Earlier this month I had the opportunity to present a poster about Error and Reflection Logs at the CATESOL Orange County Chapter workshop where Dana Ferris shared very helpful advice on giving effective feedback to multilingual writers on both form and content. Dr. Ferris’ published books and articles have influenced the way that I give feedback in my own writing classes and informed my development of these Error and Reflection Logs.
I’m sure I’m not the only writing teacher who wonders whether students actually read his or her feedback and feels frustration over certain students making the same errors essay after essay. As such, Error and Reflection Logs are a great way to put those coded errors back to work!
The first step is to mark student assignments using error codes. I always mark the final draft, though occasionally the second draft as well. If I think that a student will not be able to correct a certain error on his or her own, I’ll include the correction. My Error Correction Codes chart can be downloaded at the end of this post.
I’m sure I’m not the only writing teacher who wonders whether students actually read his or her feedback and feels frustration over certain students making the same errors essay after essay. As such, Error and Reflection Logs are a great way to put those coded errors back to work!
The first step is to mark student assignments using error codes. I always mark the final draft, though occasionally the second draft as well. If I think that a student will not be able to correct a certain error on his or her own, I’ll include the correction. My Error Correction Codes chart can be downloaded at the end of this post.
Side note: At the workshop, Dr. Ferris recommended that we not overwhelm our students nor ourselves by addressing every student error, which is something I am definitely guilty of!
After the final draft has been graded and returned, students then begin the Error and Reflection Log assignment by categorizing and correcting each coded error. This is an ongoing log which students will add to after each essay in the term, writing a new reflection after each round. Categorizing the errors enables each student to notice which types of errors are recurring. Having students write reflections on what they have learned requires them to specifically identify their own recurrent errors, and I hope, will help them to self-correct in the future.
After the final draft has been graded and returned, students then begin the Error and Reflection Log assignment by categorizing and correcting each coded error. This is an ongoing log which students will add to after each essay in the term, writing a new reflection after each round. Categorizing the errors enables each student to notice which types of errors are recurring. Having students write reflections on what they have learned requires them to specifically identify their own recurrent errors, and I hope, will help them to self-correct in the future.
DOWNLOADS
Below is my poster in two versions. The content is the same.
Below is my poster in two versions. The content is the same.
My poster as an 11x17" sheet:
| My poster re-formatted as two 8.5x11" letter-sized pages for easy printing:
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Here is the handout I give to my students to introduce the Error and Reflection Log assignment. It contains my Error Correction Codes chart as well as instructions and examples for completing the logs and reflections.
student_handout_error_codes_w_example_error_and_reflection_log.pdf |
Students can compile their logs either electronically or by hand. The benefit of doing it electronically is that students can re-arrange their entries so that errors of the same kind are together.
Blank log to be completed electronically:
| Blank log to be completed by hand:
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Please feel free to comment below. I would love to hear feedback on your experience!