Red Inks For Grading

[WaskiSquirrel]

I enjoy using lots of different colors to grade: reds, oranges, purples, lavenders, pinks, corals, and greens.

 

As for red ink, any color becomes boring after a while. I switch up my reds too. From the Noodler's world: Red Fox (a bulletproof ink), Qing Shi Huang (feathers too much, but unique), Ottoman Rose is a nice shading ink, Nikita is red, Park Red has a fun bottle, and Rattler Eel red is a fun, classic red.

[TSherbs]

You might want to look at Sheaffer Skrip Red.

+1

 

I grade quizzes and tests with this, but not papers. It doesn't feather on cheap paper. And it dries the color it writes. And no one can miss it wherever it is on the page.

[Danny Kaffee]

I edit with Diamine Poppy Red in a Pilot Metropolitan with a medium nib (which is like a "fine" to me).

[PhilProf]

While I grade with any vibrant color, I've used three red-family inks and been happy with their performance: Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses (1st version), Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki, and my favorite, Yama-budo.

[Reevers]

I found Diamine Matador to have dark tones when I wrote with my TSWBI F nib, now that I've loaded my Pilot Prera F (which is considerably finer than the TWSBI) I find that its perfect; bold, solid, mid-red colour.

[thatotherguy1]

I'm not a teacher but I find that Private Reserve Black Cherry is a pretty eye catching ink if you're using it in conjunction with black, blue or another "business appropriate" ink. I like Noodler's Purple Heart quite a bit when I want to stand out too, and it's a reddish purple in my experience.

If you're open to other ink colors, Private Reserve Orange Crush is a bright, eye catching orange, and Spearmint from the same company is a vibrant green. No affiliation to Private Reserve.

[ScienceChick]

I'm a bit late to the party but I use PE Turmaline and Garnet, KWZI #47 and MB Pink for red/red family. Really, any ink I use is more vibrant than what the students use and will stand out.

[Manalto]

If Science Chick is late to the party, I'm fashionably late. Scrolling through, I didn't see Noodler's 'Antietam' - that's what I use for correcting and grading papers. It's well behaved on cheap paper and dries quickly enough. I've been meaning to get some Diamine 'Oxblood' too. I'm afraid calling it a gorgeous color, after all the comparisons to dried blood, will betray my Transylvanian origins, but there you have it. It's a rich, sumptuous red.

 

I know there's a movement away from red ink because of its psychological effect on the students. This is absurd. If you treat your students with dignity and respect, ink color is beside the point. I had a student last year who would complain about the red; she felt traumatized by it, she claimed. I just laugh it off. "See this A at the top of your paper?" I would say, "it's in red too!" I write positive comments and suggestions with the same red ink. It STANDS OUT so they won't miss it!

 

So, Erica, did we make your decision easier or more complicated?

 

James

Edited April 4, 2015 by Manalto

[EricaTX]

Wow! I've gotten quite a list going now. And price doesn't matter to me - most of the writing I do is grading, so I want my writing experience there to be as fun for me as possible!

 

I just got in an order of Antietam - I haven't used it for grading yet, but that's an interesting choice.

 

I grade in a variety of colors most of the time - but my essays will always be in red (whereas quizzes and projects and exams might be purple or green or whatever I have handy). I also believe the "red ink is jeopardizing students' self-esteem" is also absurd. In essays, the red ink stands out - even more so than green and purple. I want something to stand out at them - with both positive remarks and criticism.

 

Well, I'm off to Dromgoole's with a list of suggestions. I'll bring my phone with me to check with this list!

Edited April 4, 2015 by EricaTX

[HalloweenHJB]

I'm a bit late to the party but I use PE Turmaline and Garnet, KWZI #47 and MB Pink for red/red family. Really, any ink I use is more vibrant than what the students use and will stand out.

 

I second the use of Turmaline. I also second Diamine Wild Strawberry and Poppy Red. But one of the best I've used in a fine nibbed pen is J. Herbin Rouge-Rose scented, and de Atramentis Bordeaux. Both a bit more subdued and less "screamy" on student papers. For student work that is really in need of harsh professorial response, J. Herbin Rose Cyclamen and Rohrer & Klingner Solferino.

[tinkerteacher]

Keep it coming people, the pictures especially. Some trully beautiful inks we are spoiling ourselves our students with.

 

 

Whenever I am grading, I like to think about how the inspiration for The Hobbit was a student freezing up and turning in an empty test booklet.

 

Coming across the empty test booklet in the pile he was grading, and not wanting to waste perfectly good paper, professor J.R.R. Tolkien started writing on it ...

 

(unfortunately though, as I am lead to believe, Tolkien graded with a pencil)

Edited April 5, 2015 by tinkerteacher

[Manalto]

 

 

(unfortunately though, as I am lead to believe, Tolkien graded with a pencil)

 

 

 

 

Whenever I am grading, I like to think about how the inspiration for The Hobbit was a student freezing up and turning in an empty test booklet. Not wanting to waste perfectly good paper, J.R.R. Tolkein started writing on it ...

 

(unfortunately though, as I am lead to believe, Tolkien graded with a pencil)

 

Opportunities for creativity surround us. Thanks for the Tolkein story.

 

I love pencil (do I hear the villagers coming with pitchforks and torches?), in particular the soft kind, but if a student misses my annotation then I've wasted my effort.

[Frank C]

Wow! I've gotten quite a list going now. And price doesn't matter to me - most of the writing I do is grading, so I want my writing experience there to be as fun for me as possible!

 

I just got in an order of Antietam - I haven't used it for grading yet, but that's an interesting choice.

 

I grade in a variety of colors most of the time - but my essays will always be in red (whereas quizzes and projects and exams might be purple or green or whatever I have handy). I also believe the "red ink is jeopardizing students' self-esteem" is also absurd. In essays, the red ink stands out - even more so than green and purple. I want something to stand out at them - with both positive remarks and criticism.

 

Well, I'm off to Dromgoole's with a list of suggestions. I'll bring my phone with me to check with this list!

 

I recall reading an article or two about the myth of "self-esteem" and the risks of "damaging" it. The group of people in our country who consistently score highest on tests of self-esteem is prisoners. Having been in jail for a while—working as a physician—I can attest to the inflated egos of people who spend their adult lives in the revolving door of our criminal justice system. Anything you can do to humble your students may help our society in the long run.

[TSherbs]

 

I recall reading an article or two about the myth of "self-esteem" and the risks of "damaging" it. The group of people in our country who consistently score highest on tests of self-esteem is prisoners. Having been in jail for a while—working as a physician—I can attest to the inflated egos of people who spend their adult lives in the revolving door of our criminal justice system. Anything you can do to humble your students may help our society in the long run.

 

gee, you are describing my exact experience with the many doctors I have met

 

but, the question is, what red ink do you recommend?

[prf5]

 

I recall reading an article or two about the myth of "self-esteem" and the risks of "damaging" it.

 

 

When you have a chance, I would appreciate the citations to these articles. Thanks.

[tinkerteacher]

 

When you have a chance, I would appreciate the citations to these articles. Thanks.

 

That J.R.R. Tolkein preferred pencil over pen for day to day and school (Oxford in his case) writing is a fairly well known fact, one can find mulitple sources online. All those cool drawings in The Hobbit, even the famous Lost Mountain treasure map, were drawn with pencil.

 

He was partial to a good flexible dip pen with an Easterbrook nib, though, and one of his hobbies was writing wonderfully orante letters on vellum to friends and relatives.

[TSherbs]

Keep it coming people, the pictures especially. Some trully beautiful inks we are spoiling ourselves our students with.

 

 

Whenever I am grading, I like to think about how the inspiration for The Hobbit was a student freezing up and turning in an empty test booklet.

 

Coming across the empty test booklet in the pile he was grading, and not wanting to waste perfectly good paper, professor J.R.R. Tolkien started writing on it ...

 

(unfortunately though, as I am lead to believe, Tolkien graded with a pencil)

Blue Book (in the US) pages are terrible for any wet inks, even for some gel inks. Graphite kind of stinks on them, too. But I love writing in them and use them in class as free journals for my students. and, yeah, I use them for essay tests.

[Frank C]

 

When you have a chance, I would appreciate the citations to these articles. Thanks.

 

A Social Psychologist named Roy Baumeister has dedicated his professional career to this.

 

He jumped on the "Self-Esteem Bandwagon" in the seventies and his views changed in the eighties.

 

"After all these years," Baumeister recently commented, "my recommendation is this: Forget about self-esteem and concentrate more on self-control and self-discipline."

 

https://www.fsu.edu/profiles/baumeister/

 

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Roy+Baumeister+self+esteem&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=pdshVan1L4XxsAWNyYGQCQ&ved=0CBwQgQMwAA

 

He jumped on the "Self-Esteem Bandwagon" in the seventies and his views changed in the eighties.

[Frank C]

 

gee, you are describing my exact experience with the many doctors I have met

 

but, the question is, what red ink do you recommend?

 

Corn Poppy Red is my current favorite red. I'm surprised to learn that you know many physicians who have worked in jails; most of the physicians I know would never set foot in one.

[aardvarkbark]

+1 Red Dragon.