I'm grading some papers, and so far, they're really poor.
We did a preparatory assignment (reading and discussion together), and these papers are the next step in the way to a longer, semester-capping assignment. That, at least, means there's time for students to learn from this set.
But, damn. The level of vacuity is high. There are all these empty words. It's like reading a political speech, except they're supposed to be writing about something they've written.
I find responding to poor quality papers really hard. But I need to respond well, because they'll have a very similar assignment as the next step, and I want them to really improve. And if they improve there, then I'll have some hope for the final assignment.
Until then, though, I want to scream.
Responding positively to poorly written work takes hours longer and I can't do it without a break after every 2-3 papers. Good luck. It's a tough job.
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