Overview:
This teacher introduces a debate-based “Friday Seminar” to deepen student engagement and a “Focus Method” to grade essays faster by skimming key ideas.
Using my background as an American History Teacher, I developed an interesting method for teaching high school students’ history, as well as creating a new method for teachers to grade their assigned essays. My goal in writing this is to show how using these methods can make history more interesting for the students as well as saving a significant amount of time on essay reviews and grading for teachers.
The Friday Seminar to Teach History
To make history more interesting, I developed what I call the “Friday Seminar.” A topic is assigned on Monday which corresponds to the period we are studying. Each student is given an article to read and then had to write an essay about the topic. This is to be a graded paper that is limited to no more than two pages typed. Seminar topics would sometimes be about a current event or a controversial issue such as mail-in voting, gun control, the death penalty, gerrymandering, etc.
As an example, we were studying the 1920’s which included the Red Scare that saw many Italian immigrants being accused of espionage or anarchism. Some were anarchists and some were not. Many were arrested and deported without a trial or due process. The most famous case was that of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The two men were known anarchists and they were arrested and convicted of murdering a shoe factory paymaster in 1920. They were executed in 1927. This case was controversial and earned nationwide attention. Many argued for conviction and many argued for acquittal.
On Monday, half of the class was given a convincing article arguing that the two men were guilty. The other half of the class was given a convincing article depicting the men innocent. The students were asked to write an essay supporting the article they were given. When the students returned to class on Friday, they turned in their essays. Then with chairs arranged in a circle, the debate began with each side trying to convince the other side …..guilty or Innocent. At the end of the class, students voted….guilty or innocent.
Another example I used was “gerrymandering.” Students were given a two-page article explaining what gerrymandering is, how both political parties use it, and how it affects electing members of the House of Representatives. The two-page essay assigned asked the students if they thought gerrymandering is fair and why it exists? The Friday seminar is a discussion.
The purpose of the seminar is twofold:
- To make learning more fun and interesting.
- To develop critical thinking in the learning process.
Reviewing and Grading Essays
Having five classes of 25+ students and reviewing and grading approximately 130 two-page essays weekly was a difficult task. This led me to develop a better, more efficient way to grade student essays. I realized that I could not grade all of these essays every week and keep my sanity. Most teachers read each essay word for word. This is very time-consuming, and I have to admit I would sometimes lose concentration. However, it does have the advantage of including punctuation, spelling, and grammar, something I was not interested in doing.
Over time, I developed a better way of grading essays that I call the “Focus Method.” Instead of looking at each line, I focus on each paragraph. If a paragraph is long, I divide it into two. I am able to see important words and phrases and by the time I finish, I have a clear understanding and concept of the essay. I can also tell if the student has a good understanding of the argument in the assignment and has made a good effort in writing the essay. The focus method takes between 50% and 60% less time than reading word-for-word.
Learning to use the Focus method
First, open a non-fiction book to the beginning of any chapter. You are going to read the first two pages focusing on each paragraph and key words in each paragraph.
Second, have a partner read the same two pages word for word. After both of you are finished, explain what you learned to your partner. Then the partner will ask you a few questions about the content of the two pages. Together, you can evaluate how you did.
Third, when the first two are completed, explain what you learned to your partner.
Fourth, have your partner ask you a few questions about the content of the two pages.
Fifth, together, evaluate how you did.
Understand that the focus method takes a little practice. But you will soon find that it is easy and you are able to read and understand each essay well enough to give an honest grade. And, you will save between 50% to 60% of the time it takes to read and grade student essays.
