But . . .

Part of my teaching philosophy involves building students up. In writing classes, in particular, I have noticed that most students who aren't good writers just need a little confidence (along with instruction, of course). When they start to associate writing with positive experiences, they become more willing to improve. I think that's probably true in most areas of life; we all care more about things that have positive connotations for us. Many of my students have been told over and over that they are not good writers, that they have no writing strengths, and as a result they believe that they just can't do it.

When I mark up essays -- and I really do mark them up; I don't simply slap a grade on the first page -- I make at least one positive comment. Obviously, it's more difficult with some papers than with others. I used to joke that I'd had to fall back on "your margins are perfect!" on more than one occasion. Honestly, I wonder how much attention students pay to the comments (and marks) I make on their papers. Some seem to make the same mistakes from one paper to the next, even with format issues as simple as double spacing. It can be frustrating.

I've spent today grading papers for my Saturday class (after I scored essays online for four hours), and I've noticed an increasing urge to follow my positive comments with "but . . ." I avoid that because I want the compliments to come across as sincere, without qualification. Instead, I've used a lot of semi-colons, as in, "Your grammar and diction are excellent throughout the essays; sentence boundary issues interfere with clarity." Isn't that nicer without the "but . . ."? I think so. Also, I have discovered that twenty-plus years of teaching has given me a good ability to find some strength in any paper. But I won't deny that it lengthens the grading process.