As teachers, we spend countless hours staying up late, reading essays, and making comments to help our students improve. We walk a delicate line, wanting to give students enough support to develop their papers while not overwhelming them with red ink. We carefully foster their growth as writers, finding areas of success that merit congratulations while still providing helpful advice, reminders of requirements, and strategies for achieving the assignment’s goals. As we drink still more coffee to power us through the last few essays, we do so believing that all of this effort will pay off. After all, we’re offering feedback that matters. It can make a difference.
