Often-used Feedback Responses

[mmusil]

Is there a way to create 5-10 common "feedback" comments for grading an assignment? Typically by the third or fourth paper in, I begin to see gaps/patterns in student learning, and I end up typing the same comment on many papers. For example, I have to type tell students about a comma splice (and then explain what it is). Being able to point the curser to the spot in the assignment and then selecting from a handful (or two handfuls) of comments would save some time. 

[Stef_retired]

 @mmusil , when I was teaching, "comma splice" was one of the comments I too found myself using frequently. The freeware version of Autotext - Boilerplate Template Manager - Text Expander was perfect for this. If you're exclusively using a PC, the ClipClip extension for Windows is very helpful. Turnitin users can use the QuickMarks feature on the annotation screen (in Turntin, not in Speedgrader/DocViewer).

More broadly speaking, I always included five pages of common grammatical errors in my writing-intensive courses . The pages are called "Not Staying Within the Required Word Count," "Punctuation" (that's where the comma splice guidance lives), "Incorrect Spelling, Word Choice, and Capitalization," "Incorrect Grammar," and "Errors of Style and Structure," and would link students back to the appropriate page for detailed guidance rather than repeating the explanations in the comments.

We have a feature idea requesting that this functionality be built into Canvas: https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/1751-ability-to-save-and-copy-from-frequently-used-comments-in... 

[venitk]

Personally, I keep my frequent comments saved in Notepad ++ and copy and paste them from there. It autosaves, which is an advantage over Notepad, and it has tabs, so I can have one tab for each assignment/course. It's pretty low tech and free, so I like both those things.