As an 11th grade English teacher, one of my biggest passions was teaching writing skills. I wanted them to learn to be autonomous, strong, and able writers.
But without fail, many times – I would dive into a stack of assignments, and immediately get stuck on that first paper.
I knew what I was grading was not my student’s best work. I’d try my best to get into grading the crux of their writer’s craft, but would inevitably get hung up on thoughtless errors they’d made, not quite sure which parts needed feedback, and which mistakes that student was already aware of. Every once in a while, out of frustration, I’d write “see me” next to their score at the top of the page.
LOL pic.twitter.com/8IzkIwtarf
— WeAreTeachers (@WeAreTeachers) October 13, 2019
I wanted the best for the kids in my classroom. Yet I quickly learned that sometimes, many of my students, regardless of their proficiency level, lacked the discipline necessary to turn in their best work. I wish I’d had access to Essay Scorer when I was teaching, as this would have been exceptionally beneficial not only to my students, but also to me!
I could have saved so much time by using a tool like this.
Essay Scorer, which comes with many of Savvas’ literacy programs, will automatically score your students’ writing (grades 3-12), offering them immediate feedback on their work while guiding them through the writing process. Essay Scorer steps in and grades multiple drafts for you, so you can spend your time where it counts—assessing the best version of writing your students are able to produce.
If a teacher were using myPerspectives in the classroom, they’d simply assign a writing prompt like the one shown below:
Then, the teacher could let Essay Scorer take over as students wrote inside the text box, and then clicked “Get Feedback” or “Update Feedback” as they continued working through the drafting process. Perhaps the teacher tells them they want a screenshot of when their students’ work met the criteria (4’s across the board).
Or they could also differentiate and ask that certain students meet lower or higher thresholds based on their ability levels.
Once students have worked through their drafts, their Essay Scorer will look something like this:
If you are teaching with a program like myView or myPerspectives this year, make sure to utilize Essay Scorer- an incredible resource that will save you time and help your students become more proficient writers!
