I am sick of having to type out the same comments on my students papers. Does anyone know of a free program or add on that will help me leave comments about content, grammar, etc on students papers?
It's called MS Word. You can create macros to insert text, or you can do it the "old-fashioned" way. Create a document with canned comments (one comment per paragraph) and leave it open while you grade. When you come to a place where you want to add a canned comment, hit Alt+Tab to open the comment page. Double-click on the relevant paragraph, hit Ctrl+C, hit Alt+Tab, and hit Ctrl+V. Bingo.
I abbreviate frequently used comments and give the students a key to the abbreviations. "HDYKT" means "How do you know that?" The little backwards "P" with two stems means "paragraph." Etc.
Actually, MS Word has an "AutoCorrect" feature where you can enter text you want to insert. (It is what already automatically changes "teh" to "the".)
I have a list of (much too) frequently used comments, cataloged by simple "quick-codes" like "rev-caps" inserts a comment about only capitalizing proper names and titles, "apa-mla" inserts "MLA calls this page Works Cited. APA uses References", etc., etc.
As the codes are automatically alphabetized, I also lead every comment code with the accent symbol (upper left hand corner of the keyboard). That way all of my comments are grouped together in the AutoCorrect library.
In Word 2010, just click on the File button, then Options, then Proofing.
These MS Word tricks are pretty cool but I'm old fashioned. I like using graduate students. They show up during the summer and tumble out of a crate. We hose them down and let them stumble around in the warm sunshine for a day or so to get their legs under them. After that, it's down to the Lab Report Mines of Moria.
@ Aware -- That's quite the idea! I know how to manipulate auto-correct, but I hadn't thought about customizing it to insert comments. Thanks for the tip.
@Tired Finding ways to make your time more effective isn't being a profflake. Asking people to tell you the short-cuts rather than doing a bit of searching yourself first for technological solutions is another matter...
I once had a group of flakes whose assignments where identical down to the smallest detail. I graded one and told the other flakes to see the graded assignment of flake X for their grade and comments. I also told them to staple all the assignments together in the future so I wouldn't have to sort them out. They complied and all failed the exams and course except the one who was actually working and learning.
TurnItIn.com allows you to create a library of comments that you can apply to any paper, but that's only really helpful if your institution uses it (mine does, thank god).
@Tired: Girding my loins makes my carpal tunnel syndrome flare up.
So does writing lots of comments on student papers.
Since so many of the papers make the same errors, I use rubber stamps too (like Alan). A local office supply place made mine. One I use a lot has short checklist:
Uh-oh.
ReplyDeleteProflake pinata...
Three, two, one...
It's called MS Word. You can create macros to insert text, or you can do it the "old-fashioned" way. Create a document with canned comments (one comment per paragraph) and leave it open while you grade. When you come to a place where you want to add a canned comment, hit Alt+Tab to open the comment page. Double-click on the relevant paragraph, hit Ctrl+C, hit Alt+Tab, and hit Ctrl+V. Bingo.
ReplyDeleteActually a student of mine wrote just such a program. But how do I get it to you?
ReplyDeleteI abbreviate frequently used comments and give the students a key to the abbreviations. "HDYKT" means "How do you know that?" The little backwards "P" with two stems means "paragraph." Etc.
ReplyDelete@Dr. M
ReplyDeleteActually, MS Word has an "AutoCorrect" feature where you can enter text you want to insert.
(It is what already automatically changes "teh" to "the".)
I have a list of (much too) frequently used comments, cataloged by simple "quick-codes" like "rev-caps" inserts a comment about only capitalizing proper names and titles, "apa-mla" inserts "MLA calls this page Works Cited. APA uses References", etc., etc.
As the codes are automatically alphabetized, I also lead every comment code with the accent symbol (upper left hand corner of the keyboard). That way all of my comments are grouped together in the AutoCorrect library.
In Word 2010, just click on the File button, then Options, then Proofing.
Rubber stamps work great.
ReplyDeletehttp://readingwritingandrubberstamps.com/Your%20Paper%20Needs%20Rubber%20Stamp
Keep one finger on the shift key and one on the slash button. Rinse and repeat.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThese MS Word tricks are pretty cool but I'm old fashioned. I like using graduate students. They show up during the summer and tumble out of a crate. We hose them down and let them stumble around in the warm sunshine for a day or so to get their legs under them. After that, it's down to the Lab Report Mines of Moria.
ReplyDeleteFML,
ReplyDeleteSorry teaching well is so hard. You truly are a precious profflake.
Why not gird your loins a bit and try harder instead of trying to find TRICKS to make your job easier?
@ Aware -- That's quite the idea! I know how to manipulate auto-correct, but I hadn't thought about customizing it to insert comments. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDelete@Tired
ReplyDeleteFinding ways to make your time more effective isn't being a profflake. Asking people to tell you the short-cuts rather than doing a bit of searching yourself first for technological solutions is another matter...
I once had a group of flakes whose assignments where identical down to the smallest detail. I graded one and told the other flakes to see the graded assignment of flake X for their grade and comments. I also told them to staple all the assignments together in the future so I wouldn't have to sort them out. They complied and all failed the exams and course except the one who was actually working and learning.
ReplyDeleteTurnItIn.com allows you to create a library of comments that you can apply to any paper, but that's only really helpful if your institution uses it (mine does, thank god).
ReplyDelete@Tired: Girding my loins makes my carpal tunnel syndrome flare up.
ReplyDeleteSo does writing lots of comments on student papers.
Since so many of the papers make the same errors, I use rubber stamps too (like Alan). A local office supply place made mine. One I use a lot has short checklist:
Watch:
[] spelling
[] pronoun agreement
[] subj/verb agreemt
[] citations (MLA)
There's also one I use on many homework assignments and problem sets:
Reread the assignment.
And then there's my favorite, which I get to use all too rarely:
Great improvement!