Grading Advice Culled from Expert Teacher Bloggers and Schools

By Erik Bean, Ed.D.

Grading can often seem like an overwhelming and daunting task. Yet, there are numerous ways to curtail the seemingly insurmountable number of assignments that continue to pile up day-after-day and week-after-week. Many wish for a completely automated method, but that wish could come with a price, your job! Yet, it is probably safe to say at least presently, your subject matter expertise (SME) and your ability to include both normative and summative feedback is the hallmark of why you’re such a valuable asset to your school and most importantly your students.

Technology such as automated plagiarism checkers like TurnItin.com provide a valuable service, but only if you require students to submit electronic files. Some methods to make grading less a chore and more an opportunity to learn about your students can be as simple as “keeping the paperwork to a minimum” says Linda Shalaway aboard Scholastic.com.  Rebecca Alber, Edutopia consulting online editor, reminds teachers they can have students partake in the evaluation process by engaging them via “The Power of Peer Assessment and Self Assessment.” Melissa Kelly offers similar and even more time saving advice such as only grading two elements in a paper and the use of student portfolios to let students decide which of several assignments they would like graded.

Among several suggestions from Gina Barreca, a 30 year veteran teacher who told Chronicle.com readers that rewarding one’s self as well as chastising one’s self, is fair game to simply getting the grading job done. “Don’t wait to the last minute…” is a prominent theme as well as making the assignments interesting enough so you’ll be more inclined to grade them says Barreca, is vitally important.

Other advice with a long standing online track record, such as that prepared by the University of Maryland’s Freshman Writing Program, includes more strategic planning before the assignment is doled out. This advice includes what to say and how to say it to various levels of higher education students.

For those not currently using much technology grading advice abounds all over the Net. For those whose classrooms have stepped up to require electronic paper files, the advice is somewhat less abundant. Still, even just knowing how to best upload and download student papers, sort them, and grade them substantively and in a timely fashion, can save teachers head and phalange aches!

In my next EducationWorld.com installment we’ll discuss how to best accomplish some of these file handling and on-going grading objectives. Don’t miss it!

About Erik Bean

Erik Bean, Ed.D. is the author of the new books Rigorous Grading Using Microsoft Word: Plus Google Docs, Westphalia Press, Washington D.C. and WordPress for Student Writing Projects: Aligned to Common Core, Brigantine Media, St. Johnsbury, VT. For more information about Erik visit SocialMediaLessonPlans.com and GradingEfficiently.com.