The "Paper Parade"

Honest, I really do love my job. But every job must have some draw backs, right?! Well, grading zillions of student papers each semester would land high on my list of drawbacks. Actually, that's the only one on the list.

So the "Paper Parade" has arrived and there is no end in sight. Pictured here are just some of the stack of papers from one class. I have three other classes as well. This is their second project. They have had to write four summaries, so they have read four assigned articles (from a newpaper, a magazine, an academic journal, and a small chapter from a book).

They definitely have a difficult time summarizing -- they don't know how to condense the message of the article. They either report the message or even worse, they just copy some of the sentences onto their paper. So I try to encourage them that it is a "learned" skill, something that must be practiced until they become proficient, but that it must be a summary, not a report, not a copy. They don't like doing this project, and they don't like me while they are doing it.

What concerns me, though, is that they cannot find the main point when reading an article, even when the author has given a clear signal like "The point is ... " and somehow they miss that. They've graduated from high school without learning to find a main point. So I am also hoping to teach them to fine-tune their reading skills because each summary begins with the author's main point. Oh the joy!

I will take a break from reading and grading student papers later this evening to watch the Ken Burn's special on National Parks.

So for now, back to the "Paper Parade." Good night.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol