Note to self – do not assign the same essay due date for all
three of your classes at one time.
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by scottchan @ freedigitalphotos.net |
Yes, I made this rookie mistake. But now, a few days after the due date, I
only have essays for one more class left to grade. It really wasn’t as bad as I thought it would
be. My English 101 class’s
analysis/synthesis essays impressed me, actually.
What I realized, while trying to grade these stacks of
essays as quickly yet thoroughly as possible, is the subjectivity of the composition
grading process. I use a rubric and I
believe I am a very fair grader, but there is a surprising amount of wiggle
room in there.
Why don’t more students contest their grades? Not that I am encouraging that. But if I had known as a student how
subjective this process was, I may have debated a few of my grades in high
school and college. But I, like most
students, accepted my grades at face value.

Along with notes and suggestions doodled in the margins of their essays, I also
hand back a cover sheet to each student with their grade and comments about
each section of the rubric.
Some of my
students last semester said they would look at their grade, wonder why they
didn’t do as well as they hoped, then read the comments and
think, “Oh yeah, I forgot my thesis statement.
Now my grade makes sense.” Or some
derivative of that.
The point is they understood why they received the grade they did and never felt a need to contest it.
Have you ever thought of the subjectivity of your grades as
a student? Or as a teacher, have you
ever noticed your biases when grading?
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