Students respond better to feedback when it's depersonalized.
Personal: Your wording here is unclear
Impersonal: The wording here is unclear.
Personal: Your organization is confusing.
Impersonal: The organization is confusing.
Personal: You made the opposite claim in the previous paragraph.
Impersonal: The previous paragraph made the opposite claim.
I've found that this makes a massive difference, giving students the detachment they need to focus on their writing.
I think so much depends on context. It would be a mistake to use my examples as absolutes.
I find your approach works extremely well in one-on-one sessions. Having students teach me or "break it down" for me when there can be some give and take is a great way for them to discover ways to strengthen their arguments.
@yasha I think, like you, that the important thing is that their confidence about their ability to write is not destroyed, because then they just give up instead of using feedback to improve.
More and more if I can I'm about allowing rewrites if they want.
Yes! I get that rewrites are a hassle and that not every professor has the bandwidth to accommodate them. Nevertheless, writing is always a process. Our classes should reflect that process.
How many drafts do we go through before submitting our own work? Is it any wonder that students develop high anxiety over writing when they're expected to produce perfection right out of the gate?
Yasha Hartberg (he/him)
Siobhán McElduff