My first assignment was due this past Monday - the character sketch which I had assigned before break. I was a little disheartened when only four students turned it in on time. Two more came in later in the week. I went by Ms. Summers policy and late papers were dropped a third of a grade per day late (B+ became a B after one day, etc.).
Monica let me do all of the grading and I was a little nervous. I had only given checks for their daily assignments - I only want them to write each day, and I don't feel it is fair for me to evaluate it. To grade the character sketches, I reviewed the assignment sheet and underlined all of the requirements for the paper. This way, I created a rubric to evaluate the papers.
The biggest issue that arose from the papers was a severe lack of editing. It was obvious that most students did not even reread their papers. Tenses didn't match, sentences were missing words, wrong words were used (the type that spell check would catch. I was a little worried about this and brought it up when we did peer editing this week. I told them what to look for and hopefully it will help. I'm not holding my breath though. For our next assignment, I am including much more specific editing guidelines on the assignment sheet. I know that these kids know this stuff - they've proved it to me in other pieces they've written. They just aren't taking an extra moment to reread their work and move their paper from a B to an A. I will continue to look for ways to motivate them to do so.
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