Responding to Student Writing

Sommers addresses the issue of teachers' commentary on their students' pieces of writing. She says that as teachers, we should read and comment on the text as a whole before correcting mechanics. Do you agree that this is the proper method to go about grading a student's writing?

I completely agree with Sommers' claim that students' papers need to be looked at entirely before picked at mechanically. I found it interesting that she says the student's revision goes from being "This is what I'm trying to say" to "This is what you, the teacher, are asking me to do". I never thought of revision in that sense before; however after reading that quote, I find it very applicable. More often than not, students get revision from the teacher in hopes that she will tell them what needs to be corrected. This takes away from the entire writing process. Students are no longer writing for themselves; rather they are writing for a good grade. Therefore, whatever the teacher says, goes.

We as future teachers need to reverse this misconception for our students. It is important that they see themselves as the primary author, and are able to take into account what they are trying to convey. It is our job to guide students, not to tell them what they need to do to get an A. Students need to realize this, as well. We need to help them understand that first drafts are not final drafts. We can do this by commenting on the paper as a whole and making specific references to content, context, audience, and purpose.

Another aspect that I was able to relate to was that students made revisions to their first drafts that were suggested by the teacher, and turned it in as their final paper. I definitely have done this in the past because when teachers make comments on mechanical aspects of the paper, I felt that everything else was good enough since she had made no comment on it. This is where teachers and students need to have clearer communication.