I hate comment-writing.
Every six weeks to three months, I have to write around 50 expository essays on what each of my students has done in the last trimester. I hated writing them at my old school, and I hate writing them now. You’d think after so many years, I’d be better at writing them, but the truth is, I still suck at them.
It’s not true, of course, that I’d rather pluck out my eyes with a spoon than continue working on these. But I like to pretend that it is.
Andrew- I do not like writing them either but I’ve gotten a good system in place now. For each student, I jot a few notes down with each assessemnt… what they did well, what they struggled with, and where have shown improvement. Then when it comes time to write the comment, I give an overall summary of the marking period, include a few areas that the kids need to work on and then end with the areas they have shown improvement. I also put a sentence or two about class participation and preparation. It’s been going a lot better since I started taking the little notes throughout the quarter.