The first day back to school after break is always about a million years longer than any other regular school day. I know I might be exaggerating a bit, but that is definitely how I felt today. It was nice to see the kids again, but after third hour, when my throat was raw from talking, and I was almost finished with my second Coke, and the kids were bouncing off of the slowly enclosing walls, I wished I taught Kindergarten so we could all have a quick nap-time. Don't get me wrong; I actually had a decent time today--I realized I do like teaching, just not the grading part. So, after a long day back, the last thing I want to do is grade more papers, but I must.
Does anybody have a helper monkey you wouldn't mind loaning to me to help me grade these papers? Perhaps someone who can help my cats grow an opposable thumb and a brain capacity big enough to score essays on Shakespeare? If you know of anyone, you know where to find me.
Monday, January 4, 2010
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Dear fellow teacher:
ReplyDeleteI have been reading your blog during a "snow day", or as I call it, a "holy day". I too share your dislike for grading papers. I got so fed up with taking home stacks and stacks of papers to grade during my holiday time, that I decided to do something about it one winter break. I came up with a couple solutions that have helped me immensely that I'd like to share with you:
1. Create "work hours" during your class time. During these hours, allow the students to work on homework or papers while you grade.
2. Create "peer graded" essays. Spend an entire class having the students exchange their papers with a peer, have them review the paper, mark it up, sign their name on it and give it to you. Then grade each student on their "evaluation" ability rather than their writing. See if the student grading the essay truly understands what they are reading, and are able to translate that understanding into a good evaluation. I have found that this saves me half the time I would normally spend on reviewing an essay, because I more or less look at the student's comments and the section those comments relate to, rather than the entire paper. I have also found that the students really enjoy this process more than the standard essay that a teacher grades. Good way to "mix-it-up" from time to time.
I hope these might help you! Hang in there and good luck with the rest of the school year!
To my fellow soldier of knowledge,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the suggestions! I especially like the second one as it puts the work on the students--where it should be!--rather than always on the teacher. I can definitely see how that could save a lot of time and be more fun and give more immediate feedback for the student. I am always looking for ways to work smarter and not harder!
And, yes, this "holy day" has been wonderful; I ended up spending most of it in bed, either sleeping or reading. It made my break fabulous, but that evil voice of guilt is breaking in and I'm either going to be up for 3 more hours doing the grading I should have done today or I'm just going to go to bed and pray for another snow day tomorrow!
Thanks again for the advice and good luck to you for the rest of your school year with many happy snow days to come!