Blog #6

1. In my academic writing experience, many of my instructors used a more holistic scoring system to assess written work. Some instructors provided brief commentary with the evaluation criteria, however very little grammar correction of spell checks where included. As students, instructors expected us to fix grammatical errors and do spelling checks on our own before submitting work. Postsecondary instructors used more creative assessment and scoring tools. For instance, one instructor had us create an essay binder. Students choose from a list of topics and scheduled meetings to have the instructor review drafts; before submitting the final essays in the binder. In the binder the essays had to be labeled based on their patterns; for example, narrative, descriptive, argumentative and so on and so forth. Regarding both educational experiences writing instructions were very clear and detailed. Writing prompts were much more interesting in postsecondary school, because we were given much more freedom. The grading rubrics were straightforward regarding the criteria for written assignments.  

2. It wasn’t just the grades that I received that made me want to improve my writing skills; the instructors commentary with specific areas of improvement. Receiving low scores greatly disheartened during my postsecondary education, which drove me to work diligently to improve my writing skills. I constant lingering remember that my work was not up to par had me second guessing every writing assignment that I had to turn in. Consequently, these low scores motivated me to work harder. I would take time to review my previous work and make the necessary alternations. In the off chance that I did receive a passing grade. I immediately took note of the instructor’s commentary, which highlighted the aspects of my writing that were successful. Therefore, confirming that I had grasped the composing skills necessary to produce quality work.

3. The greatest challenge that I face as an instructor has to be managing the workload and proving the appropriate amount of feedback. First pertaining to workload, in a class of 15 students I give 3 writing assignments a week. That results in 45 writings I have to grade over the weekend. In addition, to providing quality feedback. At times this means ignoring the spelling mistakes and focusing on the grammatical mistakes. And even more so, possibly ignoring both of those things and tackling the student’s lack of understanding proper sentence structure and appropriate responses to a prompt. This becomes overwhelming, because which aspects of writing deserve more attentions over others. I can be a daunting task, yet instructors must decide what students need to know in order to produce quality work and succeed beyond their class.

4. As statement in the book formal assessment should focus on the students’ development of the writing process. Assessments should provide students with meaningful feedback. I have gravitated towards feedback focus; in which, feedback is given to students that addresses the strengths and weakness within their writing and provides techniques to improve them. Assessments also need to guide students through the writing process. This can be setting up assessments to follow along with the writing stages. Instructors can evaluate student’s ability to productively transition through the writing process. This entails that students will be assessed at the end of each stage in the writing process based on how well and what they are able to produce.

5. I have been privileged enough to have had several instructors use alternative forms of assessment. Referring back to me postsecondary education, the Essay Binder was something I enjoyed doing. I liked that we had the freedom to choose from a list of topics and then schedule times throughout the week to meet with the instructor for one-on-one feedback before finalizing the writing assignments. Another fun assessment option was the poetry booklet that my high school English teacher had us make as part of our final. Throughout the semester we were introduced to a variety of poetry and asked to make up our own poems using the same styles that we covered in class. As part of the booklet we had to design a cover for the booklet and decorate the pages. In primary school, my Language Arts teachers allowed us to paint a window that depicted a story that took place in the rain forest. From there we had to write a short story that corresponded with picture for a final grade. It was because of these alternative assessment options that I was able to truly enjoyed and appreciated writing. I loved doing something that was different from the norm and allowed me to be creative. It’s because of these benefits that I have developed a passion for writing and hope to encourage my students to come to appreciate writing as well.