Office Hours: Grading Papers – What, Why, and How Do We Do It?

Grading a paper can feel as daunting for the teacher as writing it in the first place was for the student. What should be our goal in evaluating student work? By what standards do we grade, and how do we help our young writers improve without discouraging them? Is grading even helpful for our students, or a necessary claim on our time? We’ll be spending this hour discussing an evergreen teaching conundrum.