Forms of Response to Student Writing
(Adapted from John Bean's Engaging Ideas)
Before you respond, it may be helpful to consider that, as teachers, we're always responding to written texts and writers simultaneously. The response we provide a student writer differs from the reaction or response we might have to a journal article or newspaper editorial. Consider, too, the assumptions underlying the statement, "I'm going to correct student papers."
1. Purposes of/Possibilities for Reading and Responding
Learn about the student
Diagnose; identify patterns or students who may need additional help
Establish reader/writer relationship: correspondence
Model response/writing in general
Guide future writing
Heighten awareness of writer's strengths/weaknesses
Develop habits of mind; increase students' critical thinking abilities
Build confidence in students' strengths
Guide a second revision
Connect writer to comments made in class and/or in reading
2. Response Formats
Margin Comments (good for noting structural problems; reactions to ideas
Avoid circling, crossing-out errors, etc.
Consider X in the margin so students will need to locate error
End Comments (engage ideas; make recommendations for future; scaffold intellectual progression)
Typed separate sheet
Peer Response Workshops
Verbal: Tape Recorded (it's also possible to make sound files)
Verbal: Use an end note to invite student to meet with you
Student Response: Have student write back in subsequent draft/cover sheet; have student write using your voice
3. Method
Prioritize. Higher Order Concerns (ideas, development, support, focus) vs Lower Order Concerns (grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting)
Praise. One study of collegiate response to writing showed that 94% of comments focused on what students had done poorly. See Donald Daiker's "Learning to Praise," which is recommended by Susan Dearing.
Specify. "good" or "huh?" doesn't leave writers with as much to go on as "I'd like to know more about the positive aspects of identity development. What do you think are the rewards of identifying with a particular community?"
Restrain. Avoid the impulse to comment on everything everywhere.
Differentiate. Aggravating errors ("its" errors, for example) and those that impede understanding should receive different amounts of attention
Advise. Point out what works and why; then try to point out an area for improvement.