In The Emotionally Intelligent Manager, David Caruso and Peter Salovey explain that happiness occurs once a goal has been achieved or when we have done something that we value or think is important.  Feeling happy aided basic writers’ writing process.  Students reported feeling happy when they had completed assignments, could envision themselves completing the assignment, and anticipated having fun. 

Instructional Rubrics

          One of the ways in which we can help students complete assignments is to provide them with instructional rubrics.  While one-on-one conferencing provides students with feedback in the classroom, students will also need guidance when they are outside of the classroom.  In “The Writing Rubric,” psychologists Bruce Saddler and Heidi Andrade argue that one of the goals of writing instruction is to help students become self-regulated writers.  Self-regulation includes practices such as “goal setting, planning, self-monitoring, self-assessment, self-instruction, and self-reinforcement.”  Saddler and Andrade report that since instructional rubrics provide functions of teaching and evaluating, they give students the support they need to become self-regulated writers.   A rubric should contain a description of how the finished written product should look, a list of criteria that helps the writer achieved the desired product, and a description of qualities ranging from excellent to poor that an essay should contain. 

Helpful Resource

Essay Critique Form