So I've been grading papers for the past several hours. My favorite assignment of the semester, a Family of Origin paper, fell due on Thursday. The length requirement was specified as "no less than 12 pages". One student had asked if there was a maximum length for the assignment. I was taken off guard and ultimately said to keep it under 20. And some of my students are using close to all 20 pages! Two of the seven I've graded so far have been 19 pages long. The average is probably 15 or 16. And here is an email I received today from one of my students who submitted her assignment late (knowing my late policy to be 5% points off per school day it is late).
Here is my final Family of Origin paper. I took me much longer than I expected, but I'm glad that I took the extra time (even though it made me one more day late) because I got much more out of it. Thank you for teaching me to see the worth of the assignment rather than worrying about the grade. Oh, and it's 14 pages long, I hope that's ok!
This makes me feel like a success as an educator. One of my goals has been to help my students be active learners, motivated by a desire to learn and become, rather than simply meeting grading criterion. I'm glad to know that at least some of them are catching the vision, and that assignments are meaningful to them. Because, let's be honest, I didn't assign these papers because I have lots of free time for reading 500 more pages of student writing. But I am certainly enjoying it.
5 comments:
This is rad. You are a rockin' teacher.
I feel like I ran across your blog years ago, but I just found it today through Liz Huber's new blog & I hope we can stay in touch!!! You are beautiful & I can't believe it has been so long since I have seen you!
5% off per day late?! that's a joke. you are encouraging people to turn it in late. but have fun
You're awesome!
Your students are great because you inspire them.
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