February 24 - Commenting on Student's Papers

Unfortunately this week I was very sick and unable to attend class. I did however read two interesting articles about the role of teacher's comments on student papers. Nancy Sommers' Responding to Student Writing discussed how commenting on student’s papers has long been seen as time consuming but essential in student's learning processes. However there are many problems with how it is used today. Her research found that commenting takes the focus away from the student’s topic and places it on the teacher’s instruction and that comments are used like rubber stamps and may not actually help each student understand what can be improved with their paper. She finishes the article by saying that comments need to be paper specific and be geared for a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd draft and should always show students their own writing potential.

In Faigley's article, the author argues that teachers need to see themselves as a coach instead of a judge and that they shouldn't focus on whom they want their students to be. This paper argues that allowing students to write about themselves will help them gain control over their own writing. These two papers are very useful to me in my current education in becoming a teacher for next year. I can see the importance of not just making comments on student papers, but taking the time to make constructive comments that will do two main things: allow the students to maintain control over their own writing, and to write comments that are useful and understandable to the students so as to show they the full potential of their own writing.