I've found that students comprehend things better when you say something like, "And only 1/3 can receive A's on this assignment." Motivation such as this does increase output. Unfortunately this output sometimes still results in what appears to be a vomit on the page.
I'm still having difficulty expressing the importance of writing. Repetition of the message doesn't help. Showing examples of poor writing doesn't help. Encouraging them to read and write (and have it proofed) falls on deaf ears (I assume). So how can we, as educators, get students to understand these three words?
Succinct. Active. Clear.
Below is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much -
I am writing this paper, to express a thought about the topic of which I may or may not tell you until the end of this paper for which I'm writing <<Insert word that was meant to be an adjective but they use an adverb>> of.
Or the first paragraph of an internship application cover letter -
My name is << name>> and I realized that it's my senior year and I still haven't gotten an internship. Everyone says I need to get one before I graduate. I think your position is perfect for me so I can get a job after college. I'm passionate about <<major>> and have wanted to do it ever since I can remember when I was a little kid.
I want to help, but standard edits don't seem to affect future output.
I am tinkering with a new grading policy for next semester. Every class will discuss writing for PR the first day of class. Tips/tools will be given throughout the semester. I will mark up the first two assignments. After this I will simply highlight passive writing, to be verbs, long sentences, ambiguous sentences, bull-shit sentences, sentences with prepositional phrases, sentences with more than one idea... and once I get to three high-lights then I'm done grading.
Students will earn the grade of the work to that point. They have to redo the paper/assignment if they want me to continue grading. They will have one week to return a revised version.
Maybe it's Friday, and I'm just tired. But this is looking like a great time-saver along with being a tough-love teaching tool. I'll let you know if it works.
I'm still having difficulty expressing the importance of writing. Repetition of the message doesn't help. Showing examples of poor writing doesn't help. Encouraging them to read and write (and have it proofed) falls on deaf ears (I assume). So how can we, as educators, get students to understand these three words?
Succinct. Active. Clear.
Below is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much -
I am writing this paper, to express a thought about the topic of which I may or may not tell you until the end of this paper for which I'm writing <<Insert word that was meant to be an adjective but they use an adverb>> of.
Or the first paragraph of an internship application cover letter -
My name is << name>> and I realized that it's my senior year and I still haven't gotten an internship. Everyone says I need to get one before I graduate. I think your position is perfect for me so I can get a job after college. I'm passionate about <<major>> and have wanted to do it ever since I can remember when I was a little kid.
I want to help, but standard edits don't seem to affect future output.
I am tinkering with a new grading policy for next semester. Every class will discuss writing for PR the first day of class. Tips/tools will be given throughout the semester. I will mark up the first two assignments. After this I will simply highlight passive writing, to be verbs, long sentences, ambiguous sentences, bull-shit sentences, sentences with prepositional phrases, sentences with more than one idea... and once I get to three high-lights then I'm done grading.
Students will earn the grade of the work to that point. They have to redo the paper/assignment if they want me to continue grading. They will have one week to return a revised version.
Maybe it's Friday, and I'm just tired. But this is looking like a great time-saver along with being a tough-love teaching tool. I'll let you know if it works.
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