Out With Red?
Posted by Diane Badden on 08 Oct 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Management, Inspiration and Motivation, Teachers and Teaching
This past summer I gathered a few teaching supplies for my friend, Beth, who was returning to teaching in the fall. Beth expected (and received) assorted publications from The Mailbox® Books. What she didn’t expect was a jumbo pack of fine-tipped markers. The pack included a marker for every color of the rainbow, plus plenty of other pretty colors. I was extremely excited about the markers. Beth, on the other hand, was puzzled by why I had chosen fine tips. When I explained that the markers were for grading papers, all she said was something like, “Oh.” After a bit of random chatter, I realized that Beth was planning to use red ink to grade her students’ work. I know it’s a weird thing, but I never used red ink when grading student papers. To me, red ink shouts, “You are wrong!” Other colors seem less judgmental and harsh. Anyway, before I left that afternoon, I teased Beth by chanting, “Out with red; use pink instead!” She laughed, called me her kooky friend, and told me to go home.
This past weekend I heard from Beth for the first time since school started. As you can imagine, she’s feeling quite overwhelmed. At the same time, she is happy to be teaching again. And, by the way, she wanted to let me know that during October she’s using orange and purple markers to grade her students’ papers!
So now I’m curious. Do you prefer to use red ink for grading papers, or do you enjoy using a variety of colors? Do you think one approach has advantages over the other? Please share!
Happy October!
Diane
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31 Responses to “Out With Red?”
More Comments Pages: « 1 [2] 3 » Show All Comments
More Comments Pages: « 1 [2] 3 » Show All Comments
I love grading with different colors. However, I rarely use red. I tend to more often use my favorite colors. I use the Paper Mate Flair pens, gel pens, and other pen types to grade papers.
I use different colors. Love the idea of using smelly markers
I love sharpie markers–I like to buy a colorful pack and use all the colors:) I also use a lot of highlighters since I teach kindergarten. I use a lot of stickers. I love the idea about using the gel pens and especially the smelly markers. The teacher that I teamed with was really against using red so I just got in the habit of being colorful when grading:)
I NEVER use red. I like gel pens and fine-tipped markers to check papers. I think kids like to see different colors on their papers.
We love all the colors!
I use Mr. Sketch smelly markers for my kindergarteners! They love it!
I always use a variety of colors and match them to the theme or season that we are discussing. The kids get a big laugh when I use a crazy blue or purple and than try to guess what to call the color. I love gel pens and cannot get enough of them. My son has a set with 100 but will not share!
I usually use a pen or sometimes a red pencil crayon to check off right answers and then stick a special sticker on the top of the paper by the student’s name. I grade the paper accordingly by using stickers that say “good job” , “great”, “super”, ‘way to go”, or “A+”. Every week we have worksheets to go with each different theme, so I try to get stickers that have to do with whatever we are talking about that week. The kids love to compare stickers and try to work harder to get a better or bigger one next time.
When I taught 4th grade I used purple mostly. Purple is a favorite color and the kids soon learned that.
Red was used only for editing an essay, the kids all had one red pen for peer editing. I tried to lessen the impact of the “red” marks, not wrong but could be improved.
It’s fun to use colors that are associated with the months, i.e.,orange, rust for Oct. and Nov.; green for March, pink,red,purple for Feb.and Easter, etc.
I like to use olors that correspond to the season! I do use red….but it’s usually December or February when I do!
I use a variety of the glitter gel pens. I do feel all of the marks on the paper still can send the message about how poorly a student did, but at least they won’t have a stigma about a certain color.