We writing teachers do love our red pens! However, we also usually write like doctors and use mystic codes to tell students about their errors. Warnock’s Chapter 11, “Response: Give Lots of Feedback without Burning Out,” provides hints so that teachers may avoid draining all those pricey pens and also give students legible, manageable feedback that does not require a decoder ring.
Warnock begins the chapter with the acknowledgement that the transition to typed feedback is awkward at first. He then hands readers several options, including the use of macros, rubric generators, voice comments, and even audiovisual comments. He warns of the temptation to “rubber stamp” grades and implies that students can sniff out an insincere or canned remark like a gang of foxhounds. I had never heard of macros, Warnock’s suggestion for saving keystrokes, but I felt pretty confident while reading the chapters because I frequently type the feedback to my f2f students. One reason I took up this method is because students can no longer read cursive handwriting, so my students often looked like they were trying to decipher hieroglyphics when they were reading my comments. So many students came up to me to ask, “What does this say?”, that I just decided to type to make it easier on them and me (mostly me). Also, I quickly discovered that I gave better, more detailed feedback when I typed, plus I could cut and paste generic comments about writing to save time, which Warnock also mentions as an option. My students were so impressed with me that I decided to deliver feedback this way more often. Besides, it’s not often that we teachers can impress our students these days! Typing feedback also gave me a chance to be more personal. For example, I use the letter-style feedback Warnock discusses, in which I state the student’s first name. I then begin with what he/she did well and progress to areas of improvement with a statement such as, “Please allow me to provide you with some feedback that can further improve your writing.” Boy, doesn’t that just sound fancy and professional? Well, it certainly is better than scribbling a mark transposed over the grease stain just to cover up the fact that I was eating a pork chop while reading the essay. Now, I can eat my pork chop AND grade, with no one the wiser. 
Warnock’s Chapter 11 also focuses on just how much response online writing instructors should give their students. His basic idea is this: provide frequent feedback at first and taper it off as the semester progresses and as students get to know the teacher and each other. However, always respond to emails, direct questions, and introductions. Such responses let students know that the teacher cares and is actively engaged with the course material, as well. Students tend to perform better, I believe, when they feel their instructors are carefully monitoring their progress and reading their work regularly. However, Warnock is quite convincing that teachers can overdo it, and I could see myself being one of those teachers. If I ever teach online, I must revisit this book to recall some words of wisdom so that I do not overtake my students’ responses and become “Queen of the Discussion Board.”
Warnock’s Chapter 12 closely relates to Chapter 11. in Chapter 12, “Grading: Should It Change When You Teach Online,” he revisits several previous ideas, which I found to be redundant and irritating. For example, he spends significant time speaking about quizzes, which he already covered in an earlier chapter. He also reiterates that discussion boards and other informal writing assignments should count more in an online course–again, I felt this information was thoroughly covered by previous chapters. However, he did get a bit more specific about how he would count what. For instance, Warnock asserts that informal writing should count around 35% of the overall course grade. Again with the redundancy, he argues that students learn more when they have more opportunity to engage in low-stakes writing assignments. I agree with the frequent and less formal writing as a way to further comfort levels with the overall writing process.
Until next time, I solemnly swear to use only colored ink pens that are NOT red and to type comments that my students can actually read. I’ll save my hieroglyphics for my to-do list, since I never get around to it anyway.
the reading and writing teacher 