Are you spending too much time grading papers and writing comments that students never seem to read? Looking for more effective ways to give teacher feedback on student writing? Tired of seeing the same writing problems in essay after essay? This piece suggests a radical rethinking of how we approach feedback and assessment in writing instruction.
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The Current State of Teacher Feedback: A Lamentable Tale
The other day, while trudging through yet another stack of essays that would surely be ignored, I had what some might consider an outrageous thought. But before I share this potentially scandalous solution, let us examine the deplorable state of our current condition related to teacher feedback.
It is a melancholy object indeed when we observe the common teacher, hunched over their desk at all hours, meticulously crafting feedback that shall be regarded with all the attention of a teenager being lectured on the necessity of a considerate system for cleaning common areas. I think it is agreed by all parties that the prodigious number of hours spent on such futile exercises is, in the present deplorable state of education, a very great additional grievance.
Why Traditional Teacher Feedback Fails
Now, I know what you’re thinking – this is just another piece about working smarter, not harder approach to teacher feedback. But I assure you, my intention is far more radical. Having turned my thoughts upon this important subject for many years (and in a near fit of rage since last Tuesday), I have found that all previous solutions have been grossly mistaken in their computation.
I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be met with the least objection.
The simple fact is this: We’re grading the wrong moment. Instead of rating the final product like food critics passing judgment on a finished dish, what if – and I know this sounds as modest as suggesting we eat babies to solve poverty – we graded students’ thinking about their writing?
That’s it. We DON’T grade the final essay at all.
Transforming Teacher Feedback: A Modest Solution
The advantages by this proposal are obvious and many:
First, we teachers would save countless hours currently spent on teacher feedback, writing comments that have all the impact of whispering poetry to a rock.
Secondly, students would actually have to (gasp!) think about their writing choices, rather than simply receiving our wisdom with all the enthusiasm of a cat being given unsolicited life advice.
I know there will be some who object that this system lacks the proper gravity and ceremony of traditional grading. To them I say: Have you actually checked whether your detailed comments on Essay #3 led to any improvements in Essay #4? I thought not. If you had, you would be right here with me.
I can think of no one objection that will possibly be raised against this proposal for updating our approach to teacher feedback, unless it be from those who cling to the ancient tradition of sacrificing their evenings to the god of marginalia. To these I would simply ask: How’s that working out for you?
I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the preservation of teacher sanity and the actual improvement of student writing. I have no current stack of ungraded essays by which I can profit (okay, that’s a lie – there are at least 30 sitting on my desk right now).
Therefore let no one speak to me of other expedients: Of crafting yet more detailed rubrics; of explaining for the fifteenth time why “In this essay I will” is not a thesis statement; of holding additional writing conferences while students perfect their TikTok choreography under the desk.
I desire those educators who dislike my overture to first ask themselves whether they would not be willing to try literally anything else at this point. And if they would be so bold as to attempt an answer, I would gladly hear their proposals – right after I finish grading these essays that have been sitting on my desk since last month.
Making Effective Feedback a Reality
Now, unlike Swift, who certainly wasn’t actually suggesting we eat babies, I am entirely serious about this proposal. The truly absurd thing is that we’ve spent decades doing something that doesn’t work, all while wondering why it doesn’t work.
Here’s how this madness might actually function in practice (and yes, I’m dropping the satirical tone because this part matters):
Instead of writing “weak transition” in the margin, we ask “What connection were you trying to make between these paragraphs?” Instead of noting “needs more evidence,” we ask “What made you choose this particular example to support your point?” Rather than writing “unclear thesis,” we ask “What’s the main thing you want your reader to understand?”
Then – and here’s the truly revolutionary part – we grade their responses to these questions. We assess how deeply they’re thinking about their choices, how specifically they’re planning their revisions, what questions they’re asking themselves.
The result? Students who can actually explain why they made certain choices in their writing. Writers who can articulate their own thinking process. Essays that improve because the writer understands why they’re making changes, not just blindly following teacher directives.
For those who recognize this essay’s format – yes, I did just riff off “A Modest Proposal.” But unlike Swift’s satirical solution to poverty, this seemingly outrageous proposal is one I genuinely believe could transform how we teach writing. Sometimes you have to frame the obvious solution as outrageous before people can see how absurd our current approach has been all along.
