More Feedback

This time, from Theo (who got an 11 out of 15 on a blog about Lutefisk) to me.... And then again, from me to Theo.

Are these blogs expected to be at least 3 paragraphs long? Are they expected to be an edited/revised story soon-to-be pubished in a book?

You have given us no guidelines on what is expected out of our blogs EXCEPT that they are supposed to be like freewrites. FREEWRITES, to me at least, are a rough collecting of thoughts on a particular literary subject. My mother as well doesn't agree how this went down.

Sorry to be kind of brash and blunt, but I don't agree with your grading methods. I have read other blogs that have gotten perfect grades when they have had less content, even shorter lengths, and more terrible conventions (if I understand correctly what conventions mean) than my own blog.

I don't know if it was you that gave me the grade on my late essay, but I didn't agree with that, either. Late work is typically 50% straight. Instead, I got counted late AND for the things I did wrong. That is hardly fair.

I'd appreciate a response this time,
Thanks, Theo

Thanks for the comment, Theo! Please don’t ever hesitate to ask me about grading methods, or to instigate a discussion if you feel like grading is unfair. You’ll want to talk to Viola about the grade on your essay, but I’m happy to discuss the blogs.

“Are these blogs expected to be at least 3 paragraphs long?”
Generally, yes they are. I’m looking for content that would fill about a hand-written page. If it’s a poem, then I look more for quality and evidence that the poem was carefully crafted than length. But prose: yes. Shoot for about three paragraphs, or, a couple big meaty ones.

” Are they expected to be an edited/revised story soon-to-be pubished in a book?”
No. Of course not. However, those of you that have given me writing on the side and who have proven to have great writing potential ARE held to a higher standard. I don’t grade you against each other as much as I grade you against yourself; your last blog was about an “11″ from Theo, because– as I’ve told you before– I know what you can do and that WASN’T your best. Would you disagree?

Many of you are at many different skill levels; if I graded you the same way I graded a freshman that was still learning English, you wouldn’t ever improve. You would never get grades that indicated you had more to learn– and we ALL have more to learn.

However, one aspect of these blogs– which I think I like, actually– is that it forces me to be accountable with ALL of you as to how I’m grading… Because, as you pointed out, you can ALL see it. It’s forced me to be as fair as possible.

Within that, you are ALL graded on:
Length: was it about the length of a handwritten page?

Conventions: did you spell things correctly, and use proper grammar? (This is a stricter standard than how we graded freewrites at the beginning of the year, when you were not expected to have proper grammar or spelling. However, it’s the end of the year, and you SHOULD know more; plus, there’s a spell-checker option when writing the bogs.)

Content: I look for depth of thought, and effort. This is probably the area that is graded most individually.

As far as numbers go, for this unit, a blog is given:
Full credit if turned in by Friday (the due date.)
Docked 10% if turned in by Monday
Docked 50% if turned in anytime that following week (up til the next Friday)
Given no credit if turned in anytime after that.

“I have read other blogs that have gotten perfect grades when they have had less content, even shorter lengths, and more terrible conventions.”
We can discuss grades on the other blogs if you want– I DO want to be consistent in how I’m grading, so your help with that is welcome.

Does that help answer all your questions? I AM still learning, and these blogs are a brand new project, so I do appreciate your students’ feedback on how I can improve for next time– it sounds like clearer guidelines would have been helpful for you. We can talk about this more in class if you want!