New online program computes to better writing
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 About 50 District 117 teachers of various disciplines attended a training session over the long weekend to learn how to use and teach an online program designed to improve student writing.
MY Access! allows students to answer a prompt, submit their essay and receive feedback on the quality of their work within seconds. The program provides students with a score based on content, grammar, organzination and other related components; in addition, the program shows students specific areas that need improvement and explains why. Teachers might require students to make several revisions using the program before accepting an essay for a grade.
Bryan Plinske, English Department Leader, says the program helps teachers instruct students about the importance of the writing process, beginning with prewriting and ending after revising multiple drafts of the same piece. Additionally, he said it is an opportunity for teachers to more effectively differentiate to meet individual student needs.
LCHS hopes to use MY Access! to encourage writing across the curriculum. The English Department already has plans to use the program at least four times throughout the spring semester, including possibly using it as the writing portion for final exams.
The district now has licenses for all freshman through junior students and is looking into obtaining additional licenses for seniors. |
