It was a long weekend spent marking papers with my digital version of the red pen.
I actually preferred a pen on paper, but that seems to be long gone and now my comments and feedback are all contained within track changes and comment baloons.
Oddly enough, I think a red pen on a printed paper was less work. I put a lot more effort into the feedback I give to students when I do it digitally. I remember getting a paper back from some professors where there was little more than a letter grade or a percentage attached to it in red ink. I always wondered what I could have done better. I try to not do that to my students; they get a lot of feedback and background information to both help them write better papers and to better understand the material they were covering and how it fits contextually into the greater field of topic.
But it’s tiring when it’s a secondary job; it’s hard to find the time to give it the effort it deserves.
And that’s where my weekend went.
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