Grading

When I tell people that I am a high school teacher, the most common reaction I get is some comment about how they would never be able to handle dealing with the teenagers. I disagree, of course, because if a teacher does not like dealing with students, what is the point? One would think that this explanation would be obvious, but what I have seen since I began teaching has proven that not to be the case. Obviously, the kids are my favorite part of teaching.

The truth is, my least favorite part of teaching is the grading. To me, it is a time-consuming, mindless task that always seems like such an immensity painful task.  It takes me an hour of bumbling around at home to start grading something. Once I start, it goes by relatively quickly and I am always frustrated with how long it took me to get started. So, it is merely the thought of completing it that discourages me. Recently, I have taken to allowing students to grade each other’s quizzes, which I then double check, but this has cut down on my burden of grading significantly. One of my coworkers uses an extreme method for homework. He has a policy that state if a homework or paper is not graded within a week's time, that assignment is an automatic A. It helps to hold him accountable for a timely turn back period. I have found that spending Saturday mornings at my favorite coffee shop is the best way for me to get work done. The barista there knows my name and order now, which is awesome! So, I really just need to change my mindset to one that reflects the reality of grading: when I sit down to get it done, it's not that bad and it really doesn't take that long.

When I first started teaching, grading was also a major point of anxiety for me. I saw every poor grade as a reflection of my teaching. I automatically assumed that I had done something wrong of a student failed a test or quiz. It was incredibly stressful and took me an entire year to setting with the fact that as long as I am preparing a lesson and taking the time with students that need help, that the grades were their responsibilities and not mine. The key to ensuring that this is true is to keep very good track of your lesson plans. When I do that and a student or parent claims that their low grade was due to “things we never went over”, I am able to show the student in writing where the material was covered.

When grading, I avoid bias by taking breaks. I have found that if I grade for more than 45 minutes to an hour, I start grading harder or easier, depending on my mood. This leads to biased grading and inconsistencies that the students see, especially when it is on a test or quiz. It is important for me to walk around or at least step away from a screen or work for 15 minutes every hour to ensure that I am taking the proper amounts of brain breaks.

Grading is a necessary evil in the world of education. As I become more experienced in my teaching, I have found ways of lessening my burden and streamlining the grading process. This is key to keeping me sane as a teacher!