1. Doesn't provide enough choice on writing assignments and writing form, and
2. Writing for a grade is an artificial and discouraging process (see Peter's first post for a well-written analysis of this).
BUT,
A. Many of you wrote that you'd want to be able to write more short stories and to be able to "express emotions" more freely.
Okay.
But since 95% of us are not able to write a polished and readable short story (though we can always try!), and since most courses outside of English don't recognize short stories and similar narrative, "emotion expressive" genres as legitimate, what would you suggest that would be less depressing than the standard, schloppy writing assignment, but still be able to convey the necessary thought processes and analysis that all academic courses demand.
B. Would you be happy if some of the stuff you wrote WASN'T graded? Would you just want comments and feedback, or would you want some sort of motivation for actually doing the assignment? Rollercoaster88 has an optimistic view of students' motivation, but a jaded old geezer like me needs more convincing.
C. Boxer wrote that,
Is it possible that virtually any writing in school (outside of lab reports) could connect to personal experiences? And, on a more cynical note, since many high school students do not -- for various reasons -- have the range or experience of adult writers, how can "personal experiences" always connect to class content? What if there is simply not enough there?
"Writing in school has lost all meaning. For me at least, it is always the same old, same old. It's really hard to write an entire essay on subject matter that doesn't pertain to me or my life in any way. I would find school writing to be more meaningful if it I were asked to write about my own personal experiences and then make connections to something that was covered in class."
Is it possible that virtually any writing in school (outside of lab reports) could connect to personal experiences? And, on a more cynical note, since many high school students do not -- for various reasons -- have the range or experience of adult writers, how can "personal experiences" always connect to class content? What if there is simply not enough there?
Please address one of the above points in detail - -if you want. We'll take a page from Rollercoaster88's book and not assign grades for this one. Let's see how many students respond.
7 comments:
Many times when we get papers back we usually see what we get, put it away and never look at it again. We may not understand the grade we received and since we don't know what we did wrong we will just end up making the same mistakes on our next paper. I think if some of our smaller writing assignments weren't graded and instead analyzed with comments we would be able to grow as writers.Actually understanding what we are doing wrong will help us write better papers.
I was an advocate for not having every piece of writing meticulously graded, and I will stand by that. I feel that students being given an effort grade would suffice. I agree with Big Stace and say that if some work was just commented on by the teacher or professor, that would be more helpful in allowing us to become better writers.
A lot of people say that they can't write. People may do poorly on their papers and the teacher should give an explanation as to why they graded the paper the way they did. Sometimes it doesn't happen... But if you think about it; every teacher has a different idea as to how people should write. I feel as if we should write freely. I feel like when papers are graded it's not fair. We have to change our writing for each teacher and that's not really us. Therefore, I feel like we should be graded on effort and how much thought and time we took in our papers. If we do that it will show who we are and we won't have to change our writing to please our teachers.
I usually don't mind writing essays as long as they're not completely dry with no way or expectation of an extension of thought. I do, however, also agree that as teenagers we have less of a range of experience to draw from. We have to write narrative essays in AP Lang, and I can't help but wish something interesting had happened in my life by now. Of course, I'm glad nothing truly horrible has happened, but it's definitely frustrating never having anything to resort to for situations such as SAT and College essays.
I guess I could complain that my life is relatively 'good', but who wants to read that? People don't write books about how normal and conflictless a person's life is.
Also, I like having my essays graded, or at least getting feedback. What I don't like is when I write something and the teacher says I didn't get the point, rewrite it. I think we need a broader range of creativity sometimes.
I think that writing to write, instead of for a grade would be a much more effective way of getting students to enjoy their english classes. That being said, of course people aren't going to do assignments that aren't worth anything, because they will think it's a waste of time. Instead of a grade for content, I think that there should be a grade for effort, still with comments and feedback from the teacher. This way, people aren't discouraged about themselves as a writer, and they can write to fit their own style rather than just trying to impress a teacher to get a good grade.
I am satisfied with the essay topics in school. Personally, I like to have a structured prompt, so that I can focus on what needs to be addressed, rather than ambitiously rambling on. It keeps my writing focused, and I can express my thoughts clearly and logically. As for being able to "express emotions," I am terrible at creating short stories and narratives, so its legitimacy does not have any adverse affect on me.
In regards to not having grades on some writing assignments, I believe that it would increase procrastination. However, I also firmly believe that grades are not truly representative of the work and effort put into a paper. I have written many papers which have taken hours to develop, but I have still earned a low grade. Conversely, I have also spent less time on other essays, which have acquired me great acclaim. Therefore, I strongly advocate essays to be reviewed and edited first, and then graded on a pass/fail basis. Thus, students can surely focus on improving their writing ability and critical thinking skills rather than trying to get a good grade. Nevertheless, students should still be able to rewrite their essays as many times as needed, showing their commitment being able to write at a higher level.
Do be graded or not to be graded. That is the question.
On the one hand, I want the grade. I want to see my effort pay off with a good grade which for me is great motivation. But on the other hand, I’ll put effort into my writing because I want to get everything I can out of it. I want to learn from what I’m doing. After all, that’s why we’re here.
And this is what I love about AP Lit. We’re given a grade on our essays, but we’re also given lots of feedback. Drew comments on our style, on the connections we draw, on the points we make. And it’s helpful. It’s what I’d been wanting for years. In most of my previous English classes, I’d write a paper, get it back with an A with zero comments, and promptly throw it in the trash. An A told me nothing, because it gave me no criticism and nothing to learn from. Except that for certain teachers I didn’t have to put in much effort to do well.
So would I be happy without a grade? I guess so. Because I’d be able to tell from the comments whether my writing was any good and had made any improvement. And this, when you really think about it, is what the grade is all about.
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