serious problems

Post by **Canuck** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:25 pm

I use red. Sometimes it seems a little harsh and I find myself getting stressed out at the amount of red I've put on the page. But my (freshman university) students use everything else to write their assignments (blue, black, green, purple, pink, swirly silver&blue, pencil, colored pencils, even crayon!!), so if I use red ink, I can see my own writing amidst their answers.

Post by **Huggybone** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:35 pm

"It's taken a turn from 'Here's what you need to improve on' to 'Here's what you've done right,"' Powell said. "It's not that we're not pointing out mistakes, it's just that the method in which it's delivered is more positive."

Man, this is so wrong. The whole purpose of going to scool is to 'improve on' your current ability level. Yeah, positive reinforcement is good, but without pointing out mistakes, education becomes babysitting. That's like teaching someone to climb, saying 'yeah man, your doing great on those moves,' but never making them learn how to belay, tie knots, etc...

The net result is the same: people that have to rely on other people (read, government or rope gun) because they have not been taught the skills to rely on themselves.

grumble grumble...

Post by **rickardodaniel** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:35 pm

paul3eb-
thank you for using blue ink to correct my grammar mistake. i am unable to cope with horrible sight of red when used in a corrective manner. i will need a skin-FRIENDLY bandage to mend my broken ego. i have never intended to display violence however, if that is the perception please accept this olive branch of peace. as for the spelling error i blame ADD, a lazy typing finger, and my complacent proofreading. sorry paul3eb if my bus is a little shorter than everyone else.
kelsey

Post by **strum** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:36 pm

Canuck,
You get crayon too? That really pissed me off the first time I got a paper, a college, primary research paper, that was written in yellow crayon...
the student claimed "it was all I could find"

Post by **Alan Evil** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:18 pm

I use brown when I grade papers. Of course I'm just rubbing shit on the papers and then sticking them on the wall with gold stars...

It might mean something if I were a teacher and the paper weren't The Star...

Post by **the lurkist** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:14 am

It is my experience that the stress of school is the motivator. If you believe your grade is on the line, and you have been led to believe that b/c a teacher is letting you know that you are not performing up to par (be it with red pen or haraunging in class), and you are certain that your future career plans hang in the balance, then you full on pull out the stops and do what ever it takes to get the job done. That is called motivation. If parents are insulating their kids from that, they are crippling them.

Post by **Alan Evil** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 1:17 am

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to cripple your children.

Post by **squeezindlemmon** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:26 pm

Post by **longlegsrule** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:56 pm

Post by **marathonmedic** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 8:43 pm

Beautiful pic squeeze!

I think that article shows what happens when people try to make people happy without stopping to wonder if the people really know what they want. They had a good idea to suggest better answers, but went about it the wrong way. It won't matter what color you use if you're still going to write suggestions on the answers that they get wrong. They'll take one look at that paper and see lots of ink that wasn't there when they turned it in. Instead, just put a grade at the top. Then give them a separate handout where the kids can compare them and even see answers that were more "right" than the ones they didn't miss. It would make longer tests harder to grade, but as long as you're going to mark the right or wrong answers, anybody will be able to take one incredibly quick glance at the page and get an idea how the student did from across the room.