![]() ![]() Here’s what I found, based solely on the frequency of key words: By that, I mean grammar and punctuation mostly – the mechanics of how you assemble letters, words, and phrases in way that conform to the norms of formal writing. Out of curiosity, I did some very basic “CTRL-F” research in the Common Core State Standards ( PDF) this afternoon, looking for guidance, guidelines, and well, standards about the teaching of what I’d call the “mechanics” of writing. ![]() (He gets bonus points in my book for dismissing the notion of claiming that NoRedInk was "Common Core-aligned." Scheur's motivation here comes from his work as a teacher, I think, and less as a CCSS-bandwagoneer.) There's been a lot of talk recently that the Common Core State Standards are going to be a " boon" to the education industry, and when Scheur and I chatted last week, we talked briefly about what this would mean for his startup. The startup is part of the current cohort at ImagineK12, the education incubator in Palo Alto, California. NoRedInk is free to use for now – “at least for this semester,” says Scheur. NoRedInk is currently a one-man-gig (Scheur is looking for a technical co-founder), but that hasn’t stopped him from getting well over 4500 teachers to sign up since the site went live in March. The website also offers a dashboard for students as well as teachers to track progress on individual skill areas. Scheur says a unit on commonly-confused words is coming soon too. ![]() Instead, students have to type the correct answer or drag-and-drop the right punctuation.Ĭurrently NoRedInk offers exercises on apostrophes, commas, sentence fragments, and subject-verb agreement. And as Scheur argues, it’s important that “kids learn to fix their own sentences” – something that’s led him to steer clear of multiple choice exercises. NoRedInk also adjusts the questions based on what students get right or wrong and shows tutorials if students get stuck. In order to make this process a little less onerous, Scheur lets teachers and students personalize the practice assignments and quizzes with the names of their favorite bands, sports teams, movie or TV stars and friends. So in his spare time, Scheur created NoRedInk, a website to help students practice and review their grammar. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling –they’re all fundamental to clear communication and good writing, but they’re something many teachers spend less and less time on in class. That’s particularly true when it comes to providing feedback on their writing mechanics, Scheur contends. High school teacher Jeff Scheur tells a pretty familiar story for anyone who’s taught writing: you spend a lot of time grading essays, doing your best to provide personalized feedback on what the students are saying and even how they’re saying it. But that feedback can often be overwhelming to students – all the comments and circles and “red ink” – and it’s sometimes difficult for students to figure out how to improve. ![]()
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