Do you ever find yourself saying the exact same thing - time after time, essay after essay – as you proceed through a stack of papers?
Holy mind blowing numbness!
So, why persist in engaging this practice if it’s a major time-suck and yields no improvement in student writing?
To work around this common occurrence, I host something known as “Twinning Writing Conferences.”
Let’s say that Student “A” walks into your classroom wearing a Richard Simmons headband, red baggy sweatshirt, khaki pants, and a pair of blue Chuck Taylor low-top sneakers.
And then comes walking in Student “B” wearing the exact same thing.
They might look at each other and say … “TWINNING”
In a Twinning Writing Conference, I group students together that share the exact same compositional deficiencies.
We sit in a circle and address head-on their biggest glitches as writers.
So, let’s say that you found yourself on six consecutive papers leaving a comment about poor quote transitions.
As we know, our commentary doesn’t do much in advancing writers forward, but a Twinning Conference will.
Show them how to do it … “Bob Ross” a few examples so that expectations are explicit.
Then have them address this skillset in their draft and set them off to revise.
It’s not only quicker to do this instead of squeezing commentary into margins, but it’s 100 times more effective.
This is just yet another one of my alternatives to traditional grading methods.
On November 13th at 11 a.m. EST we will be hosting an Alternative Grading Methods Two-Hour Intensive whereby I will demonstrate how to incorporate 40 alternatives to traditional grading.
There are two options available …
You can simply show up and absorb everything that you can …
Or you can package the intensive with my Self-Paced Course to further supplement and buttress your learning.
If you’d like more information, please reach out or visit my webpage at http://teachinghow2write.com/alternative-grading-methods-intensive/
Happy teaching and happy writing!
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