Rich Henderson's Diary
The First 180 Days

Rich's Diary: Report Cards: A Teacher's Comments

Week 22

They're back. It seems like I just finished them. Yet, once again, they are here. "They" are those quarterly forms of student assessment that everyone knows as report cards. Recently, the second marking period came to an end. Although its end was a source of surprise and anxiety for many of my students, it was nonetheless a source of trepidation for me as well. What caused my apprehension was the need to fill in each student's report card with a comment that both accurately reflected their progress and provided some measure of encouragement as well. Finding the right words was no easy task.

"Did you read your teacher's comments?" I can just picture it now. The child comes home, hands the report to his mother, and nervously watches her reaction as she reads it. After glancing through the column of the letter grades, his mother's smile begins to grow; yet her eyes feverishly move over to the "comments" section. She intently reads the short, yet seemingly eloquent critique of his instructor. The child nervously waits for his mother to finish digesting the full impact of his assessment and to disclose her reaction. Good? Bad? Improvement needed? What was she going to say?

After a bipartisan review of the grades by both parent and child, the elder then utters that famous question: "Did you read your teacher's comments?" As the sweat resumes its position upon the boy's brow, he once again awaits the interpretation of those possibly foreboding commentaries.

I was that boy -- and that scenario was all too common as I was growing up. For my parents, the teachers' comments were just as important as my letter grades. Those comments either magnified the letter grades or overshadowed them.

Knowing the impact that a teacher's comments made on me, I was certainly aware of the effect my comments might have on my students. That is why I labored over each report card. Since the "comments" section of their report cards is completely blank, I needed to fill in that area with a few carefully chosen words that would not detract from the grades, but help explain them. Yet, what should my comments focus on? Work habits? Behavior? Social skills? A little of each perhaps? This was not any easy task.

As much as I belabored the task at first, however, I soon began to realize that each student had already created his or her own commentary. It existed in their grades, their homework, their behavior, and their attitudes. All the comments I needed were already there. I needed to simply pause and reflect on each student's role in our class. Once I did that, the comments were easier to make and more constructive as well.

A teacher's comments are important. They help explain, enhance, and clarify a student's progress and performance. Writing such comments is one of those teaching skills that I have only begun to learn.

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Rich Henderson
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