Responding to Student Writing

Reading responses can often be an extremely tense situation. Growing up, I would fear the comments that teachers would write on my paper only to have that fear diminish for a period. When I would see lots of writing ion my paper, I would not want to read what the teacher because I knew that red markings could only mean that there was lots of negativity about what I had written. As I became a stronger writer, that fear left because I would see more and more positive remarks on my papers. I’, sure that this same fear still persists among students which is probably the reason that many are afraid to write. Having overcome my own fear due to my own improvements, understanding how to write non-intimidating comments is extremely important for teachers.

Lindemann explains that comments should lead students into a particular direction while maintaining a positive tone (225). I absolutely agree! She also explains the importance of helping students to become able to judge their own writing and correct their errors without the teacher having to mark up their writing line by line (242-244). Peer evaluation followed by self-evaluation can be a helpful way of getting students familiar with critiquing their own writing. Actually reading a peer’s work and finding flaws gives a new lens through which students can read their own work more critically. Lindemann’s discussion on having students write a paragraph or two about the strengths and weaknesses of their papers is also a great tool. The openness that this is supposed to promote is good, yet sometimes difficult when students do not acknowledge the flaws of their papers.