Getting students to like us or our courses or their own writing isn't
unrelated to this. If we can like their work, and show that in our
evaluations of their work and in how we teach them to evaluate for
themselves, while at the same time being honest to acknowledge what we
see as weaknesses, then that goes a long way to towards them liking us,
the class, adn writing.
Grades get between the teacher and student when liking and evaluating are
the goal because grades carry extra-class, mono-cultural meaning and
wieght, a historical (for the students and teacher) and foreign
significance that is often at odds with what we want to say. Give a
ppaer a C- on the top and an encouraging comment on the bottom and see
what gets heard.
Nick Carbone, Writing Instructor
Marlboro College
Marlboro, VT 05344
nickc@marlboro.edu