I'm noticing that when I'm grading some writing pieces from my students, I tend to mark them progressively harder. When I see an error on the first one, I'm usually more lenient than when I see the same error repeatedly -it starts to aggravate me and I mark the latter papers harder! With this realization I am taking the time to group all my level ones, twos, threes and fours at the end of the marking session and comparing the results within each level. This gives me the opportunity to reevaluate my assessments more objectively before I return them to the students.
The key is not to have so much marking or so little time that my level of tolerance of repeated errors skews the results!
When I did my TESL Ontario training at U of T, I was told to read student submissions without a pencil or pen in my hand. As I read, I was to sort papers based on exemplars and success criteria I had decided upon prior to collecting the assignments. My professor said that this would help with the frustration and tendency to grade progressively harsher.
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