There was a great tongue-in-cheek editorial in the Salt Lake City Desert Morning News. Apparently parents in Connecticut are asking teachers to use "softer colors" than red in their grading. So...red, being a "confrontational" color and all, should be banned, says the newspaper. They recommend substituting "teal" for "red." Instead of a "red" light, it would be "teal." We'd have "teal" alerts. Nathaniel Hawthorne would have written, "The Teal Letter." We'd have "teal" herrings; a "teal" letter day. We'd read the "Teal Badge of Courage" or "The Hunt for Teal October" or "Where the Teal Fern Grows." Of course, it would be the Boston Teal Sox who won the World Series last year. Santa Claus would be dressed in teal. What about the American flag? The red would be replaced with teal.

They said that their newspaper would be black and white and teal all over, though that one is hardly fair! There are so many more.

I assume that this was the April 1st edition...?

Probably not actually Richard. When I was doing my teacher training I was advised to use green pens for marking work as they projected a more positive message to the learners. If only they could be half as considerate towards me as I have to be towards them. My job would certainly be alot easier.

No, Richard. It was in Saturday's Desert Morning News. The funny part? When I got home, a similar editorial was in the Chicago Tribune! If I didn't know better, I'd think the big Chicago paper copied from that podunk newspaper!

The Chicago paper had similar comments, like that the Valentine's Day industry would be doomed; it would be disastrous for Spider-Man, Daredevil, Superman and Woody Woodpecker. The funniest to me, though, was this: "Given Congress' proclivity to meddle in even the tiniest details of Americans' lives, we're sure that any ban on red hair would be accompanied by a generous cash subsidy for those forced to buy hair dye."

I take it these 2 newspapers think the hullaballoo about red ink is asinine.

I gave up my practice of using red ink when I graded college papers. The students convinced me that it was bad for their self esteem, so I began to use blue ink. Still, I never really quite got it. The comments were the same. Doad, I agree with your comment about being considerate. I, too, felt that I bent over backwards for my students.

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
No, Richard. It was in Saturday's Desert Morning News. The funny part? When I got home, a similar editorial was in the Chicago Tribune! If I didn't know better, I'd think the big Chicago paper copied from that podunk newspaper!

The Chicago paper had similar comments, like that the Valentine's Day industry would be doomed; it would be disastrous for Spider-Man, Daredevil, Superman and Woody Woodpecker. The funniest to me, though, was this: "Given Congress' proclivity to meddle in even the tiniest details of Americans' lives, we're sure that any ban on red hair would be accompanied by a generous cash subsidy for those forced to buy hair dye."

I take it these 2 newspapers think the hullaballoo about red ink is asinine.

I gave up my practice of using red ink when I graded college papers. The students convinced me that it was bad for their self esteem, so I began to use blue ink. Still, I never really quite got it. The comments were the same. Doad, I agree with your comment about being considerate. I, too, felt that I bent over backwards for my students.

I have a very practical reason for not using red ink in marking. It doesn't photocopy on a B&W copier.

I always use red for marking. At one time there was discussion about using green but, at that same time, City and Guilds were printing their travel and tourism test papers on green stock and so that idea quickly disappeared.

I can't say I have ever had any problems with photocopying - but then, I rarely need to do it with test papers. The mark summaries and other documents I do copy but the papers (thank goodness, since they are often 30 pages long!) go back to City and Guilds.

When I was in college and got my first TA (teacher's assistant) post, I was too intimidated to use a red pen. I used green or purple or bright blue, but I didn't use red because I didn't feel I was qualified to do more than make suggestions. Looking back, I'm a little astonished that I was so self-deprecating. I think it was more from respect for my professors than anything else. The main benefit of using any other color, of course, is that it shows up easily among all the black type.

I think the guarding of students' fragile self-images should be taken care of by their counselors. If they are wrong they should be told so. I am disgusted, frankly, by this continuing movement to protect the egos of our young. The cost is too great! Students are there to learn, which assumes that there are things they don't know!

I've read suggestions for schools that include that we never tell a student their answer is wrong, but rather say things like "that's not quite what I was thinking." Now, I am the last person who would suggest that we personally humiliate someone, but I think we're selling kids short if we can't say "nope, that's not correct - anyone else have an answer?"

I use red ink mainly, but also have a very nice Sheaffer brown and Waterman violet. The thing about red is the corrections are obvious: not so if you correct black-ink work in black.

quote:

I've read suggestions for schools that include that we never tell a student their answer is wrong, but rather say things like "that's not quite what I was thinking."

In much of the work I do these days, that of training, I would often use this style of correction since there is often no simple right or wrong answer. Far more likely will there be a "good, better, best" scenario.

In education, where the instructor's task is more likely to be imparting new knowledge rather than applying existing knowledge to new situations, then right and wrong answers are far more likely. As Graham suggests, students acquiring the new knowledge should be told without the use of euphemisms if they have not acquired it accurately.

It's funny, but I always used purple to mark anything I needed to mark. Partly (actually, mostly) because it's my favourite colour, but also because red can seem so aggressive, especially on a beginner's work where great splashes of red can be rather daunting.

I don't actually think it's silly to tone down the colour of the marking pen, as colour has been proven to have sometimes powerful psychological effects on people. I do, however, think it's silly - nay, stupid - to mollycoddle students' egos by never telling them when they're wrong (on the occasions where there is a right and wrong answer, as RE pointed out above). There are good and bad ways of doing that - as well as let them know where they were wrong, I'd try and find something that was correct and congratulate the student on that, or at the very least on their effort - but students need to know they're making mistakes so they can avoid them in the future - otherwise, what's the point of learning?

No doubt anyone reading this will recall what Alexander Pope said about teaching ...

quote:

# "Men should be taught as if you taught them not, And things unknown proposed as things forgot. "
--Alexander Pope

The above is the specific quotation I sought, and I found it among a lot of other interesting and worthwhile quotations here.

Those were great, Jerry. I especially like the first one, by George Allen: "People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to." That quote is very relevant to the discussion we had in the literacy thread. No matter how brilliant people are and where they were educated, they must have the drive and persistence to succeed.