JessicaMost teachers don’t want you to know… grading doesn’t have to be this BIG production where teachers get out their flair pens, create notes, and mark up papers to give students feedback! A practical grading checklist can help you to get your grading done in less time every term.
Sure, if you’re a brand new teacher and you’re still in the honeymoon phase, you might feel excited to be able to use your teacher tools to grade in this way, but the day will come when you have a stack of 200 papers, and you have 24 hours before the grading period is over.
What do you do then?
Taking the hours you used to spend to grade all those papers isn’t going to cut it!
Regarding cutting back on the hours you spend grading, check out the Modern Teacher Grading Checklist here. You can grab a copy and complete your grading in half the time it took you previously. Just tap this link to download the Modern Teacher Grading Checklist and change how you grade forever!
Why the grading system should be changed?
Okay, so I’m a little embarrassed to admit this. Still, it took me 10+ years in the classroom before I realized that my Master’s Degree in Education wasn’t helping me to live the life I always dreamed of… spending 1-2 hours every evening and 3-4 hours each weekend to get in all my grading and progress monitoring was not my idea of the ideal teacher lifestyle.
My relationships suffered, and I couldn’t hang out with my husband. My health suffered because tasks became more important than eating. I only wanted to enjoy my evenings, weekends, and summer with my family outside camping, hiking, and fishing. Making memories.
There had to be a better way…after years of struggle, I found it!
A way to grade in less time + finally get more free time.
The Modern Teacher Grading Checklist
On this checklist, we’ll walk through how to save yourself up to 2 hours per week of grading. If you are a busy educator, you may push grading off until the end of the period.
So this checklist is for forward thinkers who are open to shifting their grading workflow to ease the piles of grading that stare them down week after week (hello, weekends free with grading to catch up on).
The Set Up
Most teachers I know keep a pile of papers in tow with them, hoping to get in some grading when they have a few minutes.
The problem with that is thinking the old way about getting grades in when there are a few minutes will get you old results = grading piling up til the end of the grading period.
The new method is this…
Instead, we must consider a new technique called “undercover grading.”
We do this behind the scenes during the week, creating a plan to find pockets to grade consistently week in and week out.
Reaping the results by the end of the grading period = no extra work.
- Designate 1-2 blocks of time each week (a prep, before or after school) to grade consistently. Schedule it on your calendar. Protect this time.
The Modern Teacher Grading Checklist
Now that you’ve blocked out dedicated grading time and tossed out the old method of dragging the pile everywhere you go, let’s talk about building in a grading framework using a simple checklist that instantly saves 2 hours in your week.
The truth is even if you block out time to grade weekly without a plan to know exactly what you’ll do with that block of grading time, chances are you’ll become distracted, which causes nothing but stress and anxiety when you DON’T get it done (who wants to live the following years of their career having that on their minds and chest?).
Using a simple checklist to grade below will allow you to create flow for yourself so you’re not wasting time. You can just flow through each grading task.
When using the checklist, allow it to guide you because too many things are beyond your control. You want to ensure the list keeps you moving forward and focused on your objective.
- What am I grading? (one subject, one class, one class section)
- How will I grade? (one student at a time, one page at a time)
- Points assigned for each problem (by the rubric, by me on a key)
- Type of grading I will do for this assignment (Choose 1)
- grade by points
- grade for completion
- grade with feedback
- Feedback Sandwich (if grading with feedback, I will use this tool on ___ number of problems on this assignment)
- Positive – “John, I like how you… “
- Something to work on – “I would have been nice to see…”
- Positive – “Keep up the good work.”
- Type of grading I will do for this assignment (Choose 1)
Execution
The final piece of the puzzle is execution. Doing the grading consistently, you already know that you must have scheduled time and the checklist to guide you to accomplish your grading before the end of the grading window. Now you need to execute.
The last thing you need is to procrastinate or find a rabbit hole that will take up more precious time.
Execution is crucial to helping you complete grading in less time. But if you don’t have the setup or framework, you can’t execute.
- When I sit down to grade, I set a timer for the time I have allotted and ensure that my space is distraction-free
- When the timer goes off, I note where I stopped and will pick up at my next grading block.
- I will enter grades into the grade book
- On the same day as I complete them
- On a different day, all at once
The Answer to How to Build a Teachers Grading System
Grading doesn’t have to be difficult if you have the proper set-up, checklist, and plan for execution to get things done in LESS time.
When you accomplish grades quickly using the Modern Teacher Grading Checklist, you’ll get more free time during your evenings and weekends to do what you want (insert family time, fun activities, free time)!
More Ideas to Spark Grading Checklist Inspiration
7 Grading Tips for New Teachers (Article)
Grading Made Simple (Article)
Top Grading Hacks For Teachers | Tips and Tricks to Save You Time! (Video)
If you are a teacher who wants more free time to spend doing what you love, the next step is to jump on this downloadable Modern Teacher Grading Checklist! You’ll discover how to save time with on-the-spot grading throughout the term, so you can keep your passion for teaching and still enjoy life without planning and marking on nights and weekends.
