Reflection on Scholarly Article
| As my forum, I chose the Illinois English Bulletin, which is a publication meant for English teachers of all levels in the State of Illinois. In writing about the issues surrounding the grading of writing, I hoped to raise their awareness of the harm that grading can do to developing writers. I began with some background on the issue by summarizing other articles on the subject, just to let these teachers know that I am not alone in my feelings and to give them sources that they could investigate if they so chose. I also included stories from my own teaching experience to improve my credibility with them. I didn't want the high school teachers to think that I had never taught in realistic teaching situations, and I wanted to show them that not grading writing can work in high school situations, as it did for me. I ended with some provocative questions, meant to spur these teachers' thinking on the issue and to encourage them to try not grading in their own classes. I feel it's important that teachers keep improving their teaching, and sometimes experimentation is the only way to do that. |