The best way to correct a student’s written work is not necessarily the most obvious.

If you’ve been to a traditional school then you will have probably had your homework corrected in full by your teachers – all the mistakes pointed out and the corrections put in.

And this will likely result in a piece of paper full of red ink!

But this isn’t very productive for the student and it’s pretty much a waste of time for the teacher. How many times have you spent hours correcting homework, handing it out and then seen your students just stuff it into their bag with barely a second glance? All they are often interested in is the grade – often they won’t even read anything else!

This video shows how to correct work properly so that:

• the student benefits
• the teacher does less work

It really can be a win-win situation if you do it properly!

Useful Links

Correcting Fossilized Errors – how to correct persistent errors

Correcting Spoken English – what to do when a student makes a mistake when speaking

Peer Correction – an idea for having students correct each other’s work