2. Responding to Student Writing: Working on the Big Picture

We’d like to start this module with two readings. These essays introduce the basic principles of student response that form the foundation of effective writing pedagogy. Take time to read them before moving on to the rest of the module.

• Reading 1:  Gottschalk, Katherine and Keith Hjortshoj. “What Can You Do with Student Writing?”
• Reading 2:  Lunsford, Ronald F. “When Less is More: Principles for Responding in the Disciplines”

Write 200 words or more in response to the following prompt:

Many GSIs are surprised when first encountering some of composition theory’s general principles for responding to student writing. What strategies in these readings did you find surprising? What thoughts or concerns do you have about responding to student writing?

Write a reply to at least one other response that fully engages with the issues and questions your peer presents. You might add another perspective, add another question, or contribute additional thoughts to your peer’s response.

Response: 3

The following sections lead you through some of the best principles, practices, and time-saving strategies for responding to student writing. Taken together, these strategies are geared toward helping you develop effective commenting practices that encourage your students to produce their best writing, while helping you to work as efficiently as possible.

Remember that your goal in responding to student writing is not to show students what they need to do to make their paper perfect. As Edward White explains:

If we are wise teachers, we do not allow the student concern for the grade to replace the drive to express oneself and to improve; the assessments are means to an end, not ends in themselves…. The problem is to find ways of assessing student work that are fair, consistent, public, clear, and responsible – grades that support teaching and learning rather than substitute for them. If we can combine such responsible assessment with useful and supportive responding to student work, our students will learn that essential aspect of all learning: self-assessment. (74)

The best place to begin as a grader is, ironically, to forget about grading for a moment. Suspend your judgment, put down your pen, and read first.

To promote student writing as an act of communication, and not simply an exercise in meeting instructor expectations, read each essay as a reader first, and as a grader last.

Gottschalk & Hjortshoj stress the importance of our first role as readers:

“If you remember that students want most of all to know how the paper worked for you as a reader and how it could be improved, your most important task is to convey that message first, even if it is the only thing you have time to say.” (58)

Students value thoughtful feedback that engages them in dialogue with a reader making an effort to understand what they have to say. As Gottschalk and Hjortshoj explain:

“Students who care at all about their work want indications that their papers have been read, as pieces of communication, by a real human being, who then responds as a reader. How did the paper work? Did you understand what I was trying to say? What do you think of it?” (53)

Before you begin plowing through essays, we suggest taking a moment to survey the stack. Skim a few essays to get a general sense of the papers. There are two reasons to devote a little time to this process:

1. As you skim, you can note the range of responses, so that you can focus your assessment of individual essays more precisely. This will help you save time in generating commenting strategies.

2. If you notice that there are some common problems, construct a handout addressing them, rather than commenting on them in each individual essay.

Before starting, consider what types of comments are most effective in soliciting students’ best work.

Some of the most useful types of comments are:

• Questions that stimulated further thought, rather than closed-end questions.  Here’s an example of non-directive use of questions from Lunsford.
• Brief summaries of what the reader got out of the paper.
• Descriptions of difficulties the reader encountered.
• Even highly critical feedback that was constructive and respectful. (Gottschalk and Hjortshoj 53)

Here are Lunsford’s basic principles for responding to student writing:

• Say enough for students to know what you mean.   Lunsford Explains
• Don’t say too much.    Lunsford Explains
• Don’t spend very much time on matters of correctness.    Lunsford Explains
• Focus your attention on understanding what students mean to say.    Lunsford Explains

Gottschalk and Hjortshoj remind us that:

 “…students’ aims and motives as writers will adapt to your aims and motives as readers of their work….” (54)

They describe an adaptable method, grounded in basic principles and techniques, that can help save time, too.  They recommend we:

• Give reading essays priority over grading them.
• Respond to the writer as a reader, in comments that emphasize the most important features of the paper.
• Respond to key issues you have identified and emphasized in advance as important.
• Avoid line editing and random reactive comments. (58)

 Some kinds of comments are less effective than others.  We recommend that you avoid:

1. Line editing and reactive commenting. Line editing is time-consuming and often ineffective. Have a look at this passage from Sommers on how comments can confuse writers.

2. Undeveloped comments. Writing clear, complete comments will avoid confusion and help your students “keep the steering wheel in their hands.”  Check out this section from Lunsford on the distinction between developed and undeveloped comments.

The Sweetland Center for Writing and CRLT worked together to create the Structured Commenting Protocol, a method that puts the best practices presented in this module into practice.

First, follow this link to read our Structured Commenting Protocol – Handout. 

 Then, have a look at this example that uses the structured commenting protocol: Using the Structured Commenting Protocol.

Finally, explore this link to Sweetland’s resource for teachers on effective commenting on student writing.

Here’s a time-saving tip: If an essay is very confusing, or if the feedback you want to convey is highly complex and difficult or time-consuming to address in your comments, make a general note of the issue, and ask the student to schedule an appointment.

In your role as a GSI, you will likely be working with multilingual writers — students who speak and write in more than one language.  To get you started, please listen to the recent episode of the Behind the Scaffolding podcast by Sweetland and English faculty Angie Berkley and Gina Brandolino.  They speak with Shuwen Li, multilingual writing specialist and former Sweetland faculty, who shares insights into working with multilingual writers.

We also encourage you to read Amy Jo Minett’s “’Earth Aches by Midnight:’ Helping ESL Writers Clarify Their Intended Meaning” which offers an especially useful overview as you consider how you can best work with these writers.  While sentence-level issues may seem more apparent and pressing to writing instructors, Minett helps teachers consider multilingual writing more broadly — taking into account how cultural differences in communication styles and text organization may affect our understanding of a multilingual writer’s intended meaning (62). She provides strategies at the essay, paragraph, sentence, and word level that will guide and inform you in this work.

For general considerations, as well several strategies and tips on grading, please read the Sweetland handout for instructors on Providing Grades and Feedback on Multilingual Writer’s Work.  We will provide continued support for your work with multilingual writers in modules 3 and 4.

In addition to the Structured Commenting Protocol, there are other effective methods for providing comments on your student writing.  Sweetland’s handout Giving Feedback On Student Writing provides guidance on alternative methods you can use, including endnotes, screencasting, and feedback forms. We encourage you to explore all of these strategies to find the ones that are most effective for you and your students.

Many of you use assignments and rubrics that your professor created. Whether or not you write them, assignments and rubrics are useful tools when responding to student writing.

Rubrics aren’t simply for deciding which grade an essay should receive. Returning to your assignment and rubric can clarify which higher order concerns you should attend to when responding to student writing, and how to craft your commenting language.

Read this essay about how rubrics can inform your pedagogical practice:  White, “Issues in Grading Writing and Using Score Guides”

Here are some additional resources on how to design and use rubrics:

• Sweetland, “Designing and Using Rubrics—Best Practices”
• Razaei and Lovorn Sample Rubrics
• Sample Essay Grading Rubric
• Sample Holistic Rubric
• Sample Grid Rubric
• Sample Numeric Rubric

Additionally, here are two resources on how to creative effective writing assignments:

• Creating Clear Writing Assignments
• Creating Effective Assignments

Write 200 words or more in response to the following prompt:

Which strategies in the previous section do you think will be most helpful when responding to student papers in your class? What about those strategies do you think will be most beneficial for your students?

Write a reply to at least one other response that fully engages with the issues and questions your peer presents. You might add another perspective, add another question, or contribute additional thoughts to your peer’s response.

Response: 4