12,600 hours. 12,600 hours of grading student writing. That would be equivalent to working full-time, 52 weeks a year, for 6 years.
For this episode’s guest, the above was a calculation he worked out earlier in his career that would bring clarity to the pain he was putting himself through. In episode two of The Teaching ERWC Podcast, we hear from Matthew M. Johnson, an English Teacher from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is author of the book Flash Feedback: Responding to Student Writing Better and Faster–Without Burning Out.
When it comes to carrying the weight of the responsibility of assessing stacks of student writing, Matthew has walked the walk. He nearly left the profession due to the crushing expectations he had heaped on himself to get his students timely feedback in an effort to become better writers. In earnest, after year three, he did walk away from teaching for a number of years, expecting never to return. Eventually, he did made his way back, developing feedback practices that freed up his calendar and helped his students grow as writers.
As I have interacted with Matthew over the years on his blog and social media, putting into practice his sage advice, I have not only claimed back more time for myself, my students have received timelier feedback, that was more effective than ever, and has reached every student, improving the writing skills of all.
On April 20th, Matthew Johnson will delivering a webinar that dives deeper into this reality. Did I mention, the webinar is FREE? More details below.
- Find more information here: Registration Site for ERWC Webinar Series: Teaching for Change
- Sign up for the webinar here: ERWC Webinar Sign up
- View the recordings of past webinars here: ERWC Online Webinar Recordings
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