tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816379396941577754.post3422533801669911509..comments2023-10-27T05:42:20.467-05:00Comments on NCTE High School Matters: Parsing out the Teaching from the LaborNCTEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13158338704096862694noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816379396941577754.post-75209286601477074942009-03-30T12:27:00.000-05:002009-03-30T12:27:00.000-05:00Kimberly and Debbie, thanks for your comments. Ki...Kimberly and Debbie, thanks for your comments. Kimberly, I agree with you that help with grading should remain "help." The description of using this online service throughout the draft process I gave is really one of the few ways I could see myself using it.<BR/><BR/>Debbie, I 100% agree with your points, too. There are online grading systems that "calibrate" using papers graded by humans, and they scare me. The tool I tried to describe here is more of a service; real people grade the essays according to a rubric. (I haven't seen the rubric, but I got the impression it was for standard practices: grammar, punctuation, consistent voice, transitions, clear thesis...)<BR/><BR/>I focus so much on audience when I teach students to write, Debbie, and I think you make such a great point. If we don't provide the audience for students' writing ourselves, what does that show for how we value it? There are many things to think about with this issue. In the meantime, class sizes are growing...<BR/><BR/>Thanks for helping me think about this stuff!<BR/><BR/>KateKate Kellenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115851854697516874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816379396941577754.post-29651917755288447292009-03-30T10:07:00.000-05:002009-03-30T10:07:00.000-05:00I agree with your wondering and with Kimberly's co...I agree with your wondering and with Kimberly's comment about the value of knowing your student. You both identify philosophical and personal issues at war in the question. Additionally, I think there could be theoretical issues at stake: What does a computer score when it "grades" writing? It seems to me that it cannot respond as a person would to tone, content (beyond measuring the repetition of certain key words), or situation. That is, can a computer tell if the writing is appropriate for the rhetorical situation? Can it tell if the writing is being ironic or satirical? Only a person can do that. And I wonder, if we turn grading over to computers, what does that tell our students writing is? A game that a machine can score as well as a person? Does it reinforce an idea that writing doesn't ever really go anywhere important, do anything of value, mean anything more to some people in some situations than others in different situations? It just seems to me that, beyond the important issues you've both raised, evaluating my students' writing IS one of those things I do better than a computer because I am a person and I can respond as a person would.Debbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02248334274188972883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2816379396941577754.post-80749815714847387832009-03-30T09:39:00.000-05:002009-03-30T09:39:00.000-05:00I think that the main thing that you can do that t...I think that the main thing that you can do that technology can't do is know your student. While having someone else other than you read a draft, you are still reading the final because you know how much your student has improved, you know what has been covered in class, etc. So while this new technology of helping decrease the workload might be helpful, I think we as teachers still have control over the final gradeKimberlynoreply@blogger.com