Responding Effectively to Student Writing Why We Respond When to Respond How to Respond The Ethics of Our Responses

Why We Respond Harvard Study of Undergraduate Writing ( ) “Feedback plays a leading role in undergraduate writing development.” An “opportunity to engage with instructors through feedback” is one characteristic of students’ best academic writing.

When to Respond Responding during the writing process Responding after the writing process

How Not to Respond Nancy Sommers “Responding to Student Writing” Comments that are more about the teacher doing his/her job than about student Comments about both higher-order and lower- order concerns Comments not specific to paper (rubber stamp) Too many comments Comments that push the paper towards an ideal text in teacher’s head rather than in student’s head

How to Respond to Drafts Comments that are specific to the paper and/or to the writer Comments that pair constructive criticism with writing instruction Comments that treat students as “apprentice scholars”

How to Respond to Final Essay Respond to writer rather than paper (use examples from the paper) Use a scoring guide

Praise vs. Criticism Donald Daiker “Learning to Praise” (1999) Harvard Study of Undergraduate Writing ( ) Lee Ann Carroll Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers (2002)

The Ethics of Our Responses Directive vs. facilitative Student control Student learning

Examples of Facilitative Comments Asking questions Registering confusion Pointing out where you find yourself disagreeing or needing more convincing Talking about strategies you use as a writer when you run into problems similar to those the student is facing

Peter Elbow’s Ideas for Facilitative Response Describe what the text is doing Describe your reactions/feelings as you read Praise Reply to what the writer says not just how she says it (Elbow calls this responding as a human being) Identify one “fruitful problem” for the writer to address

Student Openness to our Responses Direct our comments Feedback on our comments

Works Cited Carroll, Lee Ann. New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, Daiker, Donald. “Learning to Praise.” A Sourcebook for Responding to Student Writing. Ed. Richard Straub. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Elbow, Peter. “Options for Responding to Student Writing” A Sourcebook for Responding to Student Writing. Ed. Richard Straub. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Sommers, Nancy. “Across the Drafts.” College Composition and Communication 58.2 (2006) Sommers, Nancy. “Responding to Student Writing.” College Composition and Communication 33.2 (1982): Straub, Richard. “The Concept of Control in teacher Response: Defining the Varieties of ‘Directive’ and ‘Facilitative’ Response. College Composition and Communication 47.2 (1996): White, Ed. “Using Scoring Guides to Assess Writing.” A Sourcebook for Responding to Student Writing. Ed. Richard Straub. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press,