Cutting down the planning time?

Question

What works for you to help cut down the amount of time you spend planning and grading papers?

Answer 1

I reduce the number of things I'm taking in for marks. Look at it as an opportunity for students to TRY without it affecting their grade. If every little thing is for marks, students will never experiment with new strategies and techniques because they will stick to what they know works. As a Language Arts teacher, I make sure that students never submit a major assignment without having had that assignment peer-edited in class. This reduces the number of silly mistakes that I have to correct and it also covers the editing outcome in the curriculum . I also incorporate a lot of presentations, as you grade them while they're happening and don't have to take the work home with you. As our curriculum requires students participate in speaking and listening, students can earn listening marks by grading one another's presentations! You can be totally hands-off. At the beginning of the year I teach my students about Bloom's Taxonomy, and throughout the year I frequently have THEM make up their own quizzes. I still design the major tests, but I collect the questions they generate and create smaller quizzes from that (ensuring that each pair of students includes at least one question from each level of B's T means that I have lots of questions to choose from when writing their quiz). This gets the students involved in meta-cognition, as they're actively examining the depth of their thinking and the levels of the text on which they are focusing. Check the first link on this page for a few more tips on reducing your markign load.

Answer 2

I am a high school math teacher. I have about 140 students total, so I have to have a shortcut for grading papers.

For grading homework, I check for completion at the beginning of class. If the work is finished, I stamp the paper (with a "very good" stamp). Then I put the answers on the overhead so students can check their papers. Once a week, I take up a homework paper. I write the titles of the homework papers on the board and assign numbers from 1-6, then we roll a die. That way I only have to grade about one out of five papers the kids do, but they don't know in advance which one it will be. If it doesn't have a stamp on it, it was late, and I take off 30 points. This works pretty well, and I still get to have a life outside of school.

For planning, I work with the other teacher that teaches geometry, and we share the load of planning. She has a teacher's aide for one period, so the aide can make copies for us.

Answer 3

One thing I have done to shorten grading is to have some of the assignments be credit or no credit. If the students turn the assignment in, they get the credit and if not, they don't. Another thing I have done before is check key problems on the paper. This can cut down on the paperwork, but still give you a snapshot of what the students are having difficulties with. I don't let the kids know that I am doing this, but it sure helps when the papers are coming in fast and furious!

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Often I have students grade their classmates' papers. That works as it increases reading comprehension and error awareness. Most kids are quite fair in the grading of the papers. You have to withhold the name of the author to avoid certain "get-backs"

Answer 5

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