Mike, when you teach film, or literature, how does your commenting change? Comments in a writing class would serve a different function than those in a content course.

I find that putting comments on rough drafts is more valuable than putting them on final drafts -- I've found the key is, if I allow revisions at all, to make the revision mandatory, and not to record any score at all (that is, record an F) unless the student submits an acceptable revision. (I do that for major assignments).

I've been disappointed in the past when I've put a lot of effort into commenting on final papers, only to find that more than half of the students don't bother to pick up their papers at the end of term. Even when I make the effort to have their papers ready for them to pick up after the final exam, some still don't bother to pick them up on their way out.

Oh I totally empathize with you on that last score, Dennis! I have boxes filled with papers students never picked up and my scribbles are all over them...there's no getting around the fact that it can feel like wasted time & energy. It's little consolation to suggest that the act of marking up a paper benefits the grader in that we learn a little something from every paper we process. It's really moot whether the student integrates it or not, we have to always act as if they will. And like I suggested, that integration might come later when, say, they're assembling their portfolio.

These are big issues; not so easy to pin down. My methods are generally the same across the board when it comes to paper assignments (and students often report that I ask them to do "too much" writing or that I'm "too hard" for grading it so closely)...not sure I agree with them about that -- they report this because I usually ask them to write at all in the first place when they expect to only take tests and so forth.

But to answer your question: I don't so easily separate form from content when I grade in non-writing (content-based) classes. In both cases, my marginal notes apply critical thinking to what I'm reading. Writing courses also include comments on style and paragraphing and rhetorical appeals and such... but I also find myself leaving similar comments on the film and lit papers as I do on freshman comp papers. The biggest difference is in end comments and the occassional factual correction in the margins. But again, it's usually a matter of critical thinking more than anything else... I raise questions at issue rather than posit truth claims. Not always, but usually. I guess teaching lit/film lends itself toward interpretive issues anyway, so I really just test the student's analytical thinking and argument, rather than, say, the historical accuracy or integration of content from the textbook.

Great comments!

At the high school where I taught, we try to model the writing process:

1. writing a draft
2. critiquing the draft--workshopping, making comments (written or spoken)
3. revision
4. publication/final draft for turn-in

When I make the students do a major writing assignment, I give them at least a month before the final due date, and we do steps #2 and #3 at least two times before they finally turn it in. it saves me time because students get to critique each other's work, and by the time I need to make my own comments, I see that some of their peers have already written down things I would have said.

Of course, there are students who don't care, even after I have commented and warned them of a possible failing grade, and only turn in a paper with corrected spelling and punctuation. For students who take their work seriously, they realize the commentary and revision steps are the most important, not just for a better grade, but also as a key to their learning and understanding.

As for their portfolios, all writing assignments--good and bad-- are included in their file. This is good for students with good grades, but very unlucky for students who don't care, for a bad essay can follow them all the way through high school.

In spite of my skepticism about comments, I continue to write on student papers. In WCT students typically do not have a chance to rewrite a paper, but they do the same kind of paper repeatedly. They should eventually improve. Some do, and some clearly benefit from my comments. Others don't improve or benefit. It is obvious that in this particular course I need to introduce some form of revision and also some for of peer workshoping (in fact, I have something of that kind, but it could obviously be improved). But something that seems implicit in both the comments above is that students pay attention when they see that the comments matter. I wonder if there are tactics to make the students value their writing, or desire to impress their audience, enough that they will pay attention to advice, comments, and suggestions, and even perhaps seek these out? I don't have suggestions here, only questions.

Hi do you know any source of comment samples to use by a tutor in responsing the essays of undergraduate student.if yes please send it to my email.
All the best
Hashem

I found that simply asking my high school students who especially would like my comments on their rough drafts gave me a better idea of who was going to actually use them. The four or five students per class who raised their hands showed me who really were interested in having me respond more as a coach for them. I'm still tinkering with this approach since my district has a rubric all English teachers are to use, but in general, it has helped me give more time to those who will actually use the feedback. :)