Please, no red ink when grading papers. The little darlings find it stressful.
An Associated Press dispatch from Washington D.C. reports that teachers in some districts have been ordered to stop grading papers in red ink. Red is not a relaxing color.
This makes Sue Metzger, a columnist and school teacher who uses a lot of red ink, see red. Metzger notes that this is just the latest fad in education:
“When my daughter’s teacher tired of the chaos and bucked the trend by requiring the students to align their desks in the old-style grid, she was fired. The silent majority, who patiently endured the attempt at change as silent majorities often do, finally rose to her defense. She was reinstated by public demand.
“Occasionally, the move to do away with letter grades returns. No more A, B, C, D and F. No grades means no distinction between those who are successfully doing the work and those who are not. Good students are expected to ’dumb down,’ and poor students are not burdened with hurt feelings. Everyone is average.”
Where red was once used, purple (“popular”) and blue (“blissful”) are now acceptable. But Metzger intends to continue to use red ink:
“A bad grade written in purple ink is not kinder and gentler. A good grade written in green is not warmer and fuzzier. Colors are not the problem.
“I use a lot of red ink. Early in the semester, essays often ’bleed’ from the editing-style grading I employ. The students’ goal is to improve their writing and their grade, and even color-blind students can gauge this visually. The typical student boasts achievement with the comment, ’Wow! This paper has less red ink.’
“’The color is everything? I think not. The color is nothing.
“It is not the ink that matters; it is the quality of the teacher.”
Tell that to the National Education Association.