By Eva Siminiceanu
Dr. Rouse hard at work.
On Monday, October 23, mid-semester comments from teachers were due. Students (and their parents) received their comments in their Progress Reports on Thursday, October 26. Every student takes a different approach to reading comments. Senior George Simonton (’24) says, “I only read my comments once,” and that he never looks at them thoroughly. On the other hand, Peyton Dunn (’24) says that he “reads them every time,” and Kate Nanavati (’25) says that she reads them because “if something’s bad, I need to know.” Regardless of the way students choose to read their comments, they will always be reading the product of considerable time and effort on the part of their teachers. The Match asked some teachers their thoughts on the process.
Dr. Linda Rouse, an Upper School English teacher, had 48 comments total to write this semester. She says that although comments are an “absolute chore to write,” she has “grown to appreciate them over time, because it gives me a strong sense of where each student is.”
Dr. Rouse has developed a strategy for writing comments: she makes a doc with all of the student names and collects essay comments and moments from class to best tailor each comment to the student. However, she still spends “every spare minute” writing comments in the week before they’re due, and she was glad to get them done early on Sunday evening this semester. As a former recipient of one of her comments, I can personally state that her work is always very thorough, and I appreciated how much effort she puts into writing them.
Hedgepeth and Schweickart.
Kat Melton, an Upper School physics teacher, is new to Collegiate this year, so this is her first semester writing comments. She had 68 comments to write, so, like Dr. Rouse, she started taking notes on each student three weeks before they were due. She thinks that comments are “a great opportunity to give feedback,” but she also said that it’s difficult to write about so many students in such a short period of time. She wanted to make sure that she did each student justice and hopes that she effectively communicated her thoughts to the students, advisors, and parents that read her comments.
Wesley Hedgepeth and Courtney Schweickart, who teach Upper School history, were also glad to have finished this semester’s comments. Hedgepeth said that while he’s glad they’re over with, they are “helpful reflection tools” for both teachers and students. Schweickart said that it’s fun to think about each individual student and what she knows about them, but it is a lot of work.
Svab in his classroom.
Upper School math department chair Karen Albright said that she likes to think about a piece of advice she once received: “If you can cover the name on a comment and know who it’s about, it’s a good comment.” She likes reflecting on how well she knows her students and their individual strengths and weaknesses. She says it takes a long time, but she understands that it is worthwhile.
On the other hand, Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab said that he thinks all comments should be written in emojis. I wonder what emojis he would choose for my comment?
All photos by Eva Siminiceanu.
Snapshot: Comments on Comments
By Eva Siminiceanu
Dr. Rouse hard at work.
On Monday, October 23, mid-semester comments from teachers were due. Students (and their parents) received their comments in their Progress Reports on Thursday, October 26. Every student takes a different approach to reading comments. Senior George Simonton (’24) says, “I only read my comments once,” and that he never looks at them thoroughly. On the other hand, Peyton Dunn (’24) says that he “reads them every time,” and Kate Nanavati (’25) says that she reads them because “if something’s bad, I need to know.” Regardless of the way students choose to read their comments, they will always be reading the product of considerable time and effort on the part of their teachers. The Match asked some teachers their thoughts on the process.
Dr. Linda Rouse, an Upper School English teacher, had 48 comments total to write this semester. She says that although comments are an “absolute chore to write,” she has “grown to appreciate them over time, because it gives me a strong sense of where each student is.”
Dr. Rouse has developed a strategy for writing comments: she makes a doc with all of the student names and collects essay comments and moments from class to best tailor each comment to the student. However, she still spends “every spare minute” writing comments in the week before they’re due, and she was glad to get them done early on Sunday evening this semester. As a former recipient of one of her comments, I can personally state that her work is always very thorough, and I appreciated how much effort she puts into writing them.
Hedgepeth and Schweickart.
Kat Melton, an Upper School physics teacher, is new to Collegiate this year, so this is her first semester writing comments. She had 68 comments to write, so, like Dr. Rouse, she started taking notes on each student three weeks before they were due. She thinks that comments are “a great opportunity to give feedback,” but she also said that it’s difficult to write about so many students in such a short period of time. She wanted to make sure that she did each student justice and hopes that she effectively communicated her thoughts to the students, advisors, and parents that read her comments.
Wesley Hedgepeth and Courtney Schweickart, who teach Upper School history, were also glad to have finished this semester’s comments. Hedgepeth said that while he’s glad they’re over with, they are “helpful reflection tools” for both teachers and students. Schweickart said that it’s fun to think about each individual student and what she knows about them, but it is a lot of work.
Svab in his classroom.
Upper School math department chair Karen Albright said that she likes to think about a piece of advice she once received: “If you can cover the name on a comment and know who it’s about, it’s a good comment.” She likes reflecting on how well she knows her students and their individual strengths and weaknesses. She says it takes a long time, but she understands that it is worthwhile.
On the other hand, Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab said that he thinks all comments should be written in emojis. I wonder what emojis he would choose for my comment?
All photos by Eva Siminiceanu.
About the author
Eva Siminiceanu is a member of the class of 2024.