So I'm sitting here during my prep period, and I probably should be doing other work, but I can't concentrate. Well, Jess and I just finished grading the research papers, and I'm just going to go ahead and say that many students (along with their parents) are not too happy about their grades.
One parent in particular emailed Jess saying how he can't believe how his son failed the research paper, his wife sat down and made the necessary edits with him, etc. etc. He wants the paper to be sent home with him, along with a rubric, and then set up a conference to discuss this whole ordeal. As I'm typing this, I'm stressed out beyond belief and close to tears.
So let's back up a week or so. Last Wednesday, I had students turn in rough drafts for me to go through and edit. All 150 of them. I sat down for a collective 9-10 hours and made individual comments on EVERY ONE, highlighting the areas that they needed to work on. I wanted to do what I could to help them do well...makes sense, right? Well, turns out it was a royal waste of time. About half of the students made none of the recommended revisions, and just handed in their original rough draft.
I can't quite understand this parent email, because despite what it said, there was little to no evidence of editing in this students' paper. He turned in a biography despite myself telling him multiple times it needed to follow the idea of intolerance, and there was absolutely no proofreading at all. Almost nothing was capitalized, and he even wrote using "till" and "u." I kid you not.
I don't even know what to do at this point. My co-op said she'd handle it, but I know this won't be the last angry parent I have to deal with over this unit. Everyone has the opportunity to rewrite the paper, but still. The problem in the first place was their neglect to listen to my advice - will that change the second time around? Who knows.
I was having a pretty good week. So much for that.
Sam, I hear ya! Ugh! How frustrating to spend so much time making comments (and a good mixture of praises and critiques to boot!) only to have no one heed them and then get parent emails on top of it. Editing papers is hard and grading fairly is even harder.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if it's helpful to have students write down TWO areas that they want you to comment on. These areas could be based on the criteria found on the rubric for the paper. For example, they could say "I need help with...." and then circle their options, like "Conventions" and "Structure" or "Content" and "Style". That way, you can tailor your efforts and save time, and they won't get frustrated by seeing so many markings. The problem, though, is when the students themselves don't know what they struggle with! That makes it pretty difficult to ask for corrections.