Hi everyone:

Every semester, I offer free feedback to students. They can come into my office and sit down with a hard copy of their assignment and I will look at it, prior to the day it is due.

I will mark it up for format, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and quality. They can then take the paper back and fix it before submission.

Amazingly enough, most students don’t use this wonderful feature of my classes. To me, this is tantamount to ignoring your spell check or grammar check on your computer. Who needs those pesky little underlines, anyway? Right?

Yes, this is humble pie time. Yes, my comments can make your paper look like it is hemorrhaging. But, if you take my advice, you can make a HUGE difference in the grade you will receive AND you can learn something that will make your future grades better in every writing-intensive class you take.

What do you have to lose? This past week, my classes had papers to turn in. Out of those classes, how many students came into my office to chat about their essays? Three. From my online classes, how many students posted a rough draft for me to look over? Half the class. (This class has mandatory rough drafts and half the class still didn’t so it. Amazing.)

So, your take-away for today is this: If you are offered free feedback, take it. When you get it, take it to heart.

Best,

Dr. Sheri