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Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Grading Sucks
We all know that grading sucks. Without getting into specifics about how you grade papers and presentations (we'll talk about that in the meeting), tell us your tips for surviving grading sessions.
I am a list maker. You may have noticed this in my blogs. My approach to grading - and all of my work in fact - involves making lists and crossing things off lists. When I put a check next to an item on my Mac, it disappears and goes into a list of things I've finished. I like to see how small I can make my "to do" list and how long I can make my "completed" list. I put every batch of things I need to grade on this list under the category "Teaching." The way I trick myself into thinking I'm getting even MORE done is breaking my grading down into smaller pieces and making each batch a separate item on my list. For example, grade FRE 102 participation, grade FRE 445 participation, grade 10 exams, grade 10 more exams, etc. It's similar to this seminar's recommendation to break work up. :-)
Something that will help me from here on out is re-thinking how I view grading. I read the article "Grading is teaching" and I don't think it ever really hit me before that grading WAS an opportunity for teaching. What was it before? I don't know. Just assigning a grade, I guess. In my mind, it's now written like this:"Grading IS Teaching." I especially liked the suggestion to think of giving feedback as setting an example: write complete sentences, provide support, etc.
Finally, I also wear PJs while I grade, sit in a rocking chair near a window, and drink some herbal tea from my favorite mug: a University of Arizona mug that has "Cheryl" printed on it. Who is Cheryl? I don't know... but I really like her mug.
I agree with title 100%! I have a real problem with giving my students multiple choice or true/false questions on exams, and I always give writing and speaking assignments in all of my classes so grading consumes quite a bit of my time. I absolutely cannot stand to have things such as grading sitting there undone; I pride myself on the prompt grading and returning of assignments. How do I survive? I treat grading like exercise in a way. If you treat exercise like something you do on a regular basis at the same time, your brain/body thinks that is the norm. Therefore, I grade at the same time/in the same way no matter the class or assignment. I always give my students a rubric prior to the assignments (except for exams of course). Therefore, I use that same rubric for my grading purposes to keep me objective. For exams where I don’t have a rubric, I always grade from the last page of the exam to the front and question by question so that I only have to think about the answer to one question at a time. Because it often times takes getting into a certain mindset to grade certain assignments, I try my best to completely finish grading an entire set of assignments once I start. Basically, I ensure a normal routine for grading, just as I would exercise. As far as timing, I tend to grade after dinner, when there are fewer distractions and other family obligations have been taken care of. I have a grading “chair” and a few designated “grading pens” that are a must during my grading sessions. I know it may sound crazy, but having my routine and grading tools makes the grading process seem less like a chore to me and helps me fight through it. Yes some nights I lose a few hours of sleep; but it’s not every night…
I am putting off grading this very moment (in order to post the blog, paint my screen door, clean my back porch, and do anything else that comes to mind). As evident with that, I am often guilty of procrastination, and I know this. And I am also guilty of thinking about ALL the papers and the short time that I have to grade them all, which can be overwhelming. One of the things that I try to do in order to help (although I do not do it nearly enough) is a mind trick that a colleague told me, which is to always grade one or two papers the day students turn them in; he is a firm believer in that lessens the dread because the next day, you’ve already started. But also, I try to time myself (aiming at six/hour, but often falling at five and four/hour). I know I spend too much time on essays, and I can give others’ suggestions of how to implement minimal markings, focus on the first pages, have a coded sheet, etc. But I still feel as if I grade my life away. I like the previous post of relating it to exercising, as it just has to happen. And it does, but never as spaced out as I would like it. To explain, I enjoy the process a lot more when I only have to grade for like two hours a day, but I often have much longer grading sessions. To help with the productivity of those, I will grade for three hours (no distractions) and then change my physical location (go to a different coffee shop or a different room) and try to convince myself during a short break that I am JUST starting grading for that day. I also have to think about grading by the class, as 20 essays seems a lot more do-able than 60. I do not like to say that I dread grading because like I tell my students, I am thrilled to see how their essays shaped out and love seeing their writing accomplishments. However, I do hope that grading papers/portfolios becomes more integrated into my life and can even happen more during my office hours (or at least in my office), as right now, I feel as if I have to section off the time/space to be productive. And as for grading presentations, for some reason, I can, and do, grade those in my office, but much the same way (in chunks with breaks). I am excited to hear any other tips, methods that others have.
I hate grading. I even changed the lyrics to a song to express my repugnance for the task. In fact, I am avoiding grading by writing this blog. Grading takes a lot of my time. I give essay tests and I comment on their answers. I want them to learn from mistakes so I often comment on how they are answering questions. I have had to stop commenting on every single question for every single student and now try to address the common problems with questions when we go over the exam. Sometimes I just can’t stop myself. I have been in those classes where you just get a number on the top of your test paper but you don’t understand why you failed to earn those points. I have also been in a class where every grade I received was some amalgamation of a check, plus, minus system. To this day, I have no idea how that translated to the grade that I received in that course. I do understand that my efforts to help students learn take time away from the other things I am supposed to be able to do and many people have told me I was just going to have to start giving multiple choice exams.
I have no survival tips. I have to force myself to grade. My office is not usually conducive to grading. There are too many interruptions. At home I can find many more things to do that are more appealing (cleaning the litter box, etc.). When I finally decide it is do or die and I start to grade, I make sure I have everything I need around me (pens, food, something to drink). Then I can’t get up until I make it to whatever goal I have set (ten papers or completing one section). I think a large part of the reason that I despise grading is because it is such a repetitive process. I have struggled not to take their lack of progress personally, but in some way performance on exams is reflective of your teaching.
I have less of an issue grading presentations. I take notes during the presentation and just relay those to the student. In some way I view that process as factual – this is what happened, so to me it is less subjective.
Having graded a lot and being mindful of this blog post, I am back to report that I lied, unintentionally, of course. I am a solid four-essays-per-hour kind of gal. (I guess my previous post of aiming for six was just wishful thinking.) In fact, I even noticed that I separate the stack in fours, so my method knows my realistic capability despite my head's dream of being more productive. I also noticed that I eat when grading (and when breaking and when showing up at a coffee shop). I eat a lot. And mostly junk. I do not think any of this would serve as survival tips, but somehow being able to calculate what I've done and what I have left to do helps me. The end. Unless I notice any other neurotic behaviors with these next 8 essays...
I eat junk food too, and clean my house between grading sessions. So, my tip would be if you are going to snack pick good choices. I too grade in my PJs (it is a perk of the job).
With that said, I have to grades in doses, especially with papers. If I grade in doses, I tend to be more fair (remember up until now I have used my own, subjective, rubric). By grading in doses I also reduce the level of stress and frustration I experience. Plus, it reduces the chances of me grading more lenient toward the end of my grading session because i just want to be finished. I hate grading papers, but I don't hate grading tests for some reason.
Another tip would be to not look at the names of the students as you grade their work. I know this sounds awful for me to say but I think it reduces bias (up or down).
Another tip, take advantage of any free time to grade. You can grade at the tire shop or on the plane. Heck you can also grade while you wait for colleagues to show up to meetings.
Like Rachel I am a proscratinator and like Jennifer I hate grading. In order to deal with my putting things off, I now begin grading as soon as possible. Weird, but it works and for me I can only grade in my office. But I also can only grade a few essays at a time, so I plan office time according to some schedule like this: grade three essays, check email and respond, grade three more essays and go bother some one, etc. To help with the I hate grading mindset, I askk myself what are the most important comments I can make for this piece of writing. I used to mark everything but I hate that and I don't think it really helps; students then have so much to pay attention to; But even with these strategies, I still just hate assigning grades, especially low ones.
Not only do I need to know the song that Jennifer has changed the lyrics to, I need her to sing it to us on Wednesday. I think her grade in the class should hinge on it. but back to the task at hand: I don't have a Usual: I have graded tests while on the exercise bike, at a coffee shop, watching tv, and possibly inebriated. (allegedly) but I do have a few idiosyncrasies that I find helpful. First, I usually pick out one or two tests of the BEST students and one or two from those whole I know won't do very well. This is especially helpful for essay tests. by grading these first, I get a good idea of the range and what I should expect from the rest of the bunch. as hard as it is to assign a grade on essays, it would be a lot harder without setting some guidelines like this. then usually i get to "the middle" and while I grade i keep a sheet next to me of common mistakes or other things that I want to mention to the entire class. This 1) saves me the time of writing the same comment on every paper and 2) helps me remember what I want to address on the day we review the test. depending on how the initial batch goes (there are usually two installments of the same test) i will either grade the second batch more harshly or (of im in a hurry) way too generously. Then, after the second batch, I'll usually assign some sort of corrective curve to the first batch. There's probably a more efficient and less... awful? way to do this, but damned if this hasn't worked so far!
I agree...grading sucks! I do something similar to Joe. I do order my tests/writing assignments in a certain order to give a moment of relief from work that tends to be of a lesser quality. This way, I can (hopefully) start and end on a high note!
For writing assignments, I tend to use rubrics created specifically for each assignment. This tends to help my grading go much faster because I have clearly set forth my expectations from the beginning of the assignment. If I don't have a rubric designed for a certain assignment, I also use the QEP writing rubric...it makes my grading very clear and snappy!
I unfortunately wait until the last moment possible to grade. Yes, I procrastinate. But for some crazy reason, waiting until the "final hour" forces me to get it all done.
I don't have a set grading time. I fit it into my life...in between classes, after late night rehearsals, after I get my daughter to sleep (TRANSLATION--basically, any free moment that I have when I am not sleeping or driving).
Like many others here, I break grading down into smaller tasks. For instance, for an exam, I'll often grade all the answers to essay #1, then #2, etc. I almost always grade the essay portion of exams without looking at the student's name. I do give some multiple choice questions on my exams, because being able to put things in chronological order, know their style, know how they were made, and know who made them is important in something like design history, and multiple choice is an okay way to facilitate this. For written exams, though, I do like to offer feedback, so that takes time.
I often grade (and write, and prep lectures) in coffee shops. It's not lonely and I can't get sidetracked by students/colleagues or housework like I would at school or home. I only ever order hot tea because it's the cheapest thing to get and I just can't survive without being able to go to the coffee shop whenever I want.
A rubric is really helpful - I use one for all major assignments and many minor ones. Students sometimes get the whole rubric before the assignment starts, but they always get an abbreviated form that tells them the major components and what they're worth. Sometimes I split categories down into smaller units after I look at the work, so I can be more specific, but the main categories and point values never change.
Finally, and this is lame, I usually complain on Facebook during grading marathons. Many of my friends also teach so someone else is almost always online with a similar complaint or just some sympathy. Misery loves company, I guess.
Depends on what I'm grading. If I'm grading exams, then I always begin with Joe's best/worst/middle approach, grade question by question or problem by problem (rather than student paper by student paper), and grade them and post the grades as quickly as I can after administering the exam. (Somewhere I read a long time ago that fast turnaround was a lot of bang for the buck, so to speak, in terms of student evaluations, and I determined that I COULD DO THAT - grade and post quickly - it was within my control.)
When I'm grading oral or written presentations, however, I grade the whole student product at once. I use rubrics and videos of the oral presentations, but the whole process takes me an inordinately long period of time and is frustrating for me. Getting better at it with more practice and experience, which is reassuring, but I still procrastinate somewhat on grading these because I don't enjoy the grading and don't feel that immediate sense of gratification (or dismay) at their grasping/not grasping a particular concept or technical issue. I usually "prepare" the students by telling them that it will take me some time do this grading - not the usual fast turnaround. The actual grading, as others have attested, takes place in different settings (home, office) amidst different procrastination techniques, some creative and some not no creative.
I am a terrible procrastinator, which explains why my blog post is more than a day late! Grading, unfortunately, usually suffers the same consequences with me. I put it off and often don't get the papers back to my students as quickly as i would like. I have to make myself do it in small batches over several days rather than trying to complete it al in one sitting. I also try to make myself as comfortable as possible while doing it so I can enjoy the process a little more. I guess I don't have any brilliant secrets to share or I would be more successful at grading than I am. I'm looking forward to talking about it in class.
You all crack me up. Glad that the blog post title went over so well. It clearly resonates with everyone. Remind me to talk about the pomodoro technique and this recent Chronicle blog post: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/386-the-hidden-key-to-productivity-getting-smart-about-energy?cid=megamenu
I am fairly new to teaching and don't feel I have any troubles so far. I wish I were more disciplined (or experienced) to have a rubric ready for every assignment. It helps to separate mechanical things (such as grammar) from concept and creativity.
15 comments:
Let me say... I LOVE THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG!
I am a list maker. You may have noticed this in my blogs. My approach to grading - and all of my work in fact - involves making lists and crossing things off lists. When I put a check next to an item on my Mac, it disappears and goes into a list of things I've finished. I like to see how small I can make my "to do" list and how long I can make my "completed" list. I put every batch of things I need to grade on this list under the category "Teaching." The way I trick myself into thinking I'm getting even MORE done is breaking my grading down into smaller pieces and making each batch a separate item on my list. For example, grade FRE 102 participation, grade FRE 445 participation, grade 10 exams, grade 10 more exams, etc. It's similar to this seminar's recommendation to break work up. :-)
Something that will help me from here on out is re-thinking how I view grading. I read the article "Grading is teaching" and I don't think it ever really hit me before that grading WAS an opportunity for teaching. What was it before? I don't know. Just assigning a grade, I guess. In my mind, it's now written like this:"Grading IS Teaching." I especially liked the suggestion to think of giving feedback as setting an example: write complete sentences, provide support, etc.
Finally, I also wear PJs while I grade, sit in a rocking chair near a window, and drink some herbal tea from my favorite mug: a University of Arizona mug that has "Cheryl" printed on it. Who is Cheryl? I don't know... but I really like her mug.
I agree with title 100%! I have a real problem with giving my students multiple choice or true/false questions on exams, and I always give writing and speaking assignments in all of my classes so grading consumes quite a bit of my time. I absolutely cannot stand to have things such as grading sitting there undone; I pride myself on the prompt grading and returning of assignments. How do I survive? I treat grading like exercise in a way. If you treat exercise like something you do on a regular basis at the same time, your brain/body thinks that is the norm. Therefore, I grade at the same time/in the same way no matter the class or assignment. I always give my students a rubric prior to the assignments (except for exams of course). Therefore, I use that same rubric for my grading purposes to keep me objective. For exams where I don’t have a rubric, I always grade from the last page of the exam to the front and question by question so that I only have to think about the answer to one question at a time. Because it often times takes getting into a certain mindset to grade certain assignments, I try my best to completely finish grading an entire set of assignments once I start. Basically, I ensure a normal routine for grading, just as I would exercise. As far as timing, I tend to grade after dinner, when there are fewer distractions and other family obligations have been taken care of. I have a grading “chair” and a few designated “grading pens” that are a must during my grading sessions. I know it may sound crazy, but having my routine and grading tools makes the grading process seem less like a chore to me and helps me fight through it. Yes some nights I lose a few hours of sleep; but it’s not every night…
I am putting off grading this very moment (in order to post the blog, paint my screen door, clean my back porch, and do anything else that comes to mind). As evident with that, I am often guilty of procrastination, and I know this. And I am also guilty of thinking about ALL the papers and the short time that I have to grade them all, which can be overwhelming. One of the things that I try to do in order to help (although I do not do it nearly enough) is a mind trick that a colleague told me, which is to always grade one or two papers the day students turn them in; he is a firm believer in that lessens the dread because the next day, you’ve already started. But also, I try to time myself (aiming at six/hour, but often falling at five and four/hour). I know I spend too much time on essays, and I can give others’ suggestions of how to implement minimal markings, focus on the first pages, have a coded sheet, etc. But I still feel as if I grade my life away. I like the previous post of relating it to exercising, as it just has to happen. And it does, but never as spaced out as I would like it. To explain, I enjoy the process a lot more when I only have to grade for like two hours a day, but I often have much longer grading sessions. To help with the productivity of those, I will grade for three hours (no distractions) and then change my physical location (go to a different coffee shop or a different room) and try to convince myself during a short break that I am JUST starting grading for that day. I also have to think about grading by the class, as 20 essays seems a lot more do-able than 60. I do not like to say that I dread grading because like I tell my students, I am thrilled to see how their essays shaped out and love seeing their writing accomplishments. However, I do hope that grading papers/portfolios becomes more integrated into my life and can even happen more during my office hours (or at least in my office), as right now, I feel as if I have to section off the time/space to be productive. And as for grading presentations, for some reason, I can, and do, grade those in my office, but much the same way (in chunks with breaks). I am excited to hear any other tips, methods that others have.
I hate grading. I even changed the lyrics to a song to express my repugnance for the task. In fact, I am avoiding grading by writing this blog. Grading takes a lot of my time. I give essay tests and I comment on their answers. I want them to learn from mistakes so I often comment on how they are answering questions. I have had to stop commenting on every single question for every single student and now try to address the common problems with questions when we go over the exam. Sometimes I just can’t stop myself. I have been in those classes where you just get a number on the top of your test paper but you don’t understand why you failed to earn those points. I have also been in a class where every grade I received was some amalgamation of a check, plus, minus system. To this day, I have no idea how that translated to the grade that I received in that course. I do understand that my efforts to help students learn take time away from the other things I am supposed to be able to do and many people have told me I was just going to have to start giving multiple choice exams.
I have no survival tips. I have to force myself to grade. My office is not usually conducive to grading. There are too many interruptions. At home I can find many more things to do that are more appealing (cleaning the litter box, etc.). When I finally decide it is do or die and I start to grade, I make sure I have everything I need around me (pens, food, something to drink). Then I can’t get up until I make it to whatever goal I have set (ten papers or completing one section). I think a large part of the reason that I despise grading is because it is such a repetitive process. I have struggled not to take their lack of progress personally, but in some way performance on exams is reflective of your teaching.
I have less of an issue grading presentations. I take notes during the presentation and just relay those to the student. In some way I view that process as factual – this is what happened, so to me it is less subjective.
Having graded a lot and being mindful of this blog post, I am back to report that I lied, unintentionally, of course. I am a solid four-essays-per-hour kind of gal. (I guess my previous post of aiming for six was just wishful thinking.) In fact, I even noticed that I separate the stack in fours, so my method knows my realistic capability despite my head's dream of being more productive. I also noticed that I eat when grading (and when breaking and when showing up at a coffee shop). I eat a lot. And mostly junk. I do not think any of this would serve as survival tips, but somehow being able to calculate what I've done and what I have left to do helps me. The end. Unless I notice any other neurotic behaviors with these next 8 essays...
I eat junk food too, and clean my house between grading sessions. So, my tip would be if you are going to snack pick good choices. I too grade in my PJs (it is a perk of the job).
With that said, I have to grades in doses, especially with papers. If I grade in doses, I tend to be more fair (remember up until now I have used my own, subjective, rubric). By grading in doses I also reduce the level of stress and frustration I experience. Plus, it reduces the chances of me grading more lenient toward the end of my grading session because i just want to be finished. I hate grading papers, but I don't hate grading tests for some reason.
Another tip would be to not look at the names of the students as you grade their work. I know this sounds awful for me to say but I think it reduces bias (up or down).
Another tip, take advantage of any free time to grade. You can grade at the tire shop or on the plane. Heck you can also grade while you wait for colleagues to show up to meetings.
Like Rachel I am a proscratinator and like Jennifer I hate grading. In order to deal with my putting things off, I now begin grading as soon as possible. Weird, but it works and for me I can only grade in my office. But I also can only grade a few essays at a time, so I plan office time according to some schedule like this: grade three essays, check email and respond, grade three more essays and go bother some one, etc. To help with the I hate grading mindset, I askk myself what are the most important comments I can make for this piece of writing.
I used to mark everything but I hate that and I don't think it really helps; students then have so much to pay attention to; But even with these strategies, I still just hate assigning grades, especially low ones.
Not only do I need to know the song that Jennifer has changed the lyrics to, I need her to sing it to us on Wednesday. I think her grade in the class should hinge on it.
but back to the task at hand:
I don't have a Usual: I have graded tests while on the exercise bike, at a coffee shop, watching tv, and possibly inebriated. (allegedly)
but I do have a few idiosyncrasies that I find helpful. First, I usually pick out one or two tests of the BEST students and one or two from those whole I know won't do very well. This is especially helpful for essay tests. by grading these first, I get a good idea of the range and what I should expect from the rest of the bunch. as hard as it is to assign a grade on essays, it would be a lot harder without setting some guidelines like this.
then usually i get to "the middle" and while I grade i keep a sheet next to me of common mistakes or other things that I want to mention to the entire class. This 1) saves me the time of writing the same comment on every paper and 2) helps me remember what I want to address on the day we review the test.
depending on how the initial batch goes (there are usually two installments of the same test) i will either grade the second batch more harshly or (of im in a hurry) way too generously. Then, after the second batch, I'll usually assign some sort of corrective curve to the first batch. There's probably a more efficient and less... awful? way to do this, but damned if this hasn't worked so far!
I agree...grading sucks! I do something similar to Joe. I do order my tests/writing assignments in a certain order to give a moment of relief from work that tends to be of a lesser quality. This way, I can (hopefully) start and end on a high note!
For writing assignments, I tend to use rubrics created specifically for each assignment. This tends to help my grading go much faster because I have clearly set forth my expectations from the beginning of the assignment. If I don't have a rubric designed for a certain assignment, I also use the QEP writing rubric...it makes my grading very clear and snappy!
I unfortunately wait until the last moment possible to grade. Yes, I procrastinate. But for some crazy reason, waiting until the "final hour" forces me to get it all done.
I don't have a set grading time. I fit it into my life...in between classes, after late night rehearsals, after I get my daughter to sleep (TRANSLATION--basically, any free moment that I have when I am not sleeping or driving).
Like many others here, I break grading down into smaller tasks. For instance, for an exam, I'll often grade all the answers to essay #1, then #2, etc. I almost always grade the essay portion of exams without looking at the student's name. I do give some multiple choice questions on my exams, because being able to put things in chronological order, know their style, know how they were made, and know who made them is important in something like design history, and multiple choice is an okay way to facilitate this. For written exams, though, I do like to offer feedback, so that takes time.
I often grade (and write, and prep lectures) in coffee shops. It's not lonely and I can't get sidetracked by students/colleagues or housework like I would at school or home. I only ever order hot tea because it's the cheapest thing to get and I just can't survive without being able to go to the coffee shop whenever I want.
A rubric is really helpful - I use one for all major assignments and many minor ones. Students sometimes get the whole rubric before the assignment starts, but they always get an abbreviated form that tells them the major components and what they're worth. Sometimes I split categories down into smaller units after I look at the work, so I can be more specific, but the main categories and point values never change.
Finally, and this is lame, I usually complain on Facebook during grading marathons. Many of my friends also teach so someone else is almost always online with a similar complaint or just some sympathy. Misery loves company, I guess.
Depends on what I'm grading. If I'm grading exams, then I always begin with Joe's best/worst/middle approach, grade question by question or problem by problem (rather than student paper by student paper), and grade them and post the grades as quickly as I can after administering the exam. (Somewhere I read a long time ago that fast turnaround was a lot of bang for the buck, so to speak, in terms of student evaluations, and I determined that I COULD DO THAT - grade and post quickly - it was within my control.)
When I'm grading oral or written presentations, however, I grade the whole student product at once. I use rubrics and videos of the oral presentations, but the whole process takes me an inordinately long period of time and is frustrating for me. Getting better at it with more practice and experience, which is reassuring, but I still procrastinate somewhat on grading these because I don't enjoy the grading and don't feel that immediate sense of gratification (or dismay) at their grasping/not grasping a particular concept or technical issue. I usually "prepare" the students by telling them that it will take me some time do this grading - not the usual fast turnaround. The actual grading, as others have attested, takes place in different settings (home, office) amidst different procrastination techniques, some creative and some not no creative.
I am a terrible procrastinator, which explains why my blog post is more than a day late! Grading, unfortunately, usually suffers the same consequences with me. I put it off and often don't get the papers back to my students as quickly as i would like. I have to make myself do it in small batches over several days rather than trying to complete it al in one sitting. I also try to make myself as comfortable as possible while doing it so I can enjoy the process a little more. I guess I don't have any brilliant secrets to share or I would be more successful at grading than I am. I'm looking forward to talking about it in class.
You all crack me up. Glad that the blog post title went over so well. It clearly resonates with everyone. Remind me to talk about the pomodoro technique and this recent Chronicle blog post: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/386-the-hidden-key-to-productivity-getting-smart-about-energy?cid=megamenu
I use grading time to clean my house. I give myself breaks for scrubbing the bathtub, etc. Only time cleaning house becomes attractive.
I am fairly new to teaching and don't feel I have any troubles so far. I wish I were more disciplined (or experienced) to have a rubric ready for every assignment. It helps to separate mechanical things (such as grammar) from concept and creativity.
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