essay teacher comments

Commenting on and Grading Student Writing

To learn more about how to maximize the feedback you give your students without putting an undue burden on your time, click on items in the list below.

• Focusing your commenting energies

Handling grammar

• Using a grading sheet
• Citation Information

Focus your Commenting Energy

No matter how much you want to improve student writing, remember that students can only take in so much information about a paper at one time. Particularly because writing is such an egocentric activity, writers tend to feel overloaded quickly by excessively detailed feedback about their writing.

Moreover, because most writing can be considered work in progress (because students will continue to think about the content and presentation of their papers even if they don't actively revise), commenting exhaustively on every feature of a draft is counter-productive. Too many comments can make student writers feel as if the teacher is taking control of the paper and cutting off productive avenues for revision.

Focusing your energy when commenting achieves two main goals:

• It leaves students in control of their writing so that they can consider revising--or at least learning from the experience of having written the paper.
• It gives teachers a sense of tackling the most important elements of a paper rather than getting bogged down in detail that might just get ignored by the student.

Typically, we recommend that teachers comment discursively on the one or two most important features of a paper, determined either by your criteria for the assignment or by the seriousness of the effect on a reader of a given paper.

If you assign write-to-learn tasks, you won't want to mark any grammatical flaws because the writing is designed to be impromptu and informal. If you assign more polished pieces, especially those that adhere to disciplinary conventions, then we suggest putting the burden of proofreading squarely where it belongs--on the writer.

You don't need to be an expert in grammar to assign and respond effectively to writing assignments. Click on the list below to read some points to consider as you design your assignments and grading criteria:

Don't Edit Writing to Learn

Editing write-to-learn (WTL) responses is counterproductive. This kind of writing must be informal for students to reap the benefits of thinking through ideas and questioning what they understand and what confuses them. Moreover, most WTL activities are impromptu. By asking students to summarize a key point in the three minutes at the end of class, you get students to focus on ideas. They don't need to edit for spelling and sentence punctuation, and if you mark those errors on their WTL writing, students shift their focus from ideas to form. In other words, marking errors on WTL pieces distracts students from the main goal--learning.

Make Students Responsible for Polishing Their Drafts

Formal drafts do need to be edited, but not necessarily by the teacher. The most efficient way to make sure students edit for as many grammatical and stylistic flaws as they can find is to base a large portion of the grade on how easy the paper is to read. If you get a badly edited piece, you can just hand it back and tell the student you'll grade it when the errors are gone. Or you can take 20-30% off the content grade. Students get the message very quickly and turn in remarkably clean writing.

If a student continues to have problems editing a paper, you can suggest visiting the Writing Center to get some one-on-one help with a writing consultant.

Think of Yourself First as a Reader

Some teachers think that basing 20-30% of the grade on grammatical and stylistic matters is unfair unless they mark all the flaws. We approach this issue from the perspective of readers. If you review a textbook and find editing mistakes, you don't label each one and send the text back to the publisher. No, you just stop reading and don't adopt the textbook. Readers who are not teachers just don't keep reading is a text that is too confusing or if errors are too distracting. Readers who are teachers are perfectly justified in simply noting with an X in the margin where a sentence gets too confusing or where mistaken punctuation leads the reader astray. Students are resourceful (they can get help from an on-campus writing center office or a writing center website) and will figure out the problem once a reader points out where the text stumbles. That's really all it takes.

Use Peer Editing

Perhaps the most helpful tool in getting clean, readable papers from students is the peer editing session. Most students are better editors of someone else's paper than proofreaders of their own, so having students exchange papers and look for flaws helps them find many more glitches than they'll find on their own.

View More about Student Peer Review

Try a Time-Saving Shortcut

If you feel compelled to mark grammatical and stylistic flaws, work out a shorthand for yourself and give students a handout explaining your marks. Most teachers can get by with one symbol for a sentence that gets derailed or confused, another for faulty punctuation of all sorts, and a third for inaccurate words (spelling or meaning). Save your time and energy for commenting on substance rather than form.

Sample Policies on Grading Grammar versus Content

Outdoor Resources 1XX (excerpts)

(Although we don't recommend assigning points for errors (because then you have to mark and count them all), this teacher was clear about expectations.)

Your paper should contain from 1,500 to 2,000 words, or about five to seven pages. The paper must be typewritten, double spaced, and bound. Neatness is essential.

A Check List of Points to Consider:

I. Mechanics

Neatness. Is your report clean, neatly organized, with a look of professional pride about it?

Spelling. Two points will be deducted for each misspelled word.

Grammar and punctuation. Five points will be deducted for each sentence which uses improper grammar or punctuation.

Outline. Did you follow the course outline?

Form. Is your paper in the proper form?

Bibliography. Are the references properly cited?

Binding. Use a cover binding with a secure clasp.

II. Content . . . .

Use a grading sheet

Grading comment sheets or checksheets give teachers and students two advantages over free-form grading:

• Grading sheets of some sort assure that teachers will give students feedback about all the major criteria they set out on the assignment sheet. Even if you decide to use a simple checksheet that ranks students' performance on each criterion on a 1-10 scale, students will be able to see quickly where their strengths and weaknesses are as writers for this assignment.
• Grading sheets, particularly checksheets, typically save teachers time. Even composition teachers don't comment exhaustively about each criterion for each assignment; so, too, disciplinary teachers should be aware that they can comment at some length on just one or two points (typically the major strength and the major weakness) and then rely on the checksheet to fill in for less crucial areas of the paper. If students are concerned about getting more feedback than the checksheet provides, you can encourage them to come to your office hours or send you an e-mail query.

Resource: Sample Grading Sheets

Four sample grading sheets are provided:

• Introductory Composition
• Science Project

Sample Grading Sheet

Composition 1xx Grading Sheet

Grade for essay: ___________

Revision Instructions:

Sample Report Evaluation

Name: _________________

Subject: _________________

__ total points

DETAILED REPORT EVALUATION

Title page:

Table of contents:

Bibliography:

Information page:

Oral presentation:

Sample Evaluation of Written Report

Evaluation of Written Report

Sample Science Project Checksheet

Science Project checksheet

GENERAL 50 POINTS

1. Correct form (15)

Reference list (3)

Citation of sources(2)

Mechanics (order, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, cover) (5)

2. Composition skills (10)

Spelling (5)

Grammar (5)

3. Log book used to record experimental data, ideas, etc. (10)

4. Abstract (10)

5. Acknowledgments (5)

TOTAL GENERAL: _________

EXHIBIT 50 EXTRA CREDIT POINTS

1. Summarized project well (30)

Problem and hypothesis easy to understand (5)

Experimental method clearly stated (10)

Results summarized in graphs/tables (10)

Conclusion presented (5)

2. Eye appeal (10)

Neat lettering (3)

Pleasing placement of parts (2)

Good use of color (3)

Sturdiness (2)

3. Creativity (10)

TOTAL EXHIBIT POINTS: _______

TOTAL PROJECT: ______

Resource: Sample grading criteria

General Grading Criteria: Composition 1xx

Kate Kiefer, Donna LeCourt, Stephen Reid, & Jean Wyrick. (2018). Commenting on Student Writing. The WAC Clearinghouse. Retrieved from https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/teaching/guides/commenting/. Originally developed for Writing@CSU (https://writing.colostate.edu).

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PRINCIPLES OF RESPONDING TO STUDENT WRITING

Your comments on student writing should clearly reflect the hierarchy of your concerns about the paper. Major issues should be treated more prominently and at greater length; minor issues should be treated briefly or not at all. If you comment extensively on grammatical or mechanical issues, you should expect students to infer that such issues are among your main concerns with the paper. It is after all not unreasonable for students to assume that the amount of ink you spill on an issue bears some relationship to the issue’s importance.

It is often more helpful to comment explicitly, substantively, and in detail about two or three important matters than it is to comment superficially about many issues. Many veteran readers find the experience of responding to student writing to be one of constantly deciding not to comment on less important issues. Such restraint allows you to focus your energies on just a few important points and also tends to yield a cleaner and more easily intelligible message for students.

Some suggestions for writing comments follow.

READING THE PAPER

You may want to skim through four or five papers to get a sense of the pile before reading and grading any single paper. Many instructors read each paper once through to grasp the overall argument before making any marks. Whether skimming on a first time through or reading carefully, you might keep the following categories in mind, which will help you assess the paper’s strengths and weaknesses:

• Thesis: Is there one main argument in the paper? Does it fulfill the assignment? Is the thesis clearly stated near the beginning of the paper? Is it interesting, complex? Is it argued throughout?
• Structure: Is the paper clearly organized? Is it easy to understand the main point of each paragraph? Does the order of the overall argument make sense, and is it easy to follow?
• Evidence and Analysis: Does the paper offer supporting evidence for each of its points?Does the evidence suggest the writer’s knowledge of the subject matter? Has the paper overlooked any obvious or important pieces of evidence? Is there enough analysis of evidence? Is the evidence properly attributed, and is the bibliographical information correct?
• Sources: If appropriate or required, are sources used besides the main text(s) under consideration? Are they introduced in an understandable way? Is their purpose in the argument clear? Do they do more than affirm the writer’s viewpoint or represent a “straw person” for knocking down? Are responsible inferences drawn from them? Are they properly attributed, and is the bibliographical information correct?
• Style: Is the style appropriate for its audience? Is the paper concise and to the point? Are sentences clear and grammatically correct? Are there spelling or proofreading errors?

WRITING A FINAL COMMENT

Y our final comment is your chance not only to critique the paper at hand but also to communicate your expectations about writing and to teach students how to write more effective papers in the future.

The following simple structure will help you present your comments in an organized way:

• Reflect back the paper’s main point. By reflecting back your understanding of the argument, you let the student see that you took the paper seriously. A restatement in your own words will also help you ground your comment. If the paper lacks a thesis, restate the subject area.
• Discuss the essay’s strengths. Even very good writers need to know what they’re doing well so that they can do it again in the future. Remember to give specific examples.
• Discuss the paper’s weaknesses, focusing on large problems first. You don’t have to comment on every little thing that went wrong in a paper. Instead, choose two or three of the most important areas in which the student needs to improve, and present these in order of descending importance. You may find it useful to key these weaknesses to such essay elements as Thesis, Structure, Evidence, and Style. Give specific examples to show the student what you’re seeing. If possible, suggest practical solutions so that the student writer can correct the problems in the next paper.
• Type your final comments if possible. If you handwrite them, write in a straight line (not on an angle or up the side of a page), and avoid writing on the reverse side; instead, append extra sheets as needed. The more readable your comments are, the more seriously your students are likely to take them.

MARGINAL COMMENTS

While carefully reading a paper, you’ll want to make comments in the margins. These comments have two main purposes: to show students that you attentively read the paper and to help students understand the connection between the paper and your final comments. If you tell a student in the final comment that he or she needs more analysis, for example, the student should be able to locate one or more specific sites in the text that you think are lacking.

SOME PRINCIPLES FOR MAKING MARGINAL COMMENTS

• Make some positive comments. “Good point” and “great move here” mean a lot to students, as do fuller indications of your engagement with their writing. Students need to know what works in their writing if they’re to repeat successful strategies and make them a permanent part of their repertoire as writers. They’re also more likely to work hard to improve when given some positive feedback.
• Comment primarily on patterns—representative strengths and weaknesses. Noting patterns (and marking these only once or twice) helps instructors strike a balance between making students wonder whether anyone actually read their essay and overwhelming them with ink. The “pattern” principle applies to grammar and other sentence-level problems, too.
• Write in complete, detailed sentences. Cryptic comments—e.g., “weak thesis,” “more analysis needed,” and “evidence?”—will be incompletely understood by most students, who will wonder, What makes the thesis weak? What does my teacher mean by “analysis”? What about my evidence? Symbols and abbreviations—e.g., “awk” and “?”—are likewise confusing. The more specific and concrete your comments, the more helpful they’ll be to student writers.
• Ask questions. Asking questions in the margins promotes a useful analytical technique while helping students anticipate future readers’ queries.
• Use a respectful tone. Even in the face of fatigue and frustration, it’s important to address students respectfully, as the junior colleagues they are.
• Write legibly (in any ink but red). If students have to struggle to decipher a comment, they probably won’t bother. Red ink will make them feel as if their essay is being corrected rather than responded to.
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Jenna Copper

Teaching Secondary English Language Arts

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How to Create an Essay Comment Bank for Quick and Effective Feedback

A comment bank is a pre-written list of essay feedback comments that you can use to quickly leave feedback on student essays. The goal is to pre-create comments for points that you find yourself making repeatedly on student essays. In addition, if created strategically, the comment bank can be an independent student learning opportunity targeted to the goals for the writing assignment. In other words, your comment bank can direct students to independent learning on the topic of choice.

This process will  streamline the essay feedback process, so you can reduce, if not eliminate copy editing, thereby simplifying feedback. It will also provide accountability for students’ learning. Mimicking writing decisions in the real world (e.g., “Should I use affect or effect in this email to my boss?”), students will learn from outside sources and ultimately make their own editorial decisions. This learning opportunity is far more likely to bring about long-term writing improvement versus the simple click to accept revisions that you would make for them.

Still, there are some key considerations that can make or break this activity. First and foremost, you should absolutely go digital when you teach the writing process. Trust me, it’s really the best way for the comment bank to work as an efficient grading tool for you and an effective learning tool for students. Even as an AP English teacher, my students start the year writing completely digitally. It’s not until at least the second semester, after they’ve had revision and practice that we start doing timed, in-class handwritten essays. You may also want to read How to Plan A Successful Writing Unit by Focusing on Revision.

In this article, I’m going to walk you through how to get started with creating your own comment bank system to work for you and your students. Plus, at the end, I’ll share my comment bank that you can use in its entirety, or piece together to make your own.

Step 1: Keep it simple.

The first and important step is to keep it simple. For example, comment banks with 50+ comments, confusing numbering systems, or multiple-step tasks take longer to figure out than just leaving a new comment in the first place.

The solution is to keep it simple. I generally recommend no more than ten pre-written comments. Here’s why:

• Our short-term memory capacity is 7±2 items. Though you don’t have to memorize your comments, I argue when providing feedback, we’re asking our brains to do a lot: comprehend and evaluate at a minimum. Keeping your comment bank simple doesn’t mean you give feedback on other items, it just means you’ll be able to use the comment bank more effectively and efficiently. Plus, going back and forth between the essay and comments is distracting and adds an extra step. The goal is to keep the list simple enough that our limited STM storage capacity can help us out.
• To provide accountability and learning opportunities, each of your pre-written comments will include an independent mini-lesson, a short video, a podcast to listen to, or an article for reading. Some students will need to complete many of these tasks. Over ten can become very overwhelming to students.
• Choosing under ten will help students focus on specific learning goals that are geared to your assignment. These can change in whole or in part with each assignment to provide a new focus, if necessary. 
• I’m going to encourage you to reflect on your comment bank with each essay. Therefore, you’ll want to modify it based on the needs of your students. 

Step 2: Make a feedback list. 

Without extended thinking, you can probably list your students top ten writing issues or points of improvement. For example, I know right away that my students struggle with comma splice, awkward wording, commas and quotations, and punctuating titles. These are points that have come up over and over again for the past 12 years of my teaching career. So, I know before I even get started that I undoubtedly will have to comment on these items in my students’ essays. 

However, they don’t all need to be comments in my comment bank. For example, a quick and simple full-class mini-lesson would be more efficient and effective for teaching students how to punctuate titles. On the other hand, comma splice is a bit more challenging. I may need to do a mini-lesson and then reinforce this with a comment and independent mini-lesson on an individual basis for students who need further practice. 

If you can’t list your students’ most pressing writing points (let’s say you’re a new teacher or you moved to a new grade level), you can ask students to write a low-stakes journal entry as a writing sample. A quick read through should give you all you need to know. Don’t be overwhelmed if your students have many, many errors. Commas, in general, tend to be a major area that needs improvement. It can be helpful to focus on a few specific areas for this essay and then focus on a new set on the next essay.

Put it into practice:

Make a list of all of your students’ writing issues or areas of improvement. You might have a pretty big list, but that’s fine! In the next step, you’re going to refine your list.

Step 3: Refine your feedback list. 

Now that you have your list, the next step is to refine your list to identify the top ten. It can be very helpful to start with your objective for the assignment first, and then work backwards to create a comment bank that relates to your list.

For instance, my AP English Language and Composition class writes rhetorical analysis essays at the beginning of the year. The objective for this essay is to write an essay that analyzes how the writer or speaker’s rhetorical choices help the writer achieve his or her purpose. Therefore, based on this purpose, I’ll need a comment about integrating evidence from a source, one about citing direct quotations, one about using commas and quotations, and one about developing commentary to support evidence. Once I have these four, then I’ll add in a few more that I know students will need help with, like comma splice.

Choose your top ten now. Remember, it doesn’t have to be ten exactly.

Step 4: Write your feedback comments.

Once you have your comment topics, it’s time to write your comments. Rather than just throwing a rule at them, I like to explain the topic, ask a question, and provide a suggestion. Here’s an example:

Awkward wording: This sentence has confusing sentence structure or wording that makes it difficult to understand. Is there a simpler way to write it? Try reading this sentence out loud.

If it’s a grammatical consideration that will likely show up in the essay more than once, I will make a comment on the first one that I notice. Then, I’ll include a beautifully simple, yet important phrase that effectively will end your days of copy editing line by line. The phrase is “revise through.” Here’s an example: 

Comma splice: A comma splice is a grammatical error that happens when two independent clauses (or a group of words that could stand on their own as a complete sentence) are combined with just a comma. To correct this, add a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) after your comma. Another option is to replace the comma with a semicolon. Finally, you could just separate the sentences and add a period to the first example. Revise throughout your essay. 

Write your comments now. Remember, explain, ask, and/or suggest to guide your feedback.

Step 5: Add in independent mini-lessons for full-class feedback.

To really kick learning into high gear, you can add one final step to your comment: the independent mini-lesson. I suggest including a link to your mini-lesson right into the comment box. The less steps students have to take to learn, the more likely they’ll attempt it on their own and learn from it. 

You can keep it simple by providing more reading, or you can make it interactive with a lesson. Of course, you can create your own mini-lesson in a Google Doc, Google Slide, or the Microsoft equivalent, but we’re talking about saving time, so why reinvent the wheel? There are so many high-quality resources already created. Here are some suggestions for the comma splice comment example from above: 

• Grammar Girl’s 5-minute podcast episode on comma splices
• Grammarly’s blog post on comma splices 
• Khan Academy’s YouTube video on comma splices

It took me only a few minutes to find these three examples. You certainly can choose the one you think will resonate best with your students, or even better, you can provide all three and give students choice. 

I personally stop at this point. The accountability piece for students in my class is their revision notes, which I’ve written about extensively here. However, you could use EDpuzzle to create an interactive activity with the podcast or the video. 

Put it into practice: 

Add links to independent mini-lessons to each of your comments.  

Step 6: Put it into practice.

Here’s what it looks like when I put them together: 

Comma splice: A comma splice is a grammatical error that happens when two independent clauses (or a group of words that could stand on their own as a complete sentence) are combined with just a comma. To correct this, add a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) after your comma. Another option is to replace the comma with a semicolon. Finally, you could just separate the sentences and add a period to the first example. Revise throughout your essay. Check out these sources for more practice and further information:

Now that you’ve created your comments. You can upload them to the comment bank option Google Classroom or QuickMarks in TurnItIn, for example. When you’re ready to use them, a quick click is all you’ll need to add the comment. 

For a free copy of my latest comment bank, sign up below, and I’ll email them to you.

Bonus: Reflect and revise.

The final step is to reflect and revise. Are students still making the same errors? How can you provide further remediation? Perhaps, a full-class mini-lesson would do the trick. If students have improved in this area, maybe it’s time to move on to new comments or just simplify and eliminate ones you no longer need.

While this process takes a little bit of time to set up, it can save you hours worth of grading and provide richer, more dynamic feedback that will actually improve students’ writing.

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Writing comment bank , digital feedback , feedback , teaching writing , writing , writing unit , writing workshop

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Reader Interactions

January 11, 2022 at 12:36 pm

Excited to use your comment bank this semester! Thank you so much Jenna.

March 29, 2023 at 12:46 pm

Wonderful! Enjoy! 🙂

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Teaching Resources

Commenting on Student Writing

Resource overview.

Instructors who require their students to write papers dedicate many hours each semester to reading, commenting on, and grading student writing, and they often wonder if the time they have spent translates into improvements in their students’ writing skills. For their part, students want constructive feedback on their writing and often express frustration when they find their instructors’ comments on their papers to be mysterious, confusing, or simply too brief.

Tips to improve and help you respond to your students’ writing:

These tips focus on the process of writing comments on students’ papers (whether on rough drafts or final drafts), rather than on the process of grading papers. Grading and commenting on papers are certainly interconnected processes. However, while instructors often think of writing comments on papers as simply a means to justify grades, that purpose should be secondary to helping your students improve their writing skills.

These tips are organized into four categories:

Course Planning

Writing comments in the margins, writing final comments, what else can you do.

Before the course begins, think about what kind of writing you will assign, and how you will respond to that writing.

• Design each writing assignment so that it has a clear purpose connected to the learning objectives for the course. Craft each assignment as an opportunity for students to practice and master writing skills that are central to their success in the course and to academic achievement in your discipline. For example, if you want them to learn how to summarize and respond to primary literature or to present and support an argument, design assignments that explicitly require the skills that are necessary to accomplish these objectives.
• Sequence your writing assignments to help students acquire skills incrementally, beginning with shorter, simpler writing assignments to longer, more complex papers. You might also find it helpful to develop a sequence for writing comments. In other words, decide ahead of time which aspects of the writing you will focus on with each assignment. For example, you may decide to focus your comments on the first assignment on the writing of the thesis statement, then focus comments on later papers on the success with which the students deal with counter-arguments. Sequencing your comments can help make the commenting process more efficient. However, it is essential to communicate to students before they turn in their papers which aspects of the writing you are going to focus on in your feedback at which points in the semester (and why).
• Develop and communicate clear grading criteria for each writing assignment. These criteria will help you be as consistent and fair as possible when evaluating a group of student papers. Developing and using criteria is especially important when co-teaching a course or when asking TAs to grade papers for the course. Distribute the grading criteria to students (or post the criteria on the course Web site) so that they will know how you will evaluate their work. While there are shared criteria for “good writing” that apply across academic disciplines, each discipline also has certain standards and conventions that shape writing in the discipline. Do not expect that students will come into your class knowing how to write the kind of paper you will ask them to write. For example, a student who has learned how to write an excellent analytical paper in a literature course may not know how to write the kind of paper that is typically required for a history course. Give students a written list of discipline-specific standards and conventions, and explain these in class. Provide examples of the kind of writing they will need to produce in your course.
• Develop a process for writing comments that will give students a clear idea of whether they have or have not achieved the course’s learning objectives (and with what degree of success). Students should be able to see a clear correlation among 1) written comments on a paper, 2) the grading criteria for the assignment, and 3) the learning objectives for the course. Thus, before you start reading and commenting on a stack of papers, remind yourself of the grading criteria, the learning objectives, and which aspects of the writing you want to focus on in your response.
• The first time you read through a paper, try to hold off on writing comments. Instead, take the time to read the paper in its entirety. If you need to take some notes, do so on another piece of paper. This strategy will prevent you from making over-hasty judgments, such as faulting a student for omitting evidence that actually appears later in the paper. (In such cases, it may be appropriate to tell the student that you expected that evidence to be presented earlier–and the reason why). While you may expect this strategy to take more time, it can actually save you time by allowing you to focus your feedback on the most important strengths and weaknesses you want to bring to the writers’ attention (see “Writing Final Comments,” below).
• Respond as a reader, not as a writer. Do not tell students how YOU would write the paper. Instead, tell them how you are responding to each part of the paper as you read it, pointing out gaps in logic or support and noting confusing language where it occurs. For example, if a sentence jumps abruptly to a new topic, do not rewrite the sentence to provide a clear transition or tell the student how to rewrite it. Instead, simply write a note in the margin to indicate the problem, then prompt the student to come up with a solution. This strategy is especially important to follow when a student asks you to respond to a draft before the final paper is due; in this case, your aim should be to help the student identify weaknesses that he or she should improve and NOT to do the student’s thinking and writing for them. Of course, in some instances, it is necessary and appropriate to give the student explicit directions, such as when she or he seems to have missed something important about the assignment, misread a source, left out an essential piece of evidence, or failed to cite a source correctly.
• Ask questions to help students revise and improve. One way to ensure that your comments are not overly directive is to write questions in the margins, rather than instructions. For the most part, these questions should be “open” rather than “closed” (having only one correct answer.) Open questions can be a very effective way to prompt students to think more deeply about the topic, to provide needed evidence, or to clarify language. For ideas on how to phrase open questions, see Asking Questions to Improve Learning.
• Resist the temptation to edit. Instead, mark a few examples of repeated errors and direct students to attend to those errors. Simply put, if you correct your students’ writing at the sentence level, they will not learn how to do so themselves, and you will continue to see the same errors in paper after paper. Moreover, when you mark all mechanical errors, you may overwhelm your students with so many marks that they will have trouble determining what to focus on when writing the next draft or paper.
• Be specific. Comments in the margin such as “vague,” “confusing,” and “good” do not help students improve their writing. In fact, many students find these comments “vague” and “confusing”–and sometimes abrupt or harsh. Taking a little more time to write longer, and perhaps fewer, comments in the margin will help you identify for students exactly what they have done well or poorly. Information about both is crucial for helping them improve their writing.

Here are some examples of specific comments:

Rather than  “vague”

• “Which research finding are you referring to here?”
• “I don’t understand your use of the underlined phrase. Can you rewrite this sentence?”
• “Can you provide specific details to show what you mean here?”

Instead of “ confusing ,” “ what? ” or “ ??? ”

• “I lost the thread of your argument. Why is this information important? How is it related to your argument?”
• “You imply that this point supports your argument, but it actually contradicts your point in paragraph 3.”

Rather than “ good ”

• “This excellent example moves your argument forward.”
• “Wonderful transition that helped clarify the connection between the two studies you are summarizing.”
• “An apt metaphor that helped me understand your argument about this historical metaphor.”
• Begin by making positive comments; when pointing out weaknesses, use a descriptive tone, rather than one that conveys disappointment or frustration. Give an honest assessment, but do not overwhelm the writer with an overly harsh or negative reaction. For example, do not assume or suggest that if a paper is not well written, the writer did not devote a lot of time to the assignment. The writer may have in fact struggled through several drafts. Keep in mind that confusing language or a lack of organized paragraphs may be evidence not of a lack of effort, but rather of confused thinking. The writer may therefore benefit from a few, targeted questions or comments that help them clarify their thinking.
• Limit your comments; do not try to cover everything. Focus on the 3-4 most important aspects of the paper. Provide a brief summary of 1) what you understood from the paper and 2) any difficulties you encountered. Make sure that whatever you write addresses the grading criteria for the assignment, but also try to tailor your comments to the specific strengths and weaknesses shown by the individual student. While you may think that writing lots of comments will convey your interest in helping the student improve, students–like all writers–can be overwhelmed by copious written comments on their work. They may therefore have trouble absorbing all the comments you have written, let alone trying to use those comments to improve their writing on the next draft or paper.
• Distinguish “higher-order” from “lower-order” issues. Typically, “higher-order” concerns include such aspects as the thesis and major supporting points, while “lower-order” concerns are grammatical or mechanical aspects of the writing. Whatever you see as “higher” in importance than other aspects should be clear in your grading criteria. Whatever you decide, write your comments in a way that will help students know which aspects of their writing they should focus on FIRST as they revise a paper or write the next paper. For example, if a paper lacks an argument or a main point in an assignment in which either an argument or main point is essential (as is usually the case), address that issue first in your comments before you note any grammatical errors that the student should attend to.
• Refer students back to comments you wrote in the margins. For example, you might comment, “Your argument loses focus in the fourth paragraph (see my questions in margin).” You might also note a frequent pattern of mechanical error, then point them to a specific paragraph that contains that type of error.
• Model clear, concise writing. Before you write final comments, take a moment to gather and order your thoughts.
• Provide opportunities for revision. If you want students to improve their writing, give them an opportunity to apply what they have learned from your comments to a new, revised draft. Note: You should decide before the course begins whether you will allow students to revise their papers and, if so, when such revisions must be turned in (e.g., one week after papers handed back) and how you will grade the revision (e.g., average the grade of the revision with the grade earned on the original paper). If you decide not to allow students to revise papers, consider rewarding improvement from one paper to the next (e.g., the grade on the second paper is worth a greater percentage of the final course grade than the grade on the first paper).
• If students are struggling with their writing, suggest a meeting during office hours. Often, students who are struggling to write clearly are also struggling to clarify what they think about the course material. Ask questions that help them figure out what they think and how to put those thoughts into a well organized, effective paper.
• Recommend that students seek tutorial help at The Writing Center. At  The Writing Center , students can meet with writing tutors who will read their papers and provide feedback. Writing Center tutors are trained to provide students with feedback on the clarity of their writing in a general way and will not necessarily be familiar with the criteria you are using to grade papers, unless you or the student have shared those criteria. However, seeking such feedback can be very helpful to students as they learn to write for academic audiences.

Bean, J. C. (2011). Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Gottschalk, K. and K. Hjortshoj (2004). “What Can You Do with Student Writing?” In The Elements of Teaching Writing: A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane‐Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self‐regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies  in higher education ,  31 (2), 199-218.

“Responding to Student Writing.” (2000). Harvard Writing Project Bulletin. The President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Straub, Richard. (2000). The Practice of Response: Strategies for Commenting on Student Writing. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

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Response: Ways to Give Effective Feedback on Student Writing

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This is the second post in a four-part series. You can see Part One here .)

The new question-of-the-week is:

What are the best ways to give students feedback on their writing?

Part One began with responses from Anabel Gonzalez, Sarah Woodard, Kim Jaxon, Ralph Fletcher, Mary Beth Nicklaus, and Leah Wilson. You can listen to a 10-minute conversation I had with Anabel, Sarah, and Kim on my BAM! Radio Show . You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

Today, Susan M. Brookhart, Cheryl Mizerny, Amy Benjamin, Kate Wolfe Maxlow, Karen Sanzo, Andrew Miller, David Campos, and Kathleen Fad share their commentaries.

Response From Susan M. Brookhart

Susan Brookhart, Ph.D., is the author of How to Use Grading to Improve Learning (ASCD 2017) and How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students (2nd edition, ASCD 2017)). She is a professor emeritus at Duquesne University and an author and consultant. Her focus is classroom assessment and its impact on teaching, learning, and motivation:

Giving feedback on writing is a special responsibility. If you ask students to write thoughtfully to you, it would be hypocritical of you not to write (or speak, if your feedback is oral) thoughtfully back to them. And students will notice! Here are five things to keep in mind as you think about feedback on students’ written work:

#1 - Before the students write, make sure they know what they are trying to learn (more specifically than just “writing”) and what qualities their writing should exhibit. Unless students are trying to learn something specific, they will experience teacher feedback as additional teacher directions they have to follow. So, for example, if students are writing descriptive paragraphs, they should know what the kind of descriptive paragraphs they are aiming for looks like. Criteria for success might be that they (1) use adjectives that describe by telling what the object of their description looks, sounds, tastes, smells, or feels like; and (2) help their readers feel like they “are there,” experiencing whatever is described themselves. If this is what students are aiming to do, then the feedback questions are already set up: Are my adjectives descriptive? Do they conjure up sight, sound, taste, smell, or touch? Did you (my teacher and my reader) feel like you really experienced what I was describing, that you were there? The best feedback on student writing tells students what they want to know to get closer to the particular vision of writing they are working on.

#2 - Describe at least one thing the student did well, with reference to the success criteria. Focus your feedback on the criteria, not on other features of the work (like handwriting or grammar, unless that was the focus of the writing lesson). Even the poorest paper has something to commend it. Find that and begin your feedback there. Students can’t navigate toward learning targets by filling in deficits only; they also need to build on their strengths. And don’t assume that just because a student did something well, they know what that is. The best feedback on student writing names and notices where students are meeting criteria that show their learning.

#3 - Suggest the student’s immediate next steps, again with reference to the success criteria. Your feedback does not need to “fix” everything possible. It only needs to take the student’s work to the next level. Select the one or two—whatever is doable in the next draft of the writing piece—things that the student should do next, given where they are right now.The best feedback on student writing moves students forward in their quest to reach a learning goal.

#4 - Make sure you learn something from the feedback episode, too. Too often, teachers think of feedback as their expert advice on students’ writing. But every opportunity to give feedback on student writing is also an opportunity for you to learn something about what your students are thinking, what kinds of writing skills they have, and what they need to learn next. The best feedback on student writing gives teachers a window into student thinking; it doesn’t just advise students.

#5 - Give students an immediate opportunity to use the feedback. Much feedback on student writing is wasted, because students don’t use it. Many teachers subscribe to the myth that students will use the feedback “next time” they write something similar. However, it’s not true that students have some sort of file drawer in their heads, with files labeled according to type of writing, that they will magically open at some point in the future.

No matter how well-intentioned the student, this just isn’t how it works. The best feedback on student writing is followed immediately by a planned opportunity, within instructional time, for students to use the feedback.

Response From Cheryl Mizerny

Cheryl Mizerny has been teaching for more than 20 years, is passionate about middle-level education, and serves on the faculty of the AMLE Leadership Institute. Her practice is guided by her belief in reaching every student and educating the whole child. She currently teaches 6th grade English in Michigan and writes an education blog, “It’s Not Easy Being Tween,” for Middleweb.com:

Good feedback on student writing is time-consuming and takes a great deal of teacher effort, but the results in the improvement of their writing is worth my time. Over the years, I have found some ways to streamline the process.

First, students can’t hit a target they can’t see. Therefore, it is important that they have a clear understanding of the goal of the writing piece. I do lots of front-loading with using mentor texts to study author’s craft. Valuable feedback will tell them how close they are to the target and how they can get closer to a bullseye.

For me, the most important consideration when giving feedback is how likely is this to be used? Whenever possible, my first step is verbal feedback via an individual writing conference during the first draft stage. This lets me correct any major errors before they get too far along. We use Google docs so that they have access to them everywhere, I can see the revision history, and I am able to type my comments right in line with the text (which is faster and neater than my handwriting). Prior to writing my first comments, I have students identify a couple things on which they’d like me to focus when reading their paper. Just as I have goals for the final piece, so should they. Then, I begin the process of reading for feedback.

For me, I’ve found that feedback works best if it meets the following criteria: It’s prompt (not saying it has to be the next day, but students get very upset if they have to wait three weeks to get a draft back and rightly so), conversational and respectful in tone, specifically identifies areas for improvement and prioritizes them, focuses on larger issues such as content over small ones like punctuation, and is strengths-based with a balance of more positive than negative commentary. Feedback such as “Good job” is not helpful nor is “This is way too short.” Students needs specific information about how to make improvements if they are going to do so. If I have an especially weak piece, I don’t provide all the ways it can be improved via written feedback to avoid the child shutting down. That student obviously needs more assistance, and a conference is warranted. I am careful to address only a few areas of improvement per paper and I also comment on the areas in which they have a personal progress goal.

As they begin revising in class, I give some individual time to students to have a conversation about their work. The rest are looking at my comments and addressing each one or reading each other’s work. Prior to them handing in the second draft, I provide a checklist of things to consider and ask students to “whisper-read” to themselves (Google Docs has a screen reader built in) to find simple errors. Once they hand in this draft, I look at their work using a single-point rubric (see Jennifer Gonzalez article ) and make comments on it as a cover sheet. I hand this back without a grade on it. In my experience, once they see a grade, the learning stops. They then have one final pass to make any corrections before I receive the final. We also have a celebration of the writing and share work with one another. In my class, it’s is all about the writing process and not the product and this method works well for us.

Response From Amy Benjamin

Amy Benjamin is a teacher, educational consultant, and author whose most recent book is Big Skills for the Common Core (Routledge). Her website is www.amybenjamin.com :

Recently I asked a group of English and social studies teachers to list the marginal comments that they typically write on their students’ papers. Many of the comments were frowny-faced reprimands ending in exclamation points: “Check spelling! Be specific! Develop! Proofread! Follow directions! Review apostrophe use! Others were milder admonitions, often in the form of questions: Where’s your evidence? This shows what? Is this accurate? Punctuation?” Then there were suggestions that, though valid, are unlikely to do much good: “Be sure to support your claim, support the quote, make an inference, anchor the quote, connect to the question, elaborate meaning of quote, explain detail, review, set up the context for the claim, work on ‘tightening up’ your writing, follow the rubric.” The teacher knows what these comments mean, but do the students? Despite the inordinate amount of time it takes to pore over essays and write these comments, we have reason to suspect that they are not accomplishing their intended purposes, which are twofold: 1) to justify the grade on top of the paper, and 2) to get students to improve their writing. The second is far more important than the first. But if there’s no follow-up to our commentary, then what is the point? What are the best ways to give feedback that actually leads to improvement?

First, let’s consider the tone of our comments: While not all of the comments I collected were negative, most were. Some of the positive ones were “nicely written, well-supported, excellent topic sentence, insightful point, great evidence provided, good intro, good sentence, good use of vocab, love your voice, I love this point.” The best way to keep someone pursuing a challenge is to encourage them. It is not so hard to find something—anything—that merits a pat on the back.

Second, let’s consider the amount of correction that is necessary to foster incremental improvement. Teachers are not copy editors. The copy editor has not done her job unless she has found and fixed every single error . But a teacher’s job should be to point out errors and weaknesses sparingly, staying within what she perceives to be that student’s zone of proximal development. All students are novice writers. Their progress will be recursive. If they take risks to produce increasingly sophisticated language in an academic register, they are likely to make more grammatical mistakes, not fewer. One positive and one negative comment or correction on a student’s paper is probably sufficient to keep the writer on a learning curve.

Think of a child learning to play the saxophone. The child has practiced and plays the rehearsed piece for her weekly lesson. Imagine a music teacher responding like this: “I heard two squeaks, one wrong note, an underplayed dynamic at Letter C, a missed quarter rest on the fourth measure, and you completely ignored the dynamics. Watch your fingering, your breathing, and your posture. Pay attention to the time signature. While you’re at it, give it some feeling. It’s supposed to sound like music, not noise.”

And, third, consider the follow-up. Rubrics are excellent tools because they establish criteria for success and help students self-monitor. But the rubric has to be written in student-friendly language. With an accessible rubric, the student can chart her progress from one piece of writing to another. You can follow-up on a writing assignment with mini-lessons, using authentic sentences from student writing as models of good writing, not only deficient writing.

If you’d like students to take real responsibility for their own writing growth, you may be interested in a resource that I’ve created called RxEdit and RxRevise. There you will find a collection of DIY lessons keyed to various writing needs. You can refer students to these lessons on an as-needed basis. It’s a great way to differentiate instruction. RxEdit and RxRevise are available for free on my website .

Response From Kate Wolfe Maxlow & Karen Sanzo

Kate Wolfe Maxlow and Karen Sanzo’s are co-authors of 20 Formative Assessment Strategies that Work: A Guide Across Content and Grade Levels . Kate Wolfe Maxlow is the Professional Learning Coordinator at Hampton City Schools and Karen Sanzo is a professor of Educational Foundations and Leadership at Old Dominion University:

How many times in school did you write something that made perfect sense to you only to have your teacher or professor write a big, red question mark next to it? The purpose of writing is to communicate thoughts and ideas to an audience, but because the writer cannot simultaneously be both the author and the audience, young writers often require a great deal of feedback in order to learn how to write clearly for an intended audience. Therefore, it is immensely important that teachers provide quality, frequent feedback to students on their writing.

To this end, it is also important to remember that the role of the teacher is to help students improve, not necessarily to expect a perfect product. Marzano (2017) explains that educators “should view learning as a constructive process in which students constantly update their knowledge.” Likewise, Hattie (2017) emphasizes the importance of helping students to engage in metacognitive strategies, such as Planning and Prediction, Elaboration and Organization, and Evaluation and Reflection. When we think of writing as a constructive process in which we should help students engage in metacognitive strategies, we realize how crucial it is that we provide students with feedback throughout the entire writing process, not simply at the end.

What does this look like? Imagine that you give students the following prompt: Explain why we remember George Washington today. Before students begin to write, have them make a plan that includes how they will conduct research, what questions they will ask, and how they will record answers. Check in with each student and then—this is key—provide feedback on their plans. As students begin to implement their plan and conduct research, collect information, and outline their paper, provide feedback on that, too.

What form does that feedback take? Well, whether it’s electronic (such as using Google Docs), verbal, or written doesn’t matter as much as the kind of thinking that the teacher asks the student to do when providing the feedback. For instance, a student has to do less work and actually learns less when a teacher writes, “George Washington did not have wooden teeth,” than if the teacher writes, “Can you find other sources that confirm that George Washington had wooden teeth?” or even “George Washington’s teeth are indeed an interesting subject; do you think we would remember him even if he had his own teeth based on his other accomplishments? What are the biggest reasons we remember him today?”

Feedback can, of course, also concern writing style. If feedback is too prescribed, we cheat students out of critical- and creative-thinking opportunities; if it is too vague, we risk frustrating them. For instance, instead of simply writing, “Vary your sentence style,” when a student starts each sentence in a paragraph with, “We remember George Washington because...,” a teacher could ask, “How can you start each sentence differently in this paragraph to keep the reader’s attention?” This points students in the right direction and also helps them understand why the change is important.

Lastly, while it’s important to give students feedback on their writing, feedback works best when we also collect it from students (Hattie, 2009). The more we ask students to self-evaluate and reflect on their work, the greater the impact on their achievement (Hattie, 2017). To that end, it can work well to have students first self-evaluate their writing using the rubric then come to a writing conference prepared with examples of what’s working in their paper and where they need help. When we give feedback like this, we encourage students not only to become better writers, but better thinkers as well.

Hattie, J (2009). Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York: Routledge

Hattie, J. (2017). Hattie’s 2017 updated list of factors influencing student achievement. Retrieved from https://www.visiblelearningplus.com/sites/default/files/250%20Influences.pdf

Marzano (2017). The New Art and Science of Teaching. Bloomington, IN: ASCD & Solution Tree Press.

Response From Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller is currently an instructional coach at the Shanghai American School in China. He also serves on the National Faculty for the Buck Institute for Education and ASCD, where he consults on a variety of topics. He has worked with educators in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, China, Japan, Indonesia, India, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and the Dominican Republic:

Because we care about our students, we often do two things wrong: We give too much feedback or we tell students the answer in the feedback. Too much feedback is often ground in the traditional “final draft” way of writing, where the teacher collects the papers and then spends hours marking and providing written feedback near the end of the unit and close to when the assignment is due. This is often too much for students to process and/or can be too late. “Why didn’t you tell me my opening paragraph needed work when I wrote it a week ago?” Instead, teachers should provide feedback in smaller chunks in a more ongoing way. This makes the feedback manageable and timely.

For the second problem, teachers should focus on prompting and asking good questions to probe student thinking in the feedback they write. Instead of correcting a large amount of punctuation errors for students, write: “I’m noticing errors in comma and other punctuation usage in your second paragraph.” Here, the student must seek out those errors and correct them. They must learn! If the teacher does all the corrections for the students, then that teacher has done all the thinking for the student. In fact, it may have robbed that student of an opportunity to learn. Feedback should cause students to think and learn, not give away all the answers.

One final rule—don’t give feedback unless you can devote time for students to use and process it. We’ve all made the mistakes where we give feedback on the summative assessment and then students don’t use it. This is because we have indicated to them that it is summative and it is too late to improve. Teachers waste their time, and students don’t find value in the feedback.

Response From David Campos & Kathleen Fad

David Campos, Ph.D., is a professor of education at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in special education, multicultural education, and instructional design and delivery. He has written books on LGBT youth, childhood health and wellness, and the schooling of Latinos. He has co-authored two books with Kathleen Fad: Tools for Teaching Writing (ASCD 2014) and Practical Ideas That Really Work for English Language Learners (Pro-Ed).

Kathleen Fad, Ph.D., is an author and consultant whose professional experience has spanned more than 30 years as a general education teacher, special education teacher, and university professor. Kathy’s specialty is designing practical, common-sense strategies that are research-based:

We also consider the idea of giving feedback from the special education perspective, and, that is, giving feedback so that it is individualized. Our experiences have taught us that in any given classroom, many students may struggle with the same writing issues, but most will have unique difficulties with their writing.

To help teachers give effective feedback on student writing, we created an evaluation protocol based on eight writing traits (in Tools for Teaching Writing, ASCD). Teachers can use this protocol to isolate the areas of writing that individual students struggle with the most. We identified qualities associated with each trait, which provides the teacher with a common language to use when she conferences with individual students.

Teachers can similarly create their own evaluation measure that has qualities associated with the traits or conventions of writing they address in their lessons. For example, teachers can ask themselves, “How does good presentation manifest in student writing?” Then, they can work toward developing the qualities of presentation they can regularly use in their instruction and student feedback. The key to effective feedback is to give students concrete qualities about the writing trait or convention and use those regularly in their conferences with students.

After teachers have developed this common language about writing, students can learn to self-reflect on their work. As a way of giving feedback, teachers can provide students with checklists associated with the qualities of the trait and have the students self-reflect or review their peers’ writing.

Thanks to Susan, Cheryl, Amy, Kate, Karen, Andrew, David, and Kathleen for their contributions.

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• 10 Types of Essay Feedback and How to Respond to Them

The moment of truth has arrived: you’ve got your marked essay back and you’re eagerly scanning through it, taking in the amount of red pen, and looking at the grade and hastily scrawled feedback at the end.

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After deciphering the handwriting, you’re able to see a brief assessment of how you’ve performed in this essay, and your heart either leaps or sinks. Ideally, you’d receive detailed feedback telling you exactly where you fell short and providing helpful guidance on how to improve next time. However, the person marking your essay probably doesn’t have time for that, so instead leaves you very brief remarks that you then have to decode in order to understand how you can do better. In this article, we look at some of the common sorts of remarks you might receive in essay feedback, what they mean, and how to respond to them or take them on board so that you can write a better essay next time – no matter how good this one was!

1. “Too heavily reliant on critics”

We all fall into the trap of regurgitating whatever scholarship we happen to have read in the run-up to writing the essay, and it’s a problem that reveals that many students have no idea what their own opinion is. We’re so busy paraphrasing what scholars have said that we forget to think about whether we actually agree with what they’ve said. This is an issue we discussed in a recent article on developing your own opinion , in which we talked about how to approach scholarship with an open and critical mind, make up your own mind and give your own opinion in your essays. If you’ve received this kind of feedback, the person marking your essay has probably noticed that you’ve followed exactly the same line of thinking as one or more of the books on your reading list, without offering any kind of original comment. Take a look at the article linked to just now and you’ll soon be developing your own responses.

2. “Too short”

If your essay falls significantly short of the prescribed word count, this could suggest that you haven’t put in enough work. Most essays will require extensive reading before you can do a topic justice, and if you’ve struggled to fill the word count, it’s almost certainly because you haven’t done enough reading, and you’ve therefore missed out a significant line of enquiry. This is perhaps a sign that you’ve left it too late to write your essay, resulting in a rushed and incomplete essay (even if you consider it finished, it’s not complete if it hasn’t touched on topics of major relevance). This problem can be alleviated by effective time management, allowing plenty of time for the research phase of your essay and then enough time to write a detailed essay that touches on all the important arguments. If you’re struggling to think of things to say in your essay, try reading something on the topic that you haven’t read before. This will offer you a fresh perspective to talk about, and possibly help you to understand the topic clearly enough to start making more of your own comments about it.

3. “Too long”

[pullquote] “The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter” – Blaise Pascal [/pullquote]It sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s actually much easier to write an essay that’s too long than one that’s too short. This is because we’re all prone to waffling when we’re not entirely sure what we want to say, and/or because we want to show the person marking our essay that we’ve read extensively, even when some of the material we’ve read isn’t strictly relevant to the essay question we’ve been set. But the word count is there for a reason: it forces you to be clear and concise, leaving out what isn’t relevant. A short (say, 500-word) essay is actually a challenging academic exercise, so if you see fit to write twice the number of words, the person marking the essay is unlikely to be impressed. Fifty to a hundred words over the limit probably won’t be too much of an issue if that’s less than 10% of the word count, and will probably go unnoticed, but if you’ve ended up with something significantly over this, it’s time to start trimming. Re-read what you’ve written and scrutinise every single line. Does it add anything to your argument? Are you saying in ten words what could be said in three? Is there a whole paragraph that doesn’t really contribute to developing your argument? If so, get rid of it. This kind of ruthless editing and rephrasing can quickly bring your word count down, and it results in a much tighter and more carefully worded essay.

4. “Contradicts itself”

Undermining your own argument is an embarrassing mistake to make, but you can do it without realising when you’ve spent so long tweaking your essay that you can no longer see the wood for the trees. Contradicting yourself in an essay is also a sign that you haven’t completely understood the issues and haven’t formed a clear opinion on what the evidence shows. To avoid this error, have a detailed read through your essay before you submit it and look in particular detail at the statements you make. Looking at them in essence and in isolation, do any of them contradict each other? If so, decide which you think is more convincing and make your argument accordingly.

5. “Too many quotations”

It’s all too easy to hide behind the words of others when one is unsure of something, or lacking a complete understanding of a topic. This insecurity leads us to quote extensively from either original sources or scholars, including long chunks of quoted text as a nifty way of upping the word count without having to reveal our own ignorance (too much). But you won’t fool the person marking your essay by doing this: they’ll see immediately that you’re relying too heavily on the words of others, without enough intelligent supporting commentary, and it’s particularly revealing when most of the quotations are from the same source (which shows that you haven’t read widely enough). It’s good to include some quotations from a range of different sources, as it adds colour to your essay, shows that you’ve read widely and demonstrates that you’re thinking about different kinds of evidence. However, if you’ve received this kind of feedback, you can improve your next essay by not quoting more than a sentence at a time, making the majority of the text of your essay your own words, and including plenty of your own interpretation and responses to what you’ve quoted. Another word of advice regarding quotations: one of my tutors once told me is that one should never end an essay on a quotation. You may think that this is a clever way of bringing your essay to a conclusion, but actually you’re giving the last word to someone else when it’s your essay, and you should make the final intelligent closing remark. Quoting someone else at the end is a cop-out that some students use to get out of the tricky task of writing a strong final sentence, so however difficult the alternative may seem, don’t do it!

6. “Not enough evidence”

In an essay, every point you make must be backed up with supporting evidence – it’s one of the fundamental tenets of academia. You can’t make a claim unless you can show what has lead you to it, whether that’s a passage in an original historical source, the result of some scientific research, or any other form of information that would lend credibility to your statement. A related problem is that some students will quote a scholar’s opinion as though it were concrete evidence of something; in fact, that is just one person’s opinion, and that opinion has been influenced by the scholar’s own biases. The evidence they based the opinion on might be tenuous, so it’s that evidence you should be looking at, not the actual opinion of the scholar themselves. As you write your essay, make a point of checking that everything you’ve said is adequately supported.

7. “All over the place” / “Confused”

An essay described as “all over the place” – or words to that effect – reveals that the student who wrote it hasn’t developed a clear line of argument, and that they are going off at tangents and using an incoherent structure in which one point doesn’t seem to bear any relation to the previous one. A tight structure is vital in essay-writing, as it holds the reader’s interest and helps build your argument to a logical conclusion. You can avoid your essay seeming confused by writing an essay plan before you start. This will help you get the structure right and be clear about what you want to say before you start writing.

8. “Misses the point”

This feedback can feel particularly damning if you’ve spent a long time writing what you thought was a carefully constructed essay. A simple reason might be that you didn’t read the question carefully enough. But it’s also a problem that arises when students spend too long looking at less relevant sources and not enough at the most important ones, because they ran out of time, or because they didn’t approach their reading lists in the right order, or because they failed to identify correctly which the most important sources actually were. This leads to students focusing on the wrong thing, or perhaps getting lost in the details. The tutor marking the essay, who has a well-rounded view of the topic, will be baffled if you’ve devoted much of your essay to discussing something you thought was important, but which they know to be a minor detail when compared with the underlying point. If you’re not sure which items on your reading list to tackle first, you could try asking your tutor next time if they could give you some pointers on which of the material they recommend you focus on first. It can also be helpful to prompt yourself from time to time with the question “What is the point?”, as this will remind you to take a step back and figure out what the core issues are.

9. “Poor presentation”

This kind of remark is likely to refer to issues with the formatting of your essay, spelling and punctuation , or general style. Impeccable spelling and grammar are a must, so proofread your essay before you submit it and check that there are no careless typos (computer spell checks don’t always pick these up). In terms of your writing style , you might get a comment like this if the essay marker found your writing either boring or in a style inappropriate to the context of a formal essay. Finally, looks matter: use a sensible, easy-to-read font, print with good-quality ink and paper if you’re printing, and write neatly and legibly if you’re handwriting. Your essay should be as easy to read as possible for the person marking it, as this lessens their workload and makes them feel more positively towards your work.

10. “Very good”

On the face of it, this is the sort of essay feedback every student wants to hear. But when you think about it, it’s not actually very helpful – particularly when it’s accompanied by a mark that wasn’t as high as you were aiming for. With these two words, you have no idea why you didn’t achieve top marks. In the face of such (frankly lazy) marking from your teacher or lecturer, the best response is to be pleased that you’ve received a positive comment, but to go to the person who marked it and ask for more comments on what you could have done to get a higher mark. They shouldn’t be annoyed at your asking, because you’re simply striving to do better every time.

General remarks on responding to essay feedback

We end with a few general pieces of advice on how to respond to essay feedback.

• Don’t take criticism personally.
• Remember that feedback is there to help you improve.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for more feedback if what they’ve said isn’t clear.
• Don’t rest on your laurels – if you’ve had glowing feedback, it’s still worth asking if there’s anything you could have done to make the essay even better.

It can be difficult to have one’s hard work (metaphorically) ripped apart or disparaged, but feedback is ultimately there to help you get higher grades, get into better universities, and put you on a successful career path; so keep that end goal in mind when you get your essay back.

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How to Give Positive Feedback on Student Writing

If your corrective feedback is very detailed but your positive comments are quick and vague, you may appreciate this advice from teachers across the country.

“Nice work.” “Great job.” “Powerful sentence.” Even though I knew they wouldn’t mean much to students, these vague and ineffective comments made their way into my writing feedback recently. As I watched myself typing them, I knew I was in a rut. My critical comments, on the other hand, were lengthy and detailed. Suggestions and corrections abounded. I realized that I was focused too much on correcting student work and not enough on the goal of giving rich positive feedback.

As a writer, I know how hard it is when the negative feedback outweighs the positive. We all have things to work on, but focusing only on what to fix makes it hard to feel that our skills are seen and appreciated. My students put so much work into their writing, and they deserve more than my two-word positive sentences.

I wanted out of the rut, so I turned to my favorite professional network—teacher Twitter—and asked for help . “What are your favorite positive comments to make about student writing?” I asked. Here are some of the amazing responses and the themes that emerged from more than 100 replies from teachers.

Give a Window Into Your Experience as the Reader

Students typically can’t see us while we’re experiencing their writing. One genre of powerful positive comments: insights that help students understand how we responded as readers. Teacher Amy Ludwig VanDerwater  shared these sentence stems, explaining that “commenting on our reading experience before the craft of writing is a gift”:

• This part really moved me.
• I laughed out loud when I read this line.
• Your writing makes me think...
• You opened up a door in my mind.
• Now I am questioning...
• Now I am connecting to...
• Now I am remembering...

On a similar note, Virginia S. Wood  shared: “I will tell them if I smiled, laughed, nodded my head, pumped my fist while reading their work, and I’ll tell them exactly where and why.”

I used Wood’s advice recently when I looked through a student’s project draft that delighted me. I wrote to her, “I have the biggest smile on my face right now. This is such an awesome start.”

Giving students insight into our experience as readers helps to connect the social and emotional elements of writing. Positive comments highlighting our reading experience can encourage students to think about their audience more intentionally as they write.

Recognize Author’s Craft and Choices

Effective feedback can also honor a student’s voice and skills as a writer. Pointing out the choices and writing moves that students make helps them feel that we see and value their efforts. Joel Garza shared, “I avoid ‘I’ statements, which can seem more like a brag about my reading than about their writing.” Garza recommends using “you” statements instead, such as “You crafted X effect so smoothly by...” or “You navigate this topic in such an engaging way, especially by...” and “You chose the perfect tone for this topic because...”

Similarly, seventh-grade teacher Jennifer Leung suggested pointing out these moments in this way: “Skillful example of/use of (transition, example, grammatical structure).” This can also help to reinforce terms, concepts, and writing moves that we go over in class.

Rebekah O’Dell , coauthor of A Teacher’s Guide to Mentor Texts , gave these examples of how we might invoke mentor texts in our feedback:

• “What you’re doing here reminds me of (insert mentor text)...”
• “I see you doing what (insert mentor writer) does...”

O’Dell’s advice reinforced the link between reading and writing. Thinking of these skills together helps us set up feedback loops. For example, after a recent close reading activity, I asked students to name one lesson they had learned from the mentor text that they could apply to their own writing. Next time I give writing feedback, I can highlight the places where I see students using these lessons.

Another teacher, Grete Howland , offered a nonjudgmental word choice. “I like to use the word ‘effective’ and then point out, as specifically as I can, why I found something effective. I feel like this steers away from ‘good’/‘bad’ and other somewhat meaningless judgments, and it focuses more on writing as an exchange with a reader.”

Celebrate Growth

Positive feedback supports student progress. Think of positive comments as a boost of momentum that can help students continue to build their identity as writers. Kelly Frazee  recommended finding specific examples to help demonstrate growth, as in “This part shows me that you have improved with [insert skill] because compared to last time…” As teachers, we often notice growth in ways that our students may not recognize about themselves. Drawing out specific evidence of growth can help students see their own progress.

Finally, I love this idea from Susan Santone , an instructor at the University of Michigan: When students really knock it out of the park, let them know. Santone suggested, “When my students (college level) nail something profound in a single sentence, I write ‘Tweet!’ ‘Put this onto a T-shirt!’ or ‘Frame this and hang it on a wall!’—in other words, keep it and share it!”

These ideas are all great starting points for giving students meaningful positive feedback on their writing. I’ve already started to use some of them, and I’ve noticed how much richer my feedback is when positive and constructive comments are equally detailed. I’m looking forward to seeing how these shifts propel student writing. Consider trying out one of these strategies with your students’ next drafts.

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150 Positive Comments for Student Papers

August 31, 2023 //  by  Maria Van Norman

Teaching is often a time-consuming job, especially for a teacher who must grade papers. It often feels daunting when staring at that stack of papers and wondering how writing constructive feedback on each one is feasible.

However, a teacher knows that even when she is tired, as she grades paper after paper, it is extremely important to give the students constructive comments on their work. The feedback for students is what helps students learn.

The positive feedback outweighs the negative feedback as well, so make it a common strategy to give positive feedback on students’ papers. It is a tremendous opportunity for students to grow.

1. I never thought of it this way. Great job analyzing!

2. What an amazing sentence!

3. This is a wonderful thesis! Good job!

4. I can tell you worked really hard on this!

5. This thesis statement is superb!

6. Wow, this is some of your best work yet!

7. Way to stay focused! I’m proud of you!

8. This is an excellent analytical paper!

9. I can tell you are motivated! I love it!

10. I feel privileged to have gotten to read this work! Great effective paper!

11. Your enthusiasm shows! Wonderful job!

12. This is not just a sheet of paper. It’s wonderful work!

13. This is one of the more superior papers I have read!

14. I really love how creative you get with your descriptions!

15. Out of this world!

16. There is so much to be proud of with your paper assignment!

17. This part made me smile!

18. You are a star!

19. Clever argument!

20. You worked hard; I can tell!

21. What brilliant thinking!

22. Terrific persuasive argument!

23. You have learned so much and it shows!

24. You rocked this essay!

25. I can tell you did your best!

26. You are so smart!

27. What a powerful argument! Keep up the good work!

28. You should be proud of this work!

29. You have made great progress!

30. Your handwriting is just lovely!

31. This is a great example! Good job!

32. I love your thoughts here!

33. I’m very impressed!

34. You have a sophisticated argument! Awesome job!

35. You are artistic and creative!

36. I love your attention to detail!

37. This is a very powerful sentence!

38. You show great promise!

39. What a terrific learner you are!

40. The sentence structure you used here is brilliant!

41. Your skills are stellar!

42. This hypothesis is amazing! I can’t wait to see where you take it!

43. I knew you could do it!

44. Every single sentence in this paper is wonderful!

45. You have a lot of fabulous ideas in this paper!

46. It doesn’t surprise me a bit that I smiled throughout your whole paper!

47. Keep up the incredible work!

48. Way to grab the reader’s attention! Great job!

49. Your handwriting is so neat!

50. This part moved me!

51. You certainly made me open my mind even more! Wonderful job!

53. I see so much improvement in your work! I’m proud of you!

54. I like the way you tackled this assignment!

55. Very impressive!

56. You have very inventive ideas here

57. Smart thinking!

58. You were very clear, concise, and complete!

59. Phenomenal job!

60. This is well thought out and I enjoyed grading it!

61. You outdid yourself with this assignment!

62. What a wonderful assignment!

63. Your work has flair!

64. Such a wonderful perspective on this topic!

65. This is clever!

66. I can tell you had fun with this assignment!

67. You rock!

68. This is stellar work!

69. Your use of this example moves your argument forward!

70. Your algebra is on fire!

71. This is a great metaphor!

72. Nice idea!

73. This is great work!

74. You did it!

75. I knew you could do it!

76. You went above and beyond here! I’m impressed!

77. Magnificent!

78. Marvelous!

79. You did a tremendous job!

80. This paragraph is brilliant!

81. Your science experiment was awesome!

82. Your artwork is exquisite!

83. What an excellent point!

84. Great job making connections here!

85. This sentence is excellent!

86. You chose a great quote!

87. This is a powerful point! Great job!

88. Your argument is very focused and solid!

89. Terrific explanation!

90. I love how you connected these ideas!

91. You are so smart!

92. Perfect!

93. Great stuff!

94. I love this! It made me laugh!

95. Outstanding work!

96. These are amazing ideas!

97. What an amazing way of thinking! Great job!

98. You made me think here! Good job!

99. A wonderful way to present this information!

100. You are showing exceptional understanding!

101. You are an awesome writer!

102. I love reading your essays!

103. You have shown incredible growth!

104. Your work is so neat! Great job!

105. This sentence is right on target!

106. You have an excellent idea here!

107. I can tell you’ve been practicing!

108. You are very preceptive!

109. This sentence is beautifully written!

110. I love your vivid word choice!

111. The way you express your ideas is wonderful!

112. You are quite gifted!

113. You show outstanding attention to detail!

114. You are a superstar!

115. I can tell that you did your best! Way to go!

116. You are very talented!

117. This paragraph is simply tremendous!

118. I appreciate how hard you worked on this assignment!

119. You made me so proud with your examples!

120. You are unstoppable!

121. This sentence sparkles!

122. This is one of the best essays I’ve read!

123. You have exceptional potential!

124. I’m giving you a high-five for this essay!

125. This sentence blew me away!

126. You did quality work! Great job!

127. This is a terrific piece of evidence for your argument!

128. No grammatical errors in this paragraph! I’m so proud!

129. You are an amazing writer!

130. Your organized paragraphs make me very proud!

131. You’ve shown creative problem solving here!

132. Superb word choice in this sentence!

133. What a critical piece to your argument! Great job!

134. You’ve reached your goal! Be proud of yourself!

135. This essay may be your best work yet!

136. Tremendous use of sentence syntax to prove your point!

137. You amaze me with your attention to detail!

138. Great writing!

139. Profound statement!

140. Brilliantly worded!

141. You prove that you can do hard things! Good work!

142. The connections you have made to the real world are stellar!

143. Way to tackle a tough topic! I’m proud of you!

144. Your talent shines through!

145. Terrific answer!

146. Your similes are sensational!

147. You are very intelligent!

148. I love your clarity in this paragraph!

149. This paper really shines!

150. You make me want to learn more about this topic!

Closing Thoughts

Teachers hold a piece of their student’s future in their hands. The responsibility is great. Therefore, even when wanting to mark up all of the errors on a paper, remember to add the positive comments as well. Make sure that students can grow and not feel defeated or frustrated. By including positive comments on students’ papers, students’ spirits will soar in ways you can not even imagine.

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Examples of Feedback on Student Writing

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As an undergraduate, my first writing assignment in Jim Faulconer’s philosophy of religion course changed me. More specifically, it was the feedback on my first paper. The combination of what I thought an abysmally low grade and margins drenched in the red of electronic comments felt as though academic open season had been declared on me personally. I was devastated. Following a period of self-indulgent mourning I forced myself to read through Faulconer’s comments and realized that he had undermined the possibility of consoling myself by blaming him. Overall, I experienced a genuine aporia and ultimately took advantage of the opportunity to re-write my paper.

This has remained with me, and to the degree possible within the specific constraints of each class, I make revision, feedback, personal interaction, and the opportunity to rewrite central to class assignments. The attempt is to allow the student, wherever they are in their progression as a writer, to improve, and especially to improve in their ability to narrow in on and articulate a well-supported argument.

One of the real challenges then, is to offer feedback for students at very different levels. In order to see my efforts at work, I’ve copied below actual feedback that I’ve given—two on papers I considered “A” quality, one on a paper that I considered well below average, and additional, general feedback given to an entire class after grading their papers. When grading student papers I make in-margin comments throughout and then articulate my overall feedback at the bottom. Additionally, I compose a document with general feedback for the entire class based on positive and negative trends in the papers submitted. You’ll notice in the examples below that my attempt is always to state concretely what’s working well and specific ways in which both this particular draft and also their writing more generally might be improved. In doing so, I try to impart to my students that their work, whatever its quality, is always a work in progress.

Feedback on superior papers Feedback on an inadequate paper General feedback for a class

From superior papers:

Dear Student,

You have a clever argument. Importantly, you build in very plausible objections to your claims and then seek to respond to those objections. Your three points of criticism build very well on each other, and you end with a satisfying resolution. As noted throughout, the biggest weakness of the paper is the occasional lack of clarity. I suspect that a lot of this has to do with the difficulties of writing in a second language. I encourage you to avail yourself of the writing center. Also, as noted, your opening needs to be more clear. Don’t worry about giving away your main point upfront – in philosophy that’s a good thing. Finally, it’s significant that you overlook Sen’s comments on comparing in the absence of an ideal standard.

I’m impressed with your ability to write concisely. Not only did you fulfill the assignment, you also wrote a long-ish intro and answered questions that went beyond the prompt. Doing so within the word limit and doing it well deserves recognition. One result is that outside of the opening paragraph the entire essay is focused exclusively on the arguments –there’s no excess fat in this essay. Given the nature of the assignment, that’s great. As noted throughout, however, some of your specific arguments need developed –your paper would’ve been better served had you eliminated one of the arguments in order to better develop the others along the lines mentioned in my comments above. Overall, it’s clear that you understand each of the philosophers you address and you present interesting ideas.

From an inadequate paper:

The following was written in response to a student in a first year writing class. Both the nature of the class and its small size facilitated more substantive feedback than is always possible. My comments below, however, are indicative of the tone and approach I take toward papers I consider to be significantly inadequate.

Dear Student

As noted above, you do well “synthesizing”several insights from multiple studies as you make different points, rather than flatly summarizing one study at a time. I’ve tried to make clear in my comments the things that I think you can do to strengthen this paper and your writing in general. Specifically, I want to emphasize the following:

• Argument. This is critical. Your paper is almost exclusively a report of various points of consensus among the authors you cite. This does not meet the specifications of the assignment. What’s needed is to utilize this ability –the ability to extract important and overlapping ideas from the literature –in the service of your own independent argument. A clear and specific thesis sentence stated up top will help you to organize and tie together the various parts of your paper. The conclusion section should also help to do the same thing. Your conclusion here is a bookend, bringing up the same (or at least a similar) point as the one you began with concerning the different kinds of attraction that exist. More than just a bookend, however, you want your conclusion to be in the service of your argument. It should both summarize and highlight the most important points you’ve tried to establish in the body of your paper and state how these points support your thesis. At each stage, however, ask yourself –how does this support my argument? Is this fact clear to my reader?
• Structure. Some of the different sections and points you’re making in the paper are clearly flagged for the reader with transition words. Remember, however, that the paper is not just a list of points. This is closely related to my comment on argument. At any given point in the paper it should not only be clear to the reader what you’re saying but also why you’re saying it. Transition language needs to be accompanied by explicitly tying together or explaining the relationship between the different sections of the paper. Doing so is an important way to highlight your overall argument and make the paper cohere.
• Counterargument. As discussed in the assignment, a critical part of your argument is exploring a counterargument. Either in making specific claims to support your thesis or after articulating your argument, consider countervailing evidence or interpretive frameworks or objections to your reasons and conclusions. Doing so will strengthen your case. This is not just true when attempting to make your own argument, but is also an important element of explicating the academic dialogue for your reader. If all of the authors you cite were locked in a room would they all agree on the question you’re exploring? Help your reader to understand the tensions, contradictions and questions that are left in the wake of their studies. Then argue for why –given these tensions, contradictions and questions –your reader ought to side with your own claims.
• Proofreading. The host of punctuation and grammar errors, along with the frequently awkward phrasing of the paper makes it read like a first draft. This is very distracting and inhibits your ability to keep the attention of the reader or convince the reader of your point.

Again, the paper shows a good grasp of some of the basic points made in the literature, weaving together a number of overlapping ideas. I’m confident in your ability to improve.

General feedback:

The following is an example of the general feedback given in the wake of a recent “ ordinary ” paper assignment. Although given in response to a specific set of papers, it models the type of general feedback I give:

• First, make sure it’s free of errors—typographical, stylistic, or substantive. Poor grammar, misspelled words, and inaccurate statements are impression killers.
• Likewise, avoid trite opening lines — generic or obvious statements that usually say little more than “ I don ’ t know how to begin my paper, but I have to say something. ” For example, “Throughout history, people have argued about ethics,”or “Different people have different ideas about the value of the environment”are trite openers and should be avoided.
• In your opening, above everything else, you want to make it clear to your reader what your paper is going to be about. A clear, easy to pick out thesis sentence is crucial . Since the thesis sentence is the most important part of your opening, make sure it’s as polished and articulate a sentence as you can make it. The thesis ought to tell your reader exactly what you will be arguing in your paper. In addition, it ought to give the reader some hint about why you ’ re going to argue that way . Note the difference in the following thesis sentences from your peers: “In this paper, I will argue that religion provides a better basis for Leopold’s land ethic than the philosophers we studied;”and “Despite a sophisticated argument that successfully disarms many of the attacks typically used to support human superiority, Taylor’s biocentric theory of equality is simply too radical to adequately serve as a land ethic.”The first example states clearly what will be argued in the paper. The second example does so as well but also clues the reader in and sets the tone of and expectations for the paper. It gives the reader more specifics and serves as a better standard against which one can judge the success of the paper.
• First, remember that (as noted in the assignment) you’re not simply giving me an argument in support of your thesis; you’re also dealing with the argument of a philosopher. A very common mistake made was to merely state a philosopher ’ s conclusion and then either argue against or in support of it. Remember, you must actually present the philosopher ’ s argument in favor of the thesis and then address THAT . And remember that there is an important difference between listing premises and explaining the argument.
• A common logical problem is to assume that if two positions or theories have a number of important, identifiable similarities, then they must be compatible or largely the same. Most theories we look at in this class will have plenty of readily identifiable, important similarities. This doesn ’ t mean either that they argue for the same thing or that they are compatible . For instance, if I focus only on things like belief in representative government, commitment to liberty, honoring the principles of America’s founding fathers, belief in transparency, fundamental desire to benefit the American people, and the like, I can give my audience the impression that U.S. President Barak Obama and his opponent Governor Mitt Romney have views that are perfectly compatible. This is a common strategy taken in polemical debates, and you see it used in popular media all the time (another, more entertaining/offensive example, is when people use this strategy to convince you that certain political figures are “just like”Hitler). But it certainly doesn’t prove anything. Once again, by giving the philosopher ’ s overall argument , you’re (more honestly) enabling your reader to judge and evaluate your own argument.
• Many of your papers would be improved by narrowing in on one specific part of the philosopher’s argument—for example, you might highlight and attack or defend a key premise. Many of you made very high-altitude and general criticisms but struggled (especially given the space constraints) to grapple with specific aspects of an argument.
• A number of papers were tempted to take something of a broadside approach: that is, they gave a list of every specific claim that they could pick out that the philosopher makes and then attacked it. This is a sort of hail-Mary approach, a desperate hope that something on your laundry-list of criticisms will stick and give merit to your paper. Sometimes this is the best you can do in the circumstances, but it is almost always less effective. A broadside is good in the brainstorming stage; but then pick out the one or two points that you think are most relevant or promising, and then develop them as best you can. Narrow in on something specific and do your best to develop your evaluation or critique (i.e., your answering of the assigned question).
• Another common (and related) approach was to give a paragraph by paragraph regurgitation of the text. This strategy, besides being stylistically awkward, hints to the reader that you’re really not sure what the argument is, or which parts are more important, and so you’re just going to try and say everything exactly how the philosopher did. You don’t have time in a short paper for much summary. Rather than a point by point regurgitation, be judicious in what you include. You ’ re attempting to explicate not summarize the argument . As already mentioned, you do want to give an overview, you want to articulate the argument. But this doesn’t mean you’ll make all of the same points or use all of the same examples in the very same way. The point of articulating the philosopher’s argument is to help you in writing your paper and arguing your ideas. Highlight or emphasize the parts that are more important or relevant to your own thesis. Cut out the fluff, unimportant illustrations, or side tangents. Reorder things for your benefit. Say what needs to be said to inform your reader and set him up for your own argument.
• You don’t have to completely destroy or defend an argument. Perhaps you think that a philosopher is largely correct in her views, but that she’s a little off on an important issue. You can argue that she needs a slight modification to her position. Or perhaps you’re comparing two philosophers –you don’t have to argue that one of them is completely right and the other entirely wrong. You can argue that they both have some things right and some things wrong, and then argue for a hybrid position.
• Finally, on argumentation, I want to make a suggestion that has more to do with how you word your claims than anything else. It is highly unlikely that any of you will “prove”anything one way or the other. Philosophers use the word ‘prove’in a technical way, and are rather reserved about it. More often than not when they use it they at least qualify it in some way (e.g.. “I will attempt to prove…”). I suggest avoiding the word all together when writing philosophy—at least for now.
• Structure: Again, I’m not against creativity, and not married to rigid and explicit structures, but your reader ought to be able to tell exactly where he is in your argument. Whether or not you use meta-language, you need to give your reader signals and have a clear structure that is easy to follow. Avoid rambling or tangents, and clearly mark transitions.
• Superfluous stuff: Part of maintaining a good structure and writing a strong, clear paper is cutting out all of the superfluous material. Especially on short papers like this, just get rid of anything extra or anything that doesn ’ t directly contribute to the point of the paper (of course, you can keep your creative stuff if you’re writing in that kind of style). Also, make sure you’ve got the right sort of balance or proportion. If the point of your paper is to defend Katz theocentric approach to environmental ethics, but you feel the need to give context (often a good idea), don’t spend a full page of pre- and post-argument context, with only a quarter page of actual argument. Instead, write a sentence or two of pre- and a sentence or two of post-argument context, and take a page to carefully, explicitly set out the argument.
• Sexist Language: This is almost always a problem with undergraduate papers. Don’t let the sexist language of the older philosophers we’re reading (like Leopold) or that of your own culture lull you into thinking you can write this way. The point is not primarily about equality or the like. Using sexist language is simply unprofessional and stylistically immature. It’s at least as much of an eyesore as bad grammar or misspelled words. Specifically, don’t simply use “man”to represent humanity or “he”every time you need a neutral pronoun. You can almost always avoid a gendered pronoun (e.g., use “human”or “one”). Sometimes this is very difficult or would sound very awkward. In such cases, it’s fine to use either “she”or “he,”but you should rotate between the one and the other (e.g., in one paragraph or section of the paper use “she”and in the next paragraph or section use “he;”but again, avoid either whenever you can do so naturally). Sometimes you can write “she or he,”though this too can be awkward. Finally, don’t use “s/he”as a neutral pronoun. I recommend consulting a style guide for more details.
• Never let quotes stand on their own — explain them. There is one skill for picking out relevant quotes from a text, and another skill involved in understanding what it says. Again, see a style guide for details.

I hope this is helpful to you as you begin work on your next papers.

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66 Fantastic Teacher Comments for Progress Reports

• Suzanne Kelley
• October 12, 2021
• No Comments

It’s that time again for most of us…completing Progress Reports! I don’t know about you, but it is a struggle sometimes to capture the correct teacher comments to add to each child’s report. We want to stay positive, but we need to concisely and accurately paint a portrait that truly reflects each child. And, sometimes, we need to report some pretty tough stuff about someone’s baby.

Progress Report comments have consistently been huge threads social media groups. Teachers asking other teachers, what should my comment be for this particular behavior? We noticed, and we have now compiled 66 Fantastic Teacher Comments for Progress Reports from these great advice threads. I find myself using #8 a lot.

But, before I hop into all of the comments you can easily cut and paste into your progress reports and report cards, I have two questions for you…

• Do you give out practice packets for your students?
• Do you have parents that ask for practice activities during conferences?

I have pre-made, ready-to-print packets that you can grab on ETTC Premium right now! You can be copying these packets while completing your progress reports and get both done at the same time!

Grab the Packets on Premium

Teacher comments for work habits.

• Works well with classmates; is a strong leader; motivates others to complete work.

2. They remain focused during independent work without frequent reminders.

3. Independent effort is evident in their work. Not afraid to try and willing to work on mistakes

4. Needs reminders to remain focused during independent work; requires teacher support to stay focused during independent work.

5. They need to listen to the directions more closely before engaging in school work.

6. They rely heavily on teacher support for most work completion.

7. Lacks some confidence to initiate and complete work, asking for teacher support rather than making attempts.

8. Needs assistance to use time wisely during work activities.

Teacher Comments for Classroom Behavior

9. Shows good manners and kindness to others in the classroom

10. Accepts redirection appropriately.

11. Follows most classroom rules.

12. They remain focused and on-task , minimally distracted.

13. Regularly participates in and contributes to class discussions.

14. Cooperates with the teacher and other staff.

15. They demonstrate responsible use of personal and classroom materials.

16. Needs to follow classroom rules and directions throughout the school day.

17. Consistently needs reminders to be quiet and not distract others.

18. Requires frequent directions to be in place at desks, tables, or centers.

19. They need to work on using respectful, kind language with peers and teachers.

20. Needs to work on maintaining personal space while keeping body parts and materials off of others.

21. Struggles with impulsive behaviors.

22. Often becomes silly and has difficulty returning to work.

Character Traits

23–Requires additional support to interact in positive ways with classmates.

24–Is great at reminding others of behavioral expectations.

25–The student will benefit from focusing on their decision-making.

26–The student is learning to/requires adult support to differentiate between reporting and tattling.

27–It has truly been a pleasure getting to know your child.

28–Your child arrives at school every day with a smile, ready to learn.

29–Is eager to help others and help around the classroom.

30–Your child is an essential part of our classroom and school community .

31–Very expressive with opinions and emotions.

32–Your child is a strong listener to others’ ideas and opinions.

33–Frequent absences continually impact their ability to access all of the learning that takes place daily in our classroom.

34–Your student works well below their potential due to a lack of motivation and attention to work.

Some Academic Teacher Comments to Share

35–They have strengthened their ______skills since the beginning of the quarter.

36–Has made slight progress in ________this quarter/trimester but continues to need work.

37–Continues to make progress in all academic areas due to hard work and determination.

38–Tends to be very talkative during quiet work periods, which disrupts classmates’ work as well.

39–Struggles to remain organized with materials even though systems are in place for them.

40–Works fast, often making careless mistakes. They would benefit greatly from slowing down and checking their work.

41–Is very responsible with their belongings and turns assignments in on time.

Social Skills and Socialization Teacher Comments

42–Consistently puts forth their best effort, showing pride in their work.

43–Requires additional practice and repetition to master necessary skills in _______.

44–Has a positive attitude towards work but continues to struggle with retaining taught information.

45–Needs to improve abilities to work with others in a group setting, listening to perspectives and ideas of others.

46–Continues to have difficulty with their willingness to share and take turns in a group setting.

47–Is genuinely concerned about the feelings of their peers.

48–Perseveres on challenging tasks with a positive attitude.

49–Expresses himself clearly with teachers and classmates.

50–Difficulty problem-solving with classmates.

Academic Skills Teacher Comments

51–Displays self-discipline.

52–Is an enthusiastic reader.

53–Is good at attacking unknown words.

54–They would benefit from daily reading and sight word practice .

55–Is reading at/above/below grade level for this time of year.

56–Needs additional support at home to practice addition and subtraction facts.

57–Needs to put more effort into ________.

58–Does well on assignments but struggles with testing.

59–Requires additional attention for their academics beyond what we would expect for a ____ (grade).

60–Struggles with remembering previously taught skills that are necessary for advancement in the subject area.

61–Consistently completes grade-level books with stellar comprehension skills.

62–Is constantly engaged in their lessons until completed.

63–They struggle with transitions between subject areas within the classroom, delaying their work start time.

64–Reads at grade level, but struggles with recalling information about what they have read.

Two Biggies–Use with Caution

65–I have concerns about your child’s behaviors in the classroom and feel we should meet to discuss some strategies for improvement.

66–I have concerns regarding your child’s progress in academic areas. Let’s talk soon to share more details, and we can make a firm plan for improvement.

Did you find one or two comments that will fit perfectly into your Progress Reports this year? We hope so! Or, are you holding on to this list like me with a tight grip to not misplace it by Progress Reports time? Either way, we appreciate our Facebook members who shared many of these comments and would love to add your ideas to the list. Comment below with some of your teacher comments. Who knows, they might make the updated list for next year!

WRITTEN BY: SUZANNE KELLEY

At  Education to the Core , we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources designed by teachers for teachers. We aspire to be the world’s leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. We improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

If you enjoyed what we have to offer at ETTC, be sure to join our  email list , so you won’t miss a beat. We are here to help with all your resource needs. Become a  Premium Member of Education to the Core  and receive immediate access to thousands of printable activities. For one small monthly or annual fee, everything ETTC can be at your fingertips all of the time.

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223 Copy and Paste Final Report Card Comments

Hey, Teacher! Is it report writing time again?

Hopefully these comments for student report cards will come in helpful.

Copy and paste these report card comments for your students. It’ll save you time and heartache!

Read below for my full list of report card comment ideas:

Positive Comments

Use a few positive comments to show the strengths of the student and how they’ve improved recently.

Positive Attitude to Learning

• Comes to class every day ready and willing to learn.
• Has an inquisitive and engaged mind.
• Is excited to tackle her tasks every day.
• Likes to come to school and learn with her friends.
• Has a positive attitude to self-development.
• Tends to come into the classroom with a big smile and an open mind.
• Sets herself very high standards and strives to meet them each and every day.

Showing Improvement

• Is consistently improving.
• Is developing very well for her age.
• Has shown strong signs of growth in all learning areas.
• Has made clear and commendable gains.
• Improves each and every day.
• Her hard work and effort has paid off.

Positive Behavior

• Is always very well behaved during class time.
• Has a good ability to avoid peers who she sees may be distractions to her learning.
• Is always willing to listen to instructions.
• Is a very helpful and respectful student.
• Never misbehaves in class.
• Sets a good standard for classmates to follow.
• Is very good at following the rules.

Read Also: Words to Describe a Student

Shows Respect for Others

• Has a great deal of respect for all visitors to the classroom.
• Cares for and respects her classmates.
• Is always respectful to classroom equipment.
• Always puts her hand up and follows instructions.
• Is very considerate of others and often puts others’ needs and interests at the front of her mind.
• Is a very respectful and responsible classmate.
• Has proven to be a courteous and polite classmate.
• Is held in high regard for her kindness to others.
• Is a very outgoing, positive and upbeat student.
• Tackles every task with enthusiasm and self-belief.
• Is building her confidence more and more every day.
• Has shown remarkable growth in confidence this year.
• Has reached many achievements this year, which is reflected in her budding confidence.
• Is a self-assured young learner who is always willing to try something new.
• Can always be trusted with tasks assigned to her.
• Conducts herself with honesty and integrity at all times.
• Is trusted with school equipment including expensive computer technology.
• Is open, honest and upfront about her thoughts and beliefs.
• Shares thoughtful and genuine opinions during lessons.
• Is always willing to self-reflect and provide genuine analyses of her progress.

Self-Expression

• Is a very expressive and confident student.
• Has a great ability to express thoughts and feelings in writing.
• Is always willing to express herself in front of the class with a bold and confident voice.
• Has artistic talent and can articulate her thoughts through drawing and painting very well.
• Is a very articulate public speaker when talking about issues that she knows well.
• Is always willing to contribute her own thoughts and beliefs in class discussions.
• Uses her body and hand movements to express herself artistically.

High Motivation

• Has a great deal of intrinsic motivation . She’s a real go getter!
• Has bucket loads of initiative.
• Has an active mind and is eager to achieve.
• Comes to class with a huge willingness to participate.
• Never wants to waste a day in the classroom.
• Loves to soak up all the information around her.
• Is an ambitious and proactive student.
• Knows her goals and strives every day to achieve them.

Strong Communication Skills

• Projects her voice very well when communicating in class.
• Is effective at using the written word to express herself.
• Has a great deal of confidence when speaking to groups.
• Is very good at clearly and succinctly speaking up when she feels she has a valuable contribution.
• Consistently provides valuable contributions to class discussion.
• Is a skilled public speaker.
• Has shown great strides in written communication skills in recent months.

Is Neat and Tidy

• Always keeps her belongings neatly organized.
• Looks after her belongings very carefully.
• Always has neat book work which shows respect and high regard for her own work.
• Keeps her desk space very tidy, clean and organized.
• Takes pride in keeping her work neat, clean and tidy for every submission.
• Keeps her personal work spaces very well organized.

Good Listening Skills

• Is an active listener who is always ready to respond with relevant and engaging questions.
• Listens thoughtfully to other people’s ideas and contributes her own thoughtful ideas.
• Listens with an open mind to her classmates’ perspectives.
• Always listens intently with the hope of learning new things.
• Concentrates and pays close attention during demonstrations to ensure she understands task requirements.
• Takes directions well and is quick to apply directions to tasks.
• Is always attentive in class and asks for clarification when required.
• Is good at working in small groups unaided by a teacher.
• Listens intently to others and takes their opinions in mind.
• Excels when given leadership roles in small groups.
• Appears to thrive in group learning situations.
• Has developed strong skills in communicating in groups.
• Works productively in groups of all sizes to get tasks done.
• Has a knack for managing multiple personalities in group situations.
• Could work on sharing resources more fairly during group tasks.
• Needs to work on allowing other group members equal time to speak during group discussions.

Strong Organization and Time Management

• Always arrives to class on time with her books and is ready to learn.
• Is exceptionally good at completing tasks in a timely manner.
• Is a natural organizer and is often seen helping to get her peers organized and ready for tasks.
• Is always trusted to meet deadlines.
• Uses color coding and headings in her books effectively to organize her notes.
• Keeps a neat and organized work space at all times.

Good at Homework

• Always comes to class with very neat and well written homework.
• Tends to complete independent homework tasks with ease.
• Thrives with independent homework tasks, which are always presented in a timely manner.
• Comes to class with great questions based on the assigned homework tasks, showing thoughtfulness and independence.
• Can be trusted to complete her homework in time.
• Often asks for extra homework. She has shown great thirst for knowledge.

Read Also: 27 Pros and Cons of Homework

Strong Participation

• Is always willing to jump in and participate in any task.
• Is a great helper, always giving people a hand when she sees they are in need.
• Participates in all tasks, no matter her skill level. This enthusiasm is laudable.
• Always comes to class willing to get involved in the daily activities.
• Is always the first person to put their hand up to volunteer for a task.
• Loves to learn by getting involved and gaining first-hand experiences.
• Is beginning to develop her own interest and is eager to learn more about them.
• Has a strong personal interest in ________ and has been taking the initiative to explore the topic.
• Is very enthusiastic about ________ and has shown great promise in this area.
• Has picked a great extracurricular hobby of _____. Her skills learned in this hobby has helped to boost her confidence in the classroom.
• Shows interest in a variety of different topics which she has been enthusiastically exploring during free study time.
• Always finds personal interest in topics presented in class.

Independence

• Is showing increasing independence to learn and study without the need for excessive guidance.
• Is a fiercely independent person who knows what she wants and goes out to get it.
• Has an independent and free spirited mind.
• Is not afraid to go against the majority if she is certain of her beliefs and thoughts.
• Happily goes about her tasks independently but seeks help when required.
• Shows confidence striking out on her own to do things she is interested in.

Strong Learning and Thinking Skills

• Is very resourceful and uses the internet, books and peers to find new knowledge.
• Is aware of her learning styles and makes every effort to work to her strengths as a student.
• Uses higher-order thinking strategies like analysis and critique to question assumptions.
• Knows when she needs help and asks for it willingly.
• Thinks deeply about her responses before providing them.
• Is very good at reflecting on her weaknesses and working on them to grow as a person.
• Is great at solving problems using her own initiative.

Good Attention to Detail

• Pays close attention to the details of a tasks so that she doesn’t miss anything.
• Is very systematic about going about her tasks so she can complete them thoroughly.
• Is great at identifying small and nuanced mistakes in her own work.
• Always creates very presentable and professional looking pieces of work.
• Has great self-reflection skills , being able to identify her own strengths and weaknesses.
• Can pause and look at her own work to identify areas for improvement.
• Has the ability to stop and change course when she identifies areas for improvement.
• Is very good at identifying and repairing errors in drafts.
• Has exercised great thoughtfulness about her own capabilities.
• Has shown the ability to empathize with classmates and show great compassion.

Perseverance and Determination

• Shows great determination when is set a challenging task.
• Perseveres through difficulties to achieve her goals.
• Is resilient in the face of significant challenges and problems presented.
• Will always work through struggles and come out the other end more confident and skilled.

Constructive Comments

Present constructive comments to show the areas for improvement for the student. Carefully craft the comments so they’re not overly upsetting or impersonal.

Negative Attitude to Learning

• Occasionally needs special assistance to stay on task.
• Requires some coaxing to complete tasks.
• Is at times distracted or uninterested in learning.
• Is working on paying more attention to her tasks.
• Has some off days where she is uninterested in learning.
• Is easily distracted by friends.
• Will often come to class unwilling to contribute to group discussions.

Needs Improvement

• Needs to work on focus and concentration during class time.
• Has improved in some areas, but continues to slip behind in others.
• Is showing some lack of focus and is slipping behind in some subjects.
• There is still a lot of room for growth and we are working on improving her focus and drive in coming months.
• It would be great to see some improvement in her weakest subjects in the future.
• I would like to see her asking for help when stuck on tasks.

Disruptive Behavior

• Can occasionally disrupt her friends and classmates.
• Is at times a distraction to other students.
• Can be unsettled when entering the class after breaks.
• Can be talkative during quiet times and individual tasks.
• Could work on being more considerate to other classmates.
• Has had a difficult time getting comfortable in class this year.
• Has at times sought undue attention and distracted the flow of lessons.

Read Also: 13 Best Classroom Management Theories

Low Motivation

• Sometimes struggles to engage in class discussions.
• Requires a lot of external rewards to get focused.
• Works well below her capabilities due to lack of motivation to do her best.
• Relies heavily on extrinsic motivation. It would be great to see more intrinsic desire to succeed in coming months.
• Struggles to find things she is interested in.
• Has trouble getting engaged and interested in class topics.
• Will respond well to rewards but struggles to use initiative.
• Needs to dig deep and find greater motivation to learn in coming months.

Is Not Neat and Tidy

• Occasionally presents work that is messy and difficult to read.
• I would like to see her paying more attention to neatness in her writing.
• It would be great to see her showing more care for her workspace to ensure all her belongings are well cared for.
• At times comes to class disheveled and disorganized.
• Presents homework that is untidy and appears to have been rushed.
• Needs to work on ensuring her work is presentable, neat, and error-free.

Weak Communication Skills

• Speaks very softly. An area for improvement is speaking up in class discussions.
• Could work some more on communicating her opinions during discussions.
• Is often shy and intimidated when asked to speak up in class discussions.
• Needs coaxing to share her thoughts in class.
• Can work on being clearer when expressing her thoughts in writing.
• I look forward to seeing further development in expressing her thoughts in class.

Poor Listening Skills

• Has had some trouble paying attention to others during class discussions.
• Has some trouble listening to peers and teachers.
• Is easily distracted during class discussions.
• Is a good talker but needs to work on pausing and listening to others more attentively.
• Is often fidgety and distracted when spoken to.
• Is often resistant to make eye contact and be responsive when spoken to.
• Has trouble repeating and remembering instructions.

Read Also: 47 Best Classroom Rules for Middle and High School

Weak Organization and Time Management

• Tends to leave tasks to the last minute.
• Often submits incomplete drafts due to poor time management.
• Is often disorganized and forgets important school supplies.
• Has submitted homework late on several occasions.
• Could work on using her time more efficiently to complete tasks in allotted time periods.
• I would like to see her working on her organizational skills in coming months so she can use her class time more efficiently.

Bad at Homework

• Will often skip assigned homework tasks.
• Regularly forgets to bring homework to school.
• Her homework is often brought to class incomplete and rushed.
• Is often seen completing homework tasks the morning before they are due.
• I would like to see her working on setting aside more time for homework in the coming months.
• Is good at class work, but needs more initiative to complete her weekly homework in a timely manner.

Poor Attention to Detail

• Could be getting higher grades if she edited her work more carefully before submission.
• Will sometimes make mistakes due to distractedness and carelessness.
• Has started to let carelessness seep into his work for the past few months.
• Often does not pay enough attention to test questions, leading to small unforced errors.

Preschool and Kindergarten Comments

Here are some great comments specifically for children in the early years of their development.

Play Based Learning – Strong

• Plays well with other children.
• Shares resources with her peers during play time.
• Has begun to develop cooperative play skills such as sharing and taking turns.
• Is a creative and imaginative learner.
• Engages in strong exploratory and discovery play behaviors without prompting.
• Is enthusiastic and engaged when given developmentally appropriate resources to play with.
• Thrives in unstructured play environments where she can explore, learn and discover in her own time.
• Has started to use extended vocabulary well during play scenarios.
• Is great at taking measured risks during play which reveals great self-confidence for her age.

Play Based Learning – Needs Improvement

• Plays in parallel with other children, but needs to start developing cooperative play strategies in the coming months.
• Is good at solitary play, but needs more practice sharing and playing with other students.
• Is curious about playing with others, but often sits back due to shyness.
• Needs encouragement to use more language skills during play-based learning .
• Struggles to take turns when playing with others.

Strong Development

• Is developing in an age appropriate way and continues to show good progress.
• Has visibly developed fine and gross motor skills during class sessions.
• Is using language at an age appropriate level.
• Is starting to move out of her comfort zone to explore more and more new challenges.
• Is socially, cognitively and physically on track for transition to school.

Socialization

• Has shown remarkable strides in communication skills at preschool.
• Plays well with others.
• Is a thoughtful and kind student who plays well with others.
• Always shares and thinks about others during play scenarios.
• Is a popular student who finds it very easy to make friends with other children.
• Has been seen to show some great emerging leadership skills during play scenarios.
• Is very happy to play in groups and learn from peers .

Final Thoughts

I will often start with a comment bank like the one above. For each student, I’ll copy four or five of the most suitable statements.

But, I will also follow-up my generic comment from the comment bank with a specific example for the parents to read.

Parents do like to see that you have provided specific and thoughtful statements – so don’t forget to use the student’s name and specific anecdotes as much as possible.

I do hope this comment bank for report card comments has come in handy for you.

Remember to also maintain a positive but honest and constructive voice when writing.

If there is serious concern that might be difficult to express in writing, you should arrange for a parent-teacher conference to have a discussion and see how things progress.

Good luck with your report card writing!

About The Author: Hi, I’m Chris Drew (Ph.D) and I run things around here. I’m an Education expert and university professor.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
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A guide to your teacher's feedback: common abbreviations defined

If you are a student, you have probably seen a fair share of markings on your papers to indicate errors or ideas for improvement. If you are a teacher, you have made many of these markings and know how important it is to streamline the correcting process. While individual teachers or editors may have their own systems of signaling suggestions in writing, the language of editing and proofreading comprises many abbreviations that generally convey a universal meaning.

Below are some of the most common abbreviations used in proofreading, what they mean, and how to fix the errors they identify.

short for agreement . This refers to subject-verb agreement and means that the verb form as written does not align with the corresponding subject or pronoun. For example: Only one of the students were happy. (The correct sentence would be: Only one of the students was happy. "One "is a singular third person subject.) 

Awk:  

short for awkward wording . This usually refers to word order or to the way a phrase sounds. Consider breaking up the sentence to make it more concise or rendering the awkward expression in different, more straightforward language.

For example: We had bought extra food for the party that cost more than we expected and was not necessary in the end. (It is unclear whether the cost and inconvenience conveyed refers to the food or the party. A clearing wording would be: We had bought extra food for the party just in case, but the food cost more than we expected and was not necessary in the end.)

stands for capitalization , used to indicate that a word is incorrectly capitalized or that a lowercase word should be capitalized. For example:

The people in Italy speak italian .

The People in Italy speak Italian.

stands for diction . This refers to a misuse of diction, or incorrect word choice. For example: If we pass the test depends on the fact of whether or not we studied. A correct sentence would be: Whether or not we pass the test depends on how much we studied.

stands for fragment . This points out a stand-alone phrase that is not a complete sentence. For example: Regardless of how well I do on the test.

stands for pronoun antecedent agreement . This refers to a pronoun that does not agree with the subject it represents because of the person and/or number. For example: A good student always studies for their tests. ("A good student" is a third person singular subject, whereas "their" is the third person plural possessive pronoun).

short for pronoun . Not substantially different from the preceding example, this refers to any incorrect pronoun usage. For example: You and your brother are responsible for their actions. (It should be "your actions".)

means repetition when a phrase or word is redundant. For example:

Chocolate is my favorite flavor because I like it the most.

The woman appeared nervous in appearance.

RO (or R-O )­:

stands for run-on sentence . A run-on sentence is a sentence that has multiple independent clauses without connecting conjunctions or commas. For example: The kids ran around the playground then they splashed each other with water. Fix this by breaking the run-on sentence into two sentences, combining the independent clauses with correct punctuation, or removing one of the subjects to create a dependent clause. For example, potential alternatives to the above sentence would be:

The kids ran around the playground. Then they splashed each other with water.

The kids ran around the playground and then splashed each other with water.

The kids ran around the playground before splashing each other with water.

The kids ran around the playground, and then they splashed each other with water.

short for spelling . This means there is a misspelled word.  

Latin for Let it stand . This is a note from the proofreader to the writer to ignore a previously suggested correction, to let the text stand as it originally was written.

stands for subject verb . This is the same as Agr and means there is an error in the subject verb agreement . For example: The boys in the class is tall.

T (or VT ):

stands for verb tense . This means that a verb tense is not consistent with the context or with a surrounding verb. For example: Before the boy washed his face, he brushes his teeth.

Correct versions would be:

Before the boy washes his face, he brushes his teeth.

Before the boy washed his face, he brushed his teeth.  

stands for wrong word . This indicates that there is a more appropriate or accurate word to choose to convey the writer's intended meaning.

For example: The girl had to choose from opulent opportunities for her internship.

A better word would be one of the following: The girl had to choose from numerous/many/abundant opportunities for her internship.

Another example: Their were a lot of people at the party.

Correct word: There were a lot of people at the party.

For more examples of proofreading abbreviations, symbols and examples, see the following sites:

Capital Community College Common Proofreading Symbols

Novella Abbreviations and Symbols for Editing and Proofreading

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Essay on Teacher for Students and Children

500+ words essay on teacher.

Teachers are a special blessing from God to us. They are the ones who build a good nation and make the world a better place. A teacher teaches us the importance of a pen over that of a sword. They are much esteemed in society as they elevate the living standards of people. They are like the building blocks of society who educate people and make them better human beings .

Moreover, teachers have a great impact on society and their student’s life. They also great importance in a parent’s life as parents expect a lot from teachers for their kids. However, like in every profession, there are both good and bad teachers. While there aren’t that many bad teachers, still the number is significant. A good teacher possesses qualities which a bad teacher does not. After identifying the qualities of a good teacher we can work to improve the teaching scenario.

A Good Teacher

A good teacher is not that hard to find, but you must know where to look. The good teachers are well-prepared in advance for their education goals. They prepare their plan of action every day to ensure maximum productivity. Teachers have a lot of knowledge about everything, specifically in the subject they specialize in. A good teacher expands their knowledge continues to provide good answers to their students.

Similarly, a good teacher is like a friend that helps us in all our troubles. A good teacher creates their individual learning process which is unique and not mainstream. This makes the students learn the subject in a better manner. In other words, a good teacher ensures their students are learning efficiently and scoring good marks.

Most importantly, a good teacher is one who does not merely focus on our academic performance but our overall development. Only then can a student truly grow. Thus, good teachers will understand their student’s problems and try to deal with them correctly. They make the student feel like they always have someone to talk to if they can’t do it at home or with their friends.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Impact of Teachers on a Student’s Life

Growing up, our parents and teachers are the first ones to impact our lives significantly. In fact, in the younger years, students have complete faith in their teachers and they listen to their teachers more than their parents. This shows the significance and impact of a teacher .

When we become older and enter college, teachers become our friends. Some even become our role models. They inspire us to do great things in life. We learn how to be selfless by teachers. Teachers unknowingly also teach very important lessons to a student.

For instance, when a student gets hurt in school, the teacher rushes them to the infirmary for first aid. This makes a student feel secure and that they know a teacher plays the role of a parent in school.

In other words, a teacher does not merely stick to the role of a teacher. They adapt into various roles as and when the need arises. They become our friends when we are sad, they care for us like our parents when we are hurt. Thus, we see how great a teacher impacts a student’s life and shapes it.

{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “FAQPage”, “mainEntity”: [{ “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Why are teachers important?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “Teachers are the building blocks of a nation. They are responsible for making thousands of people educated. Teachers push us to do better and succeed in life.”} }, { “@type”: “Question”, “name”: “What makes a good teacher?”, “acceptedAnswer”: { “@type”: “Answer”, “text”:”A good teacher is one who is well-prepared. They always care for their students even outside the classroom. They instill good values in them and teach them subjects efficiently.”} }] }

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@aibasics This teacher is a genius. #artificialintelligence #chatgpt ♬ original sound - Tom from AI Basics

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