If only our students knew how hard they make things for us, having to correct their long essays is often both a pleasure and exhausting......

 

By the way, do you correct everything, I mean do you suggest improvements yourself or do you just underline what is incorrect....

I personally alternate both techniques, I write down suggestions / corrections when the issue is complex, and leave it to the students to correct it when it�s a minor problem �spelling, final �s� etc)

 

I have tried also to ask them to correct everything and give it (the essay) back to me for a second correction, bu this process  takes much time and energy , I  do it only once or twice  a year

 

What do you think???

I personally follow this method: I always underline what�s incorrect and put a sign next to the problem indicating the nature of the mistake. E.g. T=tense, WO=word order, prep=preposition, WW=wrong word, Gr=grammar, Sp=spelling. Then I give the essays back and my students have to make the corrections for themselves.

I think in this way they can learn a lot from their own mistakes and improve much better than in the case of getting back their essays corrected. Previously I did that and they didn�t seem to bother to have a look at their mistakes, but now they must think over what they have written.