Having turned on "quick grading" it appears as though the tiny text field is not readable, especially if the users uses html in their feedback.

The 8 character text field has the following problems:
Limited text (8 characters)
Even more limited if HTML is used
You cannot edit or read a comment of reasonable length
Takes the browser quite a long time to render a page with that many form elements.

My suggestion is that we add a feedback icon that will just pop-up the editor to allow the teacher to quickly edit the comment in a way that is much more usable then the little text field (8 character input field). I believe that this will simplify the interface and remove the need for the "show quick grading" option. It is a good compromise between usability and expediency.

The little "" icon would popup the editor in a small new window that would allow the instructor to view their full comment and edit it if needed.