Tag-Archive for » Crossroads Writing Project «

Red vs Blue vs Electronic

13
Jul 2010


When I grade student papers, I never use a red pen. The color red has negative connotations. Many students see the red ink and think all of the teacher’s comments are negative even though the comments aren’t negative.

Red ink has been compared to blood, and a paper covered in red ink is bleeding. The teacher has slayed the paper, killing it. Would you want a slayed paper returned to you?

Recently, a researcher at California State University, Northridge, released a study that suggested using red ink led the user to be more critical when editing text. In other words, the same paper would be graded a C by those using red ink and a B- by those using blue ink.

The study didn’t use teachers, but instead volunteers and students to determine users were more critical when wielding a red pen.

And so, research supports my tendency, which is why I mostly used green ink when I graded papers. But I learned something. It takes a LONG time to reply by hand to papers. There wasn’t always enough room on the paper, and after a while, my handwriting became more and more illegible, which defeats the purpose of writing comments.

Plus, once in a while, I would jot something down and then realize that what I just said the student needed, they did in the very next line. Or what I thought was a mistake wasn’t a mistake. But the comment was already there, and I couldn’t retract it.

Or could I?

I was teaching online, and in my online classes, my comments were legible, and if I changed my mind, I could delete the comment. I didn’t have to worry about running out of room or finding space near the relevant text. I just highlighted the area I was referring to, and inserted my comment in the margin of the paper.

It took a bit, but I eventually switched my face to face classes to electronic submission, which let me respond to every student using my computer.

There were other benefits. In Word 2003, I was able to use macros. This meant I didn’t have to retype the same comment over and over again. Instead, I could store the most used comments and easily adapt them.

In Word 2007, however, macros were frustrating for me. I was back to keeping a Word document full of comments to copy and paste as needed. I wanted something better.

And I have found it in Annotate! It’s a plug-in for Word 2007, and it has prewritten comments that I can customize and insert with a single click. It lets me create customized comments.

Even better, in addition to a comment, it also provides a link to resources to help students learn about the mistake.

And unlike my messy Word document, Annotate keeps all of my comments organized into categories (argument, evidence, organization, writing style, grammar/mechanics).

When I first loaded the free version of Annotate, I was amazed that some of the comments sounded like something I would have written. It took me a bit, but I realized that they were something I had written. Annotate had integrated those macros that I had created long ago but never quite managed to figure out how to use quickly and easily.

Plus, it gives students so much more information that really improves their writing. When I was writing those hand-written comments, I may have written AWK a time or two. It stood for “awkward,” but it didn’t help the student fix it.

In Annotate, the exact awkward part is highlighted, and the comment begins with a question: “Can you revise this to make it less awkward?” It doesn’t stop there. It follows up with an explanation of what awkward means, “Awkward writing is confusing to your reader and hurts your credibility as a writer. See the general proofreading suggestions in the following link:”

The links automatically direct students to specific pages at one of my favorite resources, OWL at Purdue University, but I can also edit the comment to refer students to the relevant page in their writer’s handbook.

In the free version, there are 70 prewritten comments. The Pro version has about 200 prewritten comments. You can also add customized comments in the Pro version.

The pro version is about $50, and you can buy more than one version for just $10 more. So if you have Word 2010 at school and Word 2007 at home, it will cost just $60. Or the change might be Vista versus XP. It is still just $10.

I downloaded the free version of Annotate, and I love it. I have not yet purchased the pro version because I am hoping to update my laptop this summer. Right now my laptop is Vista, and I will be upgrading to Windows 7 as soon as I can convince my husband. I’m waiting for the laptop upgrade before investing in the pro version, but I will be buying the Pro version. I am thrilled with it.

Now I just wonder about the impact of using computers to offer students feedback.

(This is NOT a paid review. I did not receive any compensation for this. It is a product I discovered and tried on my own and loved. I know others will love it too.)

Category: Teaching, Teaching Resources  Tags: , , ,  Comments off

Coloring

17
Jun 2009

Next to my computer this morning is a coloring page showing two sailboats on a lake. I was the last one to arrive today, and I see Maureen already colored her picture. So did Erin. My picture isn’t colored yet, and instead of reminding me about coloring, I start to think about my upcoming vacation.

We’ll be camping again, right next to the lake. I want to make sure we get a lakeside camp spot, so I can take advantage of those huge windows in my camper. Obviously, I can just step outside and see the lake, but I like waking up and seeing the lake through the windows.

I plan on relaxing during my vacation this year. I want to spend time with my husband and children doing nothing. We won’t have any Little League games. We won’t have to be anywhere, and I want to enjoy it.

I wonder if Jeff will be there with his sailboat. Jeff is a guy who has a son the same age as one of our daughters. He has nicknames for all of my kids, and he takes them out on his sailboat. They’ve learned how to duck under the boom.

I’m also looking forward to camping because it will be when my family is all together again. Last night I talked to everyone on the phone, but it just isn’t the same. Justin asked me if I’d seen his dad that day. He didn’t realize that I’m not by with his dad either. The best I was able to do yesterday was talk to everyone, but it was nice to talk.

I set my alarm on my cell phone last night, and I was very tired when I did so. I realized just how tired when I woke up this morning to my alarm — it was my phone vibrating on the floor. Yesterday, my phone was on vibrate most of the day because I was working on things, and I apparently forgot to change that when I was finally back in my room. Oh well. It still woke me up although it was with a “what the heck was that?” thought.

I don’t think I’ll be sharing what I wrote today. I don’t want to put anyone to sleep.

This post was brought to you by a writing prompt from Crossroads Writing Project’s Advanced Institute. Don’t blame the quality of the writing on the prompt though — I haven’t had my first cup of coffee yet.

Category: Teaching  Tags: ,  One Comment

Writing Between the Lines

16
Jun 2009

Tech AI: Tuesday, June 16

We just read a report from the National Council of Teachers of English, and we are supposed to be thinking about “21st Century Literacy,” what we read and where we are going.

It reminded me of a talk I had with Justin’s teachers on the bus ride home after a field trip. They were talking about the amount of writing the fourth graders do, and they said the amount is much higher than it was just five years ago. Most of all, the teachers wanted to know what I was seeing in students coming to college. Were they ready to write?

In my mind, students are more aware of writing than ever before. They write more, but they don’t always recognize what they do is writing (blogging, texting, e-mailing). The way they write may enforce some bad habits (like spelling and shorthand), but it also gives them a lot of experience (even experience they may not realize) about writing for an audience. They’ve accidentally sent e-mail to the wrong person or written something and pressed “send” when still angry.

But I think students know more about writing than they realize. They need some help putting what they know into a framework, and I think this is what is already happening for those younger kids — the one’s Justin’s teachers were talking about.

When I grew up, English was a mystery. I was told to write something, and I did. It was graded, and it was over. I didn’t do a lot of thinking about it. I was often given very specific steps to accomplish, but I never thought about asking why. I remember this most when I was in a class where I had to write a research paper. The teacher was R.J., and I never really liked R.J. He wanted us to use index cards. We had to write a single fact on each index card, and we had to turn in something like 25 index cards.

R.J. never told us what to DO with the cards. He didn’t tell us how to search through the cards or organize the cards, or use the cards to create an outline and eventually our paper. He just wanted 25 cards. I did it, and I was too dumb back then to know to ask “why?” I remember the paper we wrote in that class was long. Some kids claimed they put sentences in the middle of their paper like, “RJ, if you read this, tell me, and I’ll give you $20.” RJ never said anything, the kid claimed. I never actually saw the phrase in the middle of the paper, but they said it was there. This was back when you really typed your paper and had to use white-out to fix your mistakes (the mid to late 1980s).

Last year, my middle daughter had to write a paper. Her teacher required she use index cards. Why? I still didn’t ask the teacher, although I did mutter to my daughter about it. In fact, my daughter actually lost 25 or 50 points because she didn’t bring her index cards in on time. (They were a day late.) I did ask the teacher about that, and I just gave up. I don’t know if this teacher did the things RJ didn’t — helped the kids organize and utilize the cards to create the paper. I just know that for my daughter, it was just like it was for me 20 some years ago — it didn’t matter what I wrote on the cards or why I was writing on the cards. My focus and my daughter’s focus was just finding 25 things to put on the damn cards and be done with it.

But that was the past, and I am trying to figure out what teaching English composition (and teaching research writing) looks like in the 21st Century. As I was reading the article from NCTE, I started thinking about conversations I wanted to start with my students in the beginning of the class. I even opened a document and wrote some of them down. Here they are:

National Day on Writing – October 20 – add into syllabus.
Define writer.
How much writing do you do each day?
When you write, do you have any special requirements?
Where do you write?
Do you write more or less than your parents did when they were your age?
Which class did you write the most in?
What type of writing did you do in that class?
Do you enjoy writing?
What is one of your strengths as a writer?
What is one of your weaknesses as a writer?
What writing counts?

I have more to say about this, but I am out of time.

Category: Teaching  Tags: ,  Comments off

Bubbles*

16
Jun 2009

bubblesI arrived at my computer this morning to discover a green bottle of bubbles waiting for me. I thought maybe Maureen had brought me a present along with the to-do list with my name at the top next to the words “work widgets.” More work. The to-do list was sitting right next to the bubbles, and my name stood out. I thought it was from Maureen, but upon closer inspection I noticed the “from the desk of Heidi L. Sura” on top. OK, I can deal with Heidi giving me a list of things to do before 8 a.m.

It’s a good thing because Maureen was going to end up on my shit list if she had brought the to do list. After all, here she was blabbering away about the to-do list and all the things they were going to add onto it for me to do. Plus her books were all over my space, and yesterday, well yesterday was pretty bad — she brought chocolate. And she didn’t bring the cheap chocolate you can ignore. No, not Maureen. She brought the Dove chocolate and Bliss chocolate in all kinds of flavors.

Plus Maureen is the one who told me about the podcast walk/run thing, and I was up early this morning and walking/running, and I realized Ferris is a very hilly campus especially when you are going up hill when the little chimes sound indicating you should start running.

It’s a good thing I like Maureen. And chocolate. It is probably also a good thing Maureen has a good sense of humor and tends to be a little sarcastic herself. I think I need more coffee this morning, plus now I have bagel seeds in my teeth. I bet Maureen brought the bagels, too.

Edited to add: Maureen shared her writing first, and she talked about being a kid vacationing at her uncle’s cabbage (cottage). Apparently, someone (a brother?) wasn’t pronouncing words well, and he even called Maureen “mean because he couldn’t pronounce his rs.” Right. That is why. You betcha.

Edited again to add: The bubbles were actually from Lavon. Thanks, Lavon!

But this was supposed to be about bubbles this morning. The other day at the Little League game (because all of my days in June seem to involve Little League games), there was the cutest little kids chasing bubbles. One large bubble flew out over the ball game and way up into the air. Autumn, Steve and I watched it go, and we were amazed by how long it lasted. We thought it would pop any moment, but it kept going all the way across the field, pass the outfield and into the tree line where after thinking it just might escape, it finally popped against the branch of a tree. It was nice to take time out to watch a bubble float on the air.

I used to buy bubbles by the gallon. My kids loved blowing bubbles when they were little, and I have a hard time saying that without thinking about that stupid joke involving Bubbles the clown, but I shall move past, drink more coffee, and continue. Anyway, I’d buy the stuff by the gallon. We didn’t just use the bubble wands in the jar of bubbles. We also had toys that blew bubbles. I think there was a lawn mower. I’m not sure. But now bubbles are the small jars again.

And I need more coffee.

*This post was written as the writing prompt for Crossroads Writing Project’s advanced institute for technology: Day 2

Category: Life with Linda, Writing  Tags:  4 Comments

Back at CWP

16
Jul 2007

It’s Monday morning, and I’m back at Crossroads Writing Project, and its time for another Sacred Writing Prompt. Time to just write. I’m glad I don’t have to write to the prompt if I don’t want to because I am unfocused this morning. It’s Monday, and I am shifting gears back to CWP.

I need to write a reflective letter about my experience at CWP, or rather a couple of reflective pieces. But the one I am thinking about writing with this post isn’t one that I need to write.

It’s the fourth of the four-week session, and I am glad the end is near. Although this has been an amazing experience, and I have met so many great people, I am looking forward to returning to my real life and staying there. I am missed, and I miss it.

It’s the little things mostly. The things I do that no one else does. The not being able to talk to my husband about big and little things.

When I return home, things are different. Not bad but just different. And even after being there for just a couple of days, it reverts back to being the home I know and love. And now I’m gone again. Can I think of an example of what I mean? That’s harder because it isn’t anything really, just I can tell. When I came home, the house was clean, but in 15 minutes I do whatever it is I do, and the house is cleaner. I know where things are that no one else knows. And it’s not all about the house being clean or cleaner. There’s a well-worn groove in me that is filled by my family, and when I am away from them, I stumble over that empty groove. And when I return, it just feels so nice.

This weekend I mentioned to Amanda and Maxine that this was going to be the final week. They thought it was just the second week. And I realized why. The first week, the two of them were gone to their grandparents. The second week was a holiday week, so I was only gone a day and a half.

But coming back to CWP here feels good too. I walk in the room, and tons of smiles and good mornings greet me. Janet and I share a laugh as a small portion of my creamer misses part of my cup and floats to the ground in a white dust. As I set up my computer at my spot at the table, Danette asks me if I’d like a cinnamon roll. And in the time it takes me to plug in my laptop, she has it warmed up and is handing it to me. Homemade cinnamon roll. Mmmm.

But dorm life is dorm life. Heidi and I usually share a suite, but I noticed this morning as we checked in that one of the rooms was 106, which last week had a stinky smelly mattress. And so I asked for a new room. Instead of moving both of us, she only moved one of us and now we aren’t suite mates, which isn’t going to work. We share food, and we have a rhythm that works for our morning and night routines. And so after today, we will be working it out somehow.

And as I sit here thinking of all I need to do, the stuff from my real life that has been put on hold and can’t any longer (yes, Steve, I called. It’s all taken care of). And the stuff I meant to bring with me and didn’t (I forgot the bungie cord, I said, as we were spotting the first exit to Big Rapids. Why a bungie cord? Ah, because the dorm room doors are heavy, and almost impossible to prop open, but one of our bunch is a science teacher who had the bright idea of holding it open with a bungie cord. And so I was going to bring one and didn’t. Oh well, at least I remembered my toothbrush, right? Did I? Oh, yep, there it is. Dorm sweet dorm.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Category: Teaching, Writing  Tags:  Comments off
« Previous Entries