I finished today’s final essays. I am so glad I decided to let the class do the exam at home and bring in the paper, instead of writing it in class. It means I don’t have to read atrocious handwriting. I like that.
I have decided that I don’t like letter grades. I like number grades. It seems vitally unfair that a 79.8 gets the same grade as an 89.4. We don’t have pluses and minuses in our grades, obviously.
I allow my students to rewrite their papers. I want to teach them to write, not just give them a grade. It means that I have a lot of grading to do, though, because instead of the required four papers for this class, I end up grading seven. Seven per person. I don’t get paid for grading. I only get paid for time in class. But the time/pay issue isn’t as important to me as the possibility that my students will actually understand what they are supposed to be writing.