{"id":15664,"date":"2013-09-24t08:30:36","date_gmt":"2013-09-24t13:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?p=15664"},"modified":"2013-09-24t05:57:38","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24t10:57:38","slug":"teaching-writing-learning-last-week-grading-is-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/2013\/09\/teaching-writing-learning-last-week-grading-is-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"last week’s “t.w.l.” conversation on teaching writing: “grading is teaching”"},"content":{"rendered":"
by nancy chick, cft assistant director<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n scott juengel <\/strong><\/a>(english) talked about \u201cmanaging the paper load:\u00a0 grading writing efficiently and effectively<\/strong>\u201d with approximately 30 faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students on september 18. this lunchtime gathering was the second in the \u201cteaching. writing. learning.<\/a><\/strong>\u201d series of conversations on teaching writing.<\/p>\n <\/a>although he\u2019s been at vanderbilt for some time, he came from an institution where he taught a large course that gave him 75 papers during each grading period.\u00a0 (he split the grading load for 300 students with his three tas.) based on his experiences with that course and his subsequent courses at vanderbilt, he offered four principles or assumptions that determine his unconventional approach to \u2018managing the paper load\u2019 and \u2018grading writing efficiently and effectively.\u2019<\/p>\n first, he asserted that \u201cgrading is teaching<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 rather than thinking of it as a separate activity, he approaches his grading and commenting on students\u2019 essays as an essential part of instruction.\u00a0 he also sets aside time for grading in the same way that he does for class preparations, and he designs in-class activities to reflect and practice moves he looks for in his students\u2019 papers.\u00a0 this last point echoes richard lloyd\u2019s (sociology) comments about the relationship between in-class discussions and student writing at last month\u2019s \u201cteaching. writing. learning\u201d<\/a>: \u201cthe quality of class discussions is reflected in predictable ways in the writing i get from students.\u201d \u201c<\/p>\n