My professor friends might agree with me on this: the winter quarter blues are tough. Students can become sluggish, and I think that we can get that way, too. I'm on my third straight week without a day off now, and I'm sluggish and cranky. I'm really looking forward to getting some work done this weekend, though. I know that once I plow through about 45 student papers, I will feel much better.
Since about 1990, I've used audio feedback on student writing: I make MP3 files for each of them where I talk them through the strengths and weaknesses in their writing. It works well, and the best part on a day like today is that if is energizing for me. Writing comments on a pile of papers drives me straight to chocolate or Facebook or, worse yet, the couch. Audio is active: I imagine the student listening to me, so I have a little one-sided conversation with him or her, and that keeps me on task.
Having said that, I must admit that I'm still sitting here in my PJs. No matter what grading method you use, there's still the problem of getting started. For that, I'll rely on deadline pressure, just like my students do. I've promised them audio this weekend, so off I go!
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