By Vincent Kovar

Vincent Kovar is a writer, instructor, editor, and entrepreneur based in Seattle, Washington. An Adjunct Faculty member with both Antioch University and the University of Phoenix, Vincent writes for the Education 3.0 blog at EarnMyDegree.com.

One of the biggest consumptions of teachers’ time is the correcting and grading of writing. As with all instruction, it is important to give the students the maximum amount of feedback but the process of evaluation should also provide a venue for the maximum amount of learning.

It also wouldn’t hurt if teachers didn’t kill themselves with the amount of time they have to put in marking up assignments.

If you’re leaving school even more tired than your students you may want to reconsider your methods. While teaching is tough work, learning should be even more exhausting. If you’re doing all the editing yourself, you are removing half the learning cycle.

Writing and evaluation are two sides of the same coin. To grow as writers, your students must learn to develop an editorial eye by continuously re-engaging each piece of text.

No one (not even famous writers), gets everything right the first time.

For your students to receive the maximum benefit from the writing process (and for you to retain some sense of sanity), peer editing should be an integral part of your instructional design.

To create an effective peer editing environment first you must create a rubric that targets the objectives for each assignment. This rubric may be based on the classic 6-traits: http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001707.shtml, but it should always include additional details and examples of both good and poor writing.

It’s helpful to include a list of the most common errors: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/easywriter3e/20errors/.

Provide plenty of room for positive comments and train your students in what positive, helpful (yet honest) feedback looks like. It’s also good idea to make these sheets a different color.

Then, have the class follow these four steps:

1. Have the students exchange papers and evaluate each other’s work using the colored rubric sheets. It is always hard to edit one’s own work so exchanging papers gives each writer a fresh pair of eyes and it also allows them the new perspective in which to apply their editorial skills.
2. The students should put their own name as the “editor” at the top of the colored feedback sheets that they fill-out. The editorial process should be viewed as its own assignment.
3. When the editor finds an error, they should not only mark it but find a relevant reference in their text that explains why this is an error and how to fix it.
4. Based on the feedback they receive, have the student writers correct their own papers. When they turn the assignment in to you they should staple or clip together (a) the revised paper and (b) the editing sheet they received with a classmate’s name on it.

The students each receive two sets of points.

The first set of scores is for their own (corrected) work and the second for the editing they performed. Remember, this second set of points is for the peer review they gave, not the one they received.

This second score is based on two things:

• The thoroughness and usefulness of their editing
• The final product of their writing partner

If a student turns in an assignment which does not correct the errors their partner identified, he or she loses points. However, if the writer turns in work which contains errors not identified in the peer-edit, the editor also loses points. The writer and editor are a team.

Bear in mind that the editorial process should take at least as long as the writing process. The first couple rounds may be slow going but quite quickly, the learning will gear up to progress faster than you ever thought possible.

Use the combined feedback to plan future lessons. If you see certain errors cropping up repeatedly (for either the writer or editors) assign supplemental worksheets for the individual teams.

Aside from the reduced workload on the teacher and the increased speed of writing improvement, peer-editing has several other advantages:

• Strong editors will become highly sought after by their peers.
  
  
• Thoroughness and attention to detail will become traits of positive competition in the classroom.
  
  
• Students will have their work completed more often. While they may have excuses ready for a teacher, students are less likely to give (or accept) them with their peers.
  
  
• Peer editing is a skill highly desired by employers and one that is used in higher education.
  
  
• The process increases autonomy and self-directed improvement as a life-long skill.

Once the process gets going, teachers will find their grading time dramatically cut and they will be able to spend that time giving more sustentative feedback with less focus on mechanical errors and sloppy proofreading.

Decades of educational research support the use of peer editing. Studies have shown that peer editing not only increases overall fluency more than control groups which did not use the technique but it’s been linked to improved reading comprehension as well.

Remember, teachers should be coaches, not crutches. Doing the all the revision for your students isn’t helping them learn, it’s depriving them of half the process. Use peer editing. Send your students home tired and send yourself home sane.

This is a second post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com guide to Business School. She also writes about online degree programs for OnlineDegreePrograms.org.

Taking writing courses can help writing teachers become better writers, mentors, and readers. There are several free university level writing courses that can be taken online. Credit is not available for any of the courses and degrees are not awarded, but the opportunity to build new skills is undeniable. Here are 10 self-paced writing courses to explore in your spare time.

Creative Writing Course - The University of Utah's Department of English offers a creative writing course that covers fiction, poetry, playwriting, and creative non-fiction. The course is designed to provide general information about creative writing and improve writing skills.

Short Fiction Course - This short fiction course consists of pre-recorded class content from a writing course at the College of DuPage. You will listent to readings of several pieces of short fiction (The Necklace, A Rose for Emily, The Rocking Horse Winner, and The Chrysanthemums) as well as discussion on each story to facilitate understanding of the short story form.

Poetry Course - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) provides a free course on reading and writing poetry. The course includes assignments, recorded poetry readings, and reading recommendations.

Advanced Writing Seminar - This post-graduate seminar, also from MIT, explores different types of writing. The course includes lecture notes, a full set of assignments, and videos of student presentations. From the course description: "The class is an opportunity to write, review, rewrite and present a point of view both orally and in written form. "

Prose Fiction Course - This Open University course focuses on different ways of approaching prose fiction. The course is designed to help students learn how to read and analyze writing at the university level.

Screenwriting Course - Author and screenwriter Steve Barnes provides a slightly modified version of the nine-week screenwriting course he used to teach at the University of California-Los Angeles. The course includes both instruction and assignments.

Literature in English - This course from the University of California-Berkeley surveys major works in Anglo-American literature and includes lectures on close reading. The course is available in audio form and includes 28 lectures.

Warwick Writing Challenges - The director of the University of Warwick Writing Programme guides writers through more than 20 creative writing challenges. Each challenge can be played online or downloaded as an mp3 file. These challenges are also great practice for writing students.

Writing Tools Workshop - News University offers this course to visitors who register for a free account. The course introduces 50 writing tools to diagnose story problems, improve story architecture, and refine the writing voice. This course is based on Roy Peter Clark's great book Writing Tools which can be purchased from Amazon and is highly recommended for any writer or writing teacher.

Text as Property - Available through Connexions, this Rice University course explores ownership, authorship, plagiarism, and associated topics. The course is split into three parts and can be downloaded as a PDF or zip file. As the course introduction asks, do you know when plagiarism is art and when it's a crime?

This guest post is contributed by Nancy Simmons, who also writes on the topic of online science degrees. She welcomes your comments at her email address:  nancy.simmons09@gmail.com

Writing on scientific subjects and topics is a little different from creative writing. You don’t really need to be adept at weaving words with skill. In fact, if you can pay attention to detail, if you are knowledgeable enough about the subject, and if you have the dedication for the job, you could easily learn to become a good science writer. Teaching someone to write for science involves training them in the three Cs – good science write-ups must be:

• Concise: You’re not writing 1000 word essays on any random topic; rather, you have the responsibility of stating the facts in a way that is clear and concise. Your writing has to be to the point and not include ramblings about your personal thoughts and opinions. Science is all about facts and there’s no room for romanticism or the abstract in science writing. If you’re asked to write about a rainbow, given a free hand, you would wax eloquent on its many colors and how it signified all that was good and beautiful about life. But a science writer has to strip off the rose-tinted glasses and reduce the colors of the rainbow to what they really are – the dispersal of the light spectrum under certain environmental and atmospheric conditions.
• Comprehensible: Any science writing course worth its salt will tell you that your writing must be easily understood, even by someone who knows just how to read. For science to reach the masses, it must be put in words and sentences that are simple, straightforward and not complicated. Restrict the use of bombastic words and expressions and stick to when is comprehensive and easily understandable.
• Correct: And most important of all, science writing must be factually correct. Although all forms of writing must be grammatically correct to be aesthetically pleasing to the senses, when it comes to science writing, the biggest mistake you could make is to get your facts wrong. When you mix up your facts and make errors, your writing is worthless, because science is all about accuracy and preciseness.

Teaching a science writing course involves instilling these characteristics in your students’ writing. If they can crack the three Cs, they’re well on their way to becoming good science writers. 

Using Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing to Promote Independent Application

By Karren Colbert

Karren Colbert has a decade of teaching experience, both in and out of the classroom. She's been a fourth grade teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and most recently started Write Brained Learning, an educational consulting company. She also blogs at The Write Brained Teacher. (www.writebrainedteacher.blogspot.com) She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Curriculum and Instruction degree, also from the University of Missouri.  In 2005, Karren was recognized as the University of Missouri Alumni Association’s Outstanding Young Professional.

"It feels like spoonfeeding," was the complaint of one teacher as we met to discuss her students' writing progress.  Her second graders had progressed tremendously since the last time we met, yet she was reluctant to celebrate and discouraged by the high level of support they required along the way.

Little did this teacher know that I was in the midst of spoonfeeding my youngest daughter and suffice it to say, it was not going well.  I thought about her comparison.  Spoonfeeding was a perfect metaphor for good instruction.  Just as no two classrooms are the same, so too were my experiences with spoonfeeding.  Natalie, my older daughter, eager for independence, could hardly wait to take matters into her own hands.  Emily, well let's just say that there were moments when I wondered if she would ever feed herself. 

"Is that such a bad thing?" I asked the teacher.

The problem, the teacher explained, was that most of her students had written their piece using complete sentences.  Since this had been the topic of our previous conversation, I was anxious to hear more.  She reflected that the strategies she had put in place were working well.  So far, so good, I thought.  I wasn't sure why this teacher was so disappointed.  Her students were successful as a direct result of her instructional changes.

"It just took so much time and I feel like they should be able to do it without so much help," was her reply.

And what could I say?  She was right, good teaching takes time and this can be frustrating.  As much as I wanted Emily to hold that spoon on her own, she couldn't.  But she did teach me that we have to meet learners where they are if we want to move them, step by step, toward independence.  We can't know when they will finally try to hold the spoon for themselves.  All we can do is follow their cues so that we know when it's time to let them try.  And when this happens, we should expect carrots to end up on the floor, ceiling, and everywhere in between.  If you like things nice and tidy, as I do, there's comfort in the fact that there is learning in the mess.

The gradual progression toward independence, with decreasing levels of teacher support, has a name.  The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model, first developed by Pearson & Gallagher (1993), is a research based instructional model that outlines the process necessary to promote independent application of a skill.  The teacher gradually decreases his or her support as students' demonstrate success.  If necessary, the teacher increases the level of support when students are struggling.

For some reason, writing is seems to be an area where we sometimes abandon the Gradual Release Model.  In my experiences, writing instruction often consists of a quick mini-lesson, followed by time to write independently, in hopes that students apply the learning to their own piece of writing.  This is a bit like showing a baby how to use a spoon, explaining why we use spoons, and then letting them fend for themselves.  We need all students to notice and practice what good writers do.  It is not enough to help them notice a craft or trait and send them back to their seats, hoping they will try it.

If we want to ensure that students begin to apply new crafts and skills, we can apply the Gradual Release Model to our writing instruction with the Notice It, Practice It, Try It framework.  We begin in the Notice It phase by helping students identify the qualities of effective writing.  The 6+1 Traits define what good writers do, but research tells us that our feedback is most useful it's focused on a particular skill. So when we Notice It, we pick one specific skill or craft and use mentor texts to help students identify how a writer does, or does not, effectively use the skill.

The next stage, Practice It, combines Guided Instruction and Collaborative Practice steps of the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model.  During this phase, the teacher utilizes the strategies of Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing.  Let me first define what I mean by these terms, since they mean different things to different people and are sometimes used interchangeably.  We'll define Shared Writing as a class working together, with the guidance of the teacher, to create or revise a piece of writing.  Shared Writing encourages risk taking, provides students with feedback, and allows teachers to evaluate students' readiness for collaborative practice.  Based on student interactions, the teacher can confidently decide who is ready to move on, as well as which students would benefit from additional guided practice.  The next step, Collaborative Writing, is when students work in groups or pairs to practice the skill.  Together, Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing comprise the Practice It phase of our instructional framework for writing.

The final state, Try It, has students performing the skill on their own; often editing a piece that they have previously written.

The follow writing lesson provides an example of the Notice It, Practice It, Try It instructional framework.

Skill Focus: Using Specific Nouns (Word Choice Trait)

The purpose of this skill focus is to have students use specific nouns instead of more general ones. For example you would write, "I ate a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich" instead of, "I ate lunch."

Notice It (Mentor Text)

Students will analyze two writing samples using Word Choice Trait criteria to determine what each writer does effectively or ineffectively.  The proficient writing sample, 'A&W', demonstrates the writers' ability to use specific and precise nouns.  The other example, 'My Trip to Colorado', contains general nouns.  Both samples were written by students, but not the same students who will analyze them.  Students will work in pairs to revise 'My Trip to Colorado' in the Practice It step.

Practice It (Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing)

Shared Writing: The class has been working on a descriptive piece about their field trip to the Nature Center where they built bird houses.  They've created a complete draft and are now in the revising stage.  Together they will choose at least three nouns to replace with more specific nouns.  For example, they might replace tools with hammer and nails. 

Collaborative Writing: Students will work in pairs to revise a piece of writing by replacing at least three general nouns.  If necessary, the teacher will meet with a small group of students during this time to provide additional support and practice with the activity, but he or she may also move about the room and provide feedback to collaborative groups. 

Try It (Independent Application)

Students will revise their own piece of writing by replacing at least three general nouns with more specific nouns.

Why Collaborative Writing?

Sometimes we tend to think that older students don't need Shared or Collaborative Writing, but this couldn't be further from the truth.  In fact, I use Shared Writing and Collaborative Writing with learners of all ages, including teachers.  Time after time, teachers tell me how much fun it was writing collaboratively with their peers.   Not only does it make the learning more fun, but the end product is better. 

If we can provide our writers the same positive experiences and small successes, it won't be long before teachers hear the phrase, currently popular in our home, "I can do it myself!"

Resources:

1. Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey (www.fisherandfrey.com) are recognized as experts on The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model. 
2. The Writing Fix www.writingfix.com This site, sponsored by the Northwest Regional Educational Library, is a great place to find information about trait writing, mentor texts, and lesson ideas. 
3. At www.thetraits.org, also by Northwest Regional Educational Library, you'll find writing samples to use as Mentor Texts with students.

The Providence Journal (Rhode Island) reports of a school wide program that uses writing to improve student achievement levels in science, math, social studies, and the arts.

Students at Mt. Hope High School scored especially poorly on free response questions on standardized tests, resulting in only 19% reaching proficient or above.

School leaders worked with teachers to create cross discipline writing assignments for HS Sophomores. Included in the work was for teachers to assess how well other teachers were grading the student assignments. Teachers commented that this was some of the best professional development they had ever received.

In less than one year, the school showed a gain from 19% proficient to 27%. While still not where they want it, teachers are hopeful that another year will show even larger gains.