ALT-1 Teacher Tips Strategies for Staying on Top of Grading
Staying on top of grading is something that takes a concerted effort to do. There are several ways you can do this, and the most important way is to simplify your grading processes.For Social Studies and Math:1. Have students keep a grade sheet at their desk.2. Give daily assignments that students do that count with a check in the grade book or on their grade sheet that is kept on their desk. This way, they get credit for doing the work but you don't have to grade the entire assignment.a. Most of the time, you can just go around and check and see the one or two problems that students are struggling with, and check those.b. Doing the work teaches students how to do it. They ask their friends, ask the teacher, or understand and then have practice doing the work.c. Be sure that you keep the grade sheets in class. For some reason, students that cannot keep track of their homework are the same students that lose the grade sheets. Punishing them doesn't seem to change their slick hands. And if they are failing your class because they have lost their grade sheet, they will become disruptive instead of working with you to get a grade.3. Have students grade each others papers while you go over the answers. Some students are lazy graders, so you will have to check to see if they are doing it correctly.a. Have student graders put their names on the bottom of the papers: Graded By _____b. Tell students that, if you make an error in grading, you will lose the points since I am giving you the answers and you need to pay attention.c. If necessary, you can go over the answers on the board. Students tend to pay attention because they don't want to get a worse grade than they already did.i. Remind students each time that it is their responsibility to make sure the graded student has answered correctly.ii. If you will actually take points off a few students' papers right in the beginning, then they will really pay attention from that point forward.4. Give a weekly test or larger assignment that will assess whether or not the student understood the assignments given during the week.a. In this area, I prefer to test and re-teach. So I give students a chance to save their grade by going back over the test and answering the questions correctly.i. Give them one period to complete it;ii. Do not allow them to talk to classmates since it is a test correction (this will make them do their own work and learn what they missed).iii. Tell them that they can determine what they want for a grade100%, 90%, 80% just by correcting the questions they missed.iv. I find that students will do this quite often if they know that their grade is getting below what they want it to be.b. If you do not want to test and re-teach, give the assignment as a test. You can easily use Scantrons to test them, and when they fill in the answers, grading is quick and easy.English teachers are a problematic group (and I know because I am one). We have so many assignments to give because students learn to read and write by reading and writing. And they are not going to improve if teachers do not read the papers.1. Have students grade papers in every case that the answer is definite.a. Multiple choice can be graded by students.b. Grammar can be graded by students.c. Teaching students how to grade an essay will teach them how to write one better.2. Give check mark grades for reading in class, helping and little tasks that do not need to be graded. Tell students that these are grades that will help boost them to a higher score.3. Have students turn in papers, and grade only those assignments that are important while you give 100% scores on assignments that are not graded. Do not tell them which assignment you will be grading. Let's say they have five assignments. You choose the one assignment that you want to grade, and the other assignments get 100% (with the graded one being the most points). This way you will give them more points on the most significant assignment, but they will do all of the assignments well because they will not know which you will grade. This works marvelously well for me.With science, students can grade each other or another group's projects. This usually motivates students to do their best. I often give the highest grades an extra 5% just to make it a challenge. It is a good idea to give a Most Improved extra credit too so that the lower students don't feel discouraged with the best students always winning the extra points.For all teachers, you must be diligent on grading. I have known teachers who chose not to grade papers at all. They gave students what they believed students deserved. I do not agree with this methodology, and I do not think it is fair. Others have graded students on their attitude and responsiveness in class. It seems to me that it isn't reasonable to grade someone on class work alone. All teachers should:1. Set aside a time each week that you are going to grade. This might be your prep hour, after school one day that is convenient for you or at home. But set that time aside, and always work on grading until you complete it during that time. There may be times that you do not complete the work entirely because of distractions, but if you consistently set this time aside, you will not get too far behind.2. Use a program like the one onwww.engrade.comto enter grades. Students and parents can check grades at their convenience, and they can write notes to you about their grades.Tweet
Staying on top of grading is something that takes a concerted effort to do. There are several ways you can do this, and the most important way is to simplify your grading processes.
For Social Studies and Math:
1. Have students keep a grade sheet at their desk.
2. Give daily assignments that students do that count with a check in the grade book or on their grade sheet that is kept on their desk. This way, they get credit for doing the work but you don't have to grade the entire assignment.
a. Most of the time, you can just go around and check and see the one or two problems that students are struggling with, and check those.
b. Doing the work teaches students how to do it. They ask their friends, ask the teacher, or understand and then have practice doing the work.
c. Be sure that you keep the grade sheets in class. For some reason, students that cannot keep track of their homework are the same students that lose the grade sheets. Punishing them doesn't seem to change their slick hands. And if they are failing your class because they have lost their grade sheet, they will become disruptive instead of working with you to get a grade.
3. Have students grade each others papers while you go over the answers. Some students are lazy graders, so you will have to check to see if they are doing it correctly.
a. Have student graders put their names on the bottom of the papers: Graded By _____
b. Tell students that, if you make an error in grading, you will lose the points since I am giving you the answers and you need to pay attention.
c. If necessary, you can go over the answers on the board. Students tend to pay attention because they don't want to get a worse grade than they already did.
i. Remind students each time that it is their responsibility to make sure the graded student has answered correctly.
ii. If you will actually take points off a few students' papers right in the beginning, then they will really pay attention from that point forward.
4. Give a weekly test or larger assignment that will assess whether or not the student understood the assignments given during the week.
a. In this area, I prefer to test and re-teach. So I give students a chance to save their grade by going back over the test and answering the questions correctly.
i. Give them one period to complete it;
ii. Do not allow them to talk to classmates since it is a test correction (this will make them do their own work and learn what they missed).
iii. Tell them that they can determine what they want for a grade100%, 90%, 80% just by correcting the questions they missed.
iv. I find that students will do this quite often if they know that their grade is getting below what they want it to be.
b. If you do not want to test and re-teach, give the assignment as a test. You can easily use Scantrons to test them, and when they fill in the answers, grading is quick and easy.
English teachers are a problematic group (and I know because I am one). We have so many assignments to give because students learn to read and write by reading and writing. And they are not going to improve if teachers do not read the papers.
1. Have students grade papers in every case that the answer is definite.
a. Multiple choice can be graded by students.
b. Grammar can be graded by students.
c. Teaching students how to grade an essay will teach them how to write one better.
2. Give check mark grades for reading in class, helping and little tasks that do not need to be graded. Tell students that these are grades that will help boost them to a higher score.
3. Have students turn in papers, and grade only those assignments that are important while you give 100% scores on assignments that are not graded. Do not tell them which assignment you will be grading. Let's say they have five assignments. You choose the one assignment that you want to grade, and the other assignments get 100% (with the graded one being the most points). This way you will give them more points on the most significant assignment, but they will do all of the assignments well because they will not know which you will grade. This works marvelously well for me.
With science, students can grade each other or another group's projects. This usually motivates students to do their best. I often give the highest grades an extra 5% just to make it a challenge. It is a good idea to give a Most Improved extra credit too so that the lower students don't feel discouraged with the best students always winning the extra points.
For all teachers, you must be diligent on grading. I have known teachers who chose not to grade papers at all. They gave students what they believed students deserved. I do not agree with this methodology, and I do not think it is fair. Others have graded students on their attitude and responsiveness in class. It seems to me that it isn't reasonable to grade someone on class work alone. All teachers should:
1. Set aside a time each week that you are going to grade. This might be your prep hour, after school one day that is convenient for you or at home. But set that time aside, and always work on grading until you complete it during that time. There may be times that you do not complete the work entirely because of distractions, but if you consistently set this time aside, you will not get too far behind.
2. Use a program like the one onwww.engrade.comto enter grades. Students and parents can check grades at their convenience, and they can write notes to you about their grades.
