Do you spend too many Sunday nights with student essays in front of you and a glass of wine writing comments and grading? Does this happen on Monday night, Tuesday night, well – every night the weeks after students submit essays?
We have got to stop the madness! I remember taking home essays, writing amazing and thoughtful comments, debating over how many points the student earned, only to have the student look at their grade and shove their paper in their backpack. Or worse, throw it away.
Single Point Rubrics
When I started teaching AP Lang, I remember everyone warning me about the grading. But when I went to training that summer, I learned how to grade on a single point rubric. That’s right. No more complex rubrics. No more dithering over points. No more complex rubric charts. We practiced grading together using sample essays so that we could accurately grade students that year.
Single point rubrics distill all of the essay into a more general standard with a short 1 paragraph description. No more tallying points lost for grammar mistakes or MLA mistakes. The focus is on the quality of the writing overall.
A light bulb went off in my head that year – why couldn’t I do this with all my classes?
I quickly realized that a single-point for an entire essay just wasn’t enough – and last year the AP rubrics also changed. But why couldn’t I use a single point on a set of factors to show students where they were at?
Using the Standards
What would I use for my factors? My state standards of course!
I have graduated over the years to single point rubrics on a set of standards. I rate students on the scale of 1-4 for each area. These points also follow standards-based grading: Mastery (4), Proficient (3), Approaching Proficient (2), and Remedial (1). For each standard I have a statement describing a 3 – Proficient. If the student exceeded it, then they get a 4. If not, lower.
Grading Essay Tips Using Single Point Rubrics
- Stop writing on the essay – unless it is a compliment or to show where writing is not easily understood. You are not every student’s copy editor.
- Stop marking the grammar – read all about why HERE.
- Time yourself – I give myself 5 minutes. Honestly, if an essay takes longer than 5 minutes to grade (and it is just a 5 paragraph essay), then it needs work. You know this – why drag it out? I used to set my timer and if I got the essay read and the rubric marked in under 5 minutes, I gave myself an M&M.
- Use writing conferences in lieu of comments to help students understand how to improve. It will mean more and you can encourage as well as point out the things they need to work on. Seeing a paper marked up, doesn’t help students become better writers – it actually discourages them.
Why I will never go back?
My students’ writing improved! No really – it did. They focussed on the big things and less on commas. I found so many students had writing scars from past classes. By easing the weight of getting papers laden with marks and seeing that grammar was one line on a rubric instead of an entire score, they started writing and improving.
Writing Conferences helped students way more than my red pen ever did.
I finished grading faster. Feedback on essays was faster, which encouraged students to revise more.
And I never “rage graded.” You know – where you get to the point where you are exhausted by grading, frustrated by students making the same error that you have to correct that you need to give yourself a break – hence the glass of wine. Am I right? And consequently, I could get through more essays this way.
I have made all three of my main rubrics free – Click HERE and I’ll send them to you! You’ll get my Argument, Informational, and Narrative Rubrics which are aligned to standards and editable in Google Docs, so you can put in your specific requirements for each essay.
