{"id":271286,"date":"2025-02-18T22:18:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T22:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/a-better-alternative-to-grading-student-writing\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:09:20","slug":"a-better-alternative-to-grading-student-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/a-better-alternative-to-grading-student-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"A Better Alternative To Grading Student Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p>            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" alt=\"A Better Alternative To Grading Student Writing\" class=\"wp-image-49425 perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-150x113.png 150w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-100x75.png 100w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-750x563.png 750w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing.png\" alt=\"A Better Alternative To Grading Student Writing\" class=\"wp-image-49425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-150x113.png 150w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-100x75.png 100w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/alternative-to-grading-writing-750x563.png 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>by <strong>Terry Heick<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is a quick post that just occurred to me while writing about\u2013well, writing about writing.<\/p>\n<p>I was brainstorming ways to use technology to help students improve their writing and realized that over and over again, I was thinking about the <em>proces<\/em>s of writing and how crucial it is to quality of whatever the writer is left with at the end.<\/p>\n<p>Great writing starts at the beginning, whether with an idea or need or purpose of social context or spark of inspiration. Whatever it is that \u2019causes\u2019 the writing to begin\u2013what\u2019s wrought there at the beginning is kind of like a lump of clay. Without that clay, not much could happen and the quality of that clay matters; its texture and purity and consistency and overall makeup have a lot to say about what it\u2019s able to produce. In large part, what you\u2019re able to create with that clay depends on the quality and quantity of that clay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">See also <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/literacy\/think-differently-about-writing-in-the-classroom\/\">It\u2019s Time To Think Differently About Writing In The Classroom<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But even more important than the clay is what you do with it. It\u2019s a process of shaping and reshaping. It\u2019s a matter of vision and perseverance as much as it is inspiration and talent. The quality of the events and of the <em>sequence <\/em>of events after that initial lump of clay is wrought matters more than the quality of the class itself.<\/p>\n<p>Because writing is procedural and mechanical, skills and strategies and habits and tricks and so on are all hugely important. Writing is often seen as a matter of inspiration and talent and love and fiction and storytelling and big words and style, but the truth is that those iconic \u2018things\u2019 are a product of the skills and strategies and habits and tricks\u2013and the mindset they\u2019re applied with.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-purpose-of-the-writing-process\"><strong>The Purpose Of The Writing Process<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Put another way, the writing process itself is everything. It doesn\u2019t have to be used the same way every time and that\u2019s another conversation for another day and I only mention it briefly because the worst thing you can do is read this post and then go shove the \u2018diligence of the writing process\u2019 down the throats of would-be writers\/students who only need to believe that they can write and have the opportunity to do so with expert, quality, and timely feedback to guide them.<\/p>\n<p>All this leads me to the title. Instead of grading the end result of that process (the finished process), grade the quality of that student\u2019s use of the writing process\u2013ideally based on their specific strengths and weaknesses and the purpose and audience of the writing assignment itself.<\/p>\n<p>Because ultimately, the goal of teaching writing isn\u2019t for students to have created a lot of quality writing in your classroom.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the goal of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/literacy\/4-benefits-of-teaching-writing-with-online-tools\/\">teaching writing<\/a> isn\u2019t even to be able to use the writing process. Rather, the overarching goal of teaching writing is to create in each student the tendency to write\u2013the belief that writing is valuable and that they are capable of writing.<\/p>\n<p>With that established, teachers of writing can then cultivate the habit of and tendency to use some form of the writing process that works for that student.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">See also<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/improve-a-boring-lesson\/\"> 25 Tricks To Improve A Boring Lesson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Then, in a perfect world, the student can be coached to create quality writing that accomplishes a clear goal with a clear audience and hopefully improves their life and the world around them somehow along the way.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-using-the-writing-process\"><strong>Using The Writing Process<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Using the writing process takes years of practice because producing great writing takes constant vision and refinement. It requires the writer to understand what they\u2019re trying to say and then say it in a way that produces some effect on the world. Research, idea organization, paragraph structure, sentence instruction, diction, punctuation, rule-breaking, tone, literary devices\u2013using these ideas to communicate complex ideas is hard work.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why writing is less of an activity and more of a process not unlike the scientific process. While we might for professionals, it wouldn\u2019t make much sense to grade children doing science by the accuracy of their data. Rather, their ability and tendency to use the scientific process to test theories and collect data would be far more important.<\/p>\n<p>For amateurs in many fields, the process is far more important than the product.<\/p>\n<p>If these goals (or those like them) are at least partly true, then a viable alternative to grading student writing is to grade <em>if<\/em> the student writes and <em>how<\/em> the student uses the writing process itself <em>in a way that makes sense to them<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>And in a way that shows ownership of that writing process that will endure long after they\u2019ve left your classroom.<\/p>\n<p><!-- HFCM by 99 Robots - Snippet # 15: Taboola Footer Feed --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/end HFCM by 99 Robots --><br \/>\n<!-- CONTENT END 1 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"et_pb_row abfd_et_pb_row abfd-container-divi\">\n<div class=\"et_pb_column\">\n<div class=\"abfd-container\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/author\/terryheick\/\" class=\"abfd-photograph-link\">  <\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"abfd-details\">\n<div class=\"abfd-biography\">\n<p>Founder &amp; Director of TeachThought<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/literacy\/a-better-alternative-to-grading-student-writing\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] by Terry Heick This is a quick post that just occurred to me while writing about\u2013well, writing about writing. I was brainstorming ways to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":271287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271286"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}