instead of writing the comments would go much faster. This is not to say that you shouldn't write anything. You most definitely should. If you are writing comments, I think you write a lot at the beginning of the semester and gradually start writing less and less. Students must learn eventually how to make their essays pretty good. If they rely on the teacher to correct all their mistakes, they will never become independent to do it on their own. It does get tiring grading so many papers though. -- Allen V.
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