How to Use Student Writing Samples to Get the Best Grades

How to Use Student Writing Samples to Get the Best GradesIt's tough to get a reading on student writing samples when you're an instructor. Some instructors are very happy with their results, while others are downright enraged by them. Here are some steps to follow in order to produce the best essays possible for your students.The first thing you should do is sit down and decide what topics you'd like to cover during your essay writing exercises. Some people choose to focus their writing on social issues, while others pick topics that are more factual or academic. If your topic is social issues, make sure it's an important one.Before you start writing your paper, go over it carefully and thoroughly. Does the topic need to be researched, or is it a topic that can be quickly stated and discussed? When looking at your topic and deciding how to structure your essay, be prepared to spend some time writing. That's okay, but make sure you keep things moving along and make sure your students can see what you have to say.Do you feel your writing abilities would benefit from editing? There's nothing wrong with using a spell checker to help you achieve the perfect wordiness of your essay. The problem is sometimes a single word can do more harm than good. Do your research ahead of time so you'll know exactly how to word your essay.Another thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to be too hard on your students when it comes to their grade point average. That's especially true if they have good grades. They need to be able to see the benefits of going through a difficult part of the school as well as being able to master the material needed in order to do well in the rest of the class.You can also take advantage of the process of elimination in order to see how difficult the subject is and then figure out if you should go back and look at their grades to see if they were affected by the assignment. Check your own grades too, because that may give you an idea of what the student's grades should have been. Ask your students to complete the essay first and then go over it to see if it's something that's ready to grade.If you find your grade points do affect how you evaluate assignments, you may want to give students some very subtle hints about the difficulty. It's all about perception. If you show students your grade point average or grade essays to see how difficult it is, they may perceive it differently and start writing without even realizing it.This is just a general rule of thumb to help you see how your grades might be affected by what is perceived as easy material. So when writing theses, essays, or projects, be careful not to make your students think they've done something really hard. Always make it seem like a challenge and not a test. Students will appreciate this and you'll be able to get better grades.