The nature of the assignment and the expectations that are spelt out for the students are two key considerations that determine my EL marking process.
For example, in my practicum school, there is a graded component (part of their final year mark) known as "News in Class". Students watch a clip produced by Channel News Asia that looks at a topical issue and they have to write a reflective piece based on the topic. Five questions are provided to the students and from these, they pick one to expound on. All five questions are crafted to resemble either an argumentative or discussion question.
If this was a free writing assignment, I would stick closely to guidelines contained in the marking rubrics issued by the MOE, and pay close attention to the presentation style and linguistic features of the essay when I am marking. But I am reminded of the fact that the intention behind this "News in Class" was to increase students' awareness and knowledge of current affairs. The idea is to get them to put their thoughts or opinions on paper. As the marker, I am more interested in what they have to say or think regarding the issue. I focus more on the level of maturity and quality of their ideas or insights.
When marking regular assignments, particularly composition, I always have the marking rubrics right by my side as I view it as my trusty guide in directing my marking. I first familiarized myself with the requirements laid out in each banding before I proceed with the marking. Personal experience and advice from more experienced teachers have taught me to trust in that inner teacher's voice that utters, "This student's work places him/her in the 15-18 banding". From there, the final mark is determined by scanning the paper one more time, and glancing over the amount of 'red' strewn all over the paper. With enough practice, by the time I arrive at the last sentence of a student's work, I have a strong inkling of the student's current standard.
I love writing my teacher's comments at the end of every paper because my feeling is that students generally appreciate the gesture, and look to the teacher's feedback to improve their writing the next time round. But I am usually drained and exhausted after marking out the nitty-gritty and linguistic errors (or strengths) of stacks of students' work. Long-term wise, I am not sure if I would have the time and energy to invest in this. Does anyone else have a quicker or different method of providing feedback to their students?
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