Grading Reflection

Grading papers felt like a huge responsibility. I was faced with the question of “who am I to give these kids these grades?” Then I realized that I was the teacher and these kids were depending on these grades to tell them what kind of progress they had made and what they needed to work on. I graded the first four and then asked my self what it was that I was doing to determine the grades I was administering. I decided to take the “Six Trait Writing Scale” and give a score on each, then add them up, divide by six, and that was their score. If it was anything below a 2.5 then I rounded down and a 2.5 or above was rounded up. I came to like this way of grading as I didn’t feel restricted at all.

I was scared that I was grading to harshly at times but decided that if I was leaving comments along the way, then it wasn’t just a grade. It was a productive grading session that would enrich the students’ writing on the next paper they would write. If there’s one thing I didn’t care for in school and even now is just getting a grade on a paper. I require feedback on my papers, as to builds my confidence and lets me know that what I

I felt restricted in my grading. I graded the paper as if the student hadn’t plagiarized. When I was done, I went to paperrater.com and ran the paper through the plagiarism checker. It came back with hefty plagiarism. I wanted to give the student a zero, but according to the “Six Trait Writing Scale” he/she had done well in the areas that it covered. To be honest I graded it the night before and then the next morning read it another two times trying to convince myself that I could only go by the “Six Trait Writing Scale”. Upon finding out that the paper was plagiarized I felt betrayed. Someone had a wrote a paper that I was to grade but used other’s work to do so. I would much rather have a student tell me they need help or that they needed an extension on a paper, than to get a paper that is not their