Many students often have trouble writing school assignments because they are afraid that their writing will be criticized by the teacher.  I certainly am one of them.  The teacher’s comments can seem like the authoritative opinion, judging not only one particular piece of writing but also your ability to write in general.

The chief purpose of writing is expression.  Certainly there are smaller purposes, but by and large the most important is expression.  When a student really fears their teacher’s criticism, they will not feel comfortable expressing themselves.  The end result is that students learn not how to write, but how to get a decent grade.  In the end they are not any bit better at writing than they were before, and may in fact be more afraid of writing than they were before.

Richard Straub hits the nail on the head when he says that when responding to a students writing you should not seek to perfect or rewrite the piece, or even to merely point out all the errors.  Instead, you should make suggestions and try to help the reader improve the writing.

This mindset, of helping rather than judging, is applicable not only to English and Writing classes but to many other school subjects.  The problem is, of course, that most teachers focus more on judging their students work than on improving it.