Grading Process Tips
Page 1 of 2
- Involve students in the grading process to minimize disagreements over grades. Make sure they fully understand how grades are assigned.
- Have students immediately grade some in-class assignments for immediate feedback. Sometimes it is valuable to allow them time to improve their effort after the self-assessment.
- An elementary school teacher may use recess time for grading the previous period's papers. The teacher goes around to each pupil's desk and grades all the papers at once. Upon returning from recess, the students receive immediate reinforcement of their work. This saves time at night, and also saves the time needed for passing out and collecting papers.
- It is not essential for the teacher to correct every student assignment. As much as possible, allow students to swap and grade papers. Spot check to prevent cheating.
- For seatwork or some homework, provide scoring keys that the students use to score their own work and add up their point totals for the week. Spot check a few papers.
- For checking students' homework, just assign a set number of points to an assignment if it is complete and on time. Let the students check their own answers in class as a whole group. This allows homework to be a learning experience and saves time grading papers.
- Require students to keep a page in their notebook on which they record each test or quiz grade when they receive it. That way they always have a tally of their scores and need not continually check with you.
- Some teachers find it more efficient to keep the cumulative total of each student's test and quiz points. When entering a score, add it to the previous total. You might mark this new sum on the student's test paper. You'll save time at the end of the semester by not having to refigure each student's grade. This is an especially easy task if you use a computer grade-keeping system. (For example, http://www.mygradebook.com/.)
- Stagger the due dates for major projects, papers, and examinations. It can be overwhelming if you receive a barrage of paper. You'll manage your time more efficiently if the assignments are spaced. Students who have you for more than one class will also appreciate it and probably do better work.
