It is that time of the semester when all I want to do is hibernate for the winter and I find myself staring at a stack of essays. I say stack but what I really mean is files as I grade on the computer. I have Word all set up with auto-text with the necessities like “Incorrect citation format. Check correct format guide in your pocketbook” or my personal favourite “you keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means” and the always used in practically every essay “your is the possessive form of you, you’re is the contraction of you are.” But I also end each essay with an overall statement or two about their writing style and the areas that need improvement.
By the fourth essay, I realized that my students were NOT reading the comments I painstakingly left for them. So I tested a few of my students by commenting that if they came to see me during office hours with a revised version of the paper, I would change their grade. Not one student out of the seven that was the sample size of this study read this. Because nobody came. Or asked me for clarifications.
If we leave the problem of not reading aside, are these comments really helping them? More often than not, I am reiterating what I’ve spoken about in class. I have had students who have improved their writing but I cannot say it is because of the comments I have left on their papers or because they are actually paying attention in class.
And I am facing the same conundrum right now as I grade the final essay. Should I leave comments on them? Will that help? I don’t care. I want to hibernate already. Only if the Florida weather cooperated!