Theres a special three-way balance in responding to student writing: youve got to be compassionate, have a vision for improvement, and be capable of confronting and cajoling students to help them maximize the possibilities of revision. Key Works on Teacher Response presents some of the best examples of how writing teachers approach the delicate equilibrium of student need and instructional imperative as well as how they learn from the awkwardness and missteps sometimes associated with responding to students written work.

Key Works on Teacher Response brings together twenty-three of the most important articles published during the last thirty years concerning teacher response to student writing. Youll understand the scope and history of teacher response through pieces by new thinkers and trusted voices from the past, including George Hillocks, Jr., Andrea Lunsford, Lil Brannon, Peter Elbow, and Chris Anson. Together they cover the gamut of practical and theoretical teacher-response topics from the impact of corrective markings and the importance of teacher praise to the rhetoric of teacher commentary and what contemporary trends in marking and grading say about the state of the process.

No matter whether youve graded your first thirty papers or your first three thousand, Key Works on Teacher Response offers you a variety of entry points into the ongoing discussion of how best to interact with student writers. Read it, find that youre not alone in seeking answers to the mysteries of responding to student writing, and discover new, thoughtful ways to read and respond that help balance what the process encourages students to do with your interest in encouraging them to write more effectively.

Richard Straub earned a Ph.D. in English from Ohio State University. He spent his academic career at Florida State University, serving as Assistant Professor and later Associate Professor of English. His primary field was composition studies and his primary research interest was responding to student writing. He authored or edited three other books: The Practice of Response, A Sourcebook for Responding to Student Writing, and Twelve Readers Reading. Proceeds from Key Works on Teacher Response will be donated to a memorial scholarship fund in his name.