Grading Hacks for Teachers to Save Time and Energy While Providing Meaningful Feedback

Is grading the bane of your existence as a teacher? Does it absorb precious time that you'd rather devote to planning engaging lessons or simply spending with family and friends? 

In this post, I am going to share grading hacks to make your life a bit easier while also providing meaningful feedback that supports student growth. I've gathered these ideas from talking with teacher mentors in my own school, as well as being a member of online teaching groups. Fellow teachers are always the best resource! 

Use technology to save time and give immediate feedback 

There are so many incredible websites and apps that can make grading easier and more purposeful. Here are a few of my favorites: 

• Kaizena allows you to leave voice comments on Google Docs. This can be much faster than typing feedback, and voices tend to sound warmer than words on a screen. 
• Use the Comment Bank in Google Classrooms to reuse feedback. I often see students make the same mistakes as their peers, so I love being able to repost something I typed earlier. If you explore Comment Bank options, I encourage you to experiment with leaving links to online resources that explain the content (ex. Khan Academy video about comma splices) to help students re-learn content they are confused about. 
• If your school uses Google Classroom, you can create self-grading Google Forms quizzes. I love this option because you can schedule the quiz time (setting a due date will ensure that students complete the quiz within the required time). You can also add photos and attachments. Check out this YouTube tutorial for an in-depth explanation of how to set up your Google Forms quizzes. 
• The Plickers app is so much fun! It is a game-ified formative assessment option. You will project questions on the board with multiple-choice answer options. Students will hold up printed QR codes (that I recommend laminating for reusability) with their chosen answer. Then, you will hold up your phone to scan all of the QR codes. The app will generate immediate scores that indicate your class's content knowledge. 
• Sites like No Red Ink are wonderful because they provide modeling, offer practice activities, allow for scaffolding, and give instant feedback.  

Encourage students to grade their own work 

Two of the biggest reasons why teachers choose not to allow students to grade their own work are issues with honesty and accuracy. However, self-grading has some major benefits. It allows students to see how and why they are making mistakes. It also provides immediate feedback. 

Here are a few tips for encouraging accuracy and preventing cheating during self-grading activities: 

• Ask students to grade homework at the beginning of class on the day in which an assignment is due. Hand out an answer key with specific grading instructions. (Ex. 0 pt for no attempt, 1 pt for attempt, 2 pt for correct answer) You can even model your process of answering the same question. Double check their grading occassionally the first few times you have students do self-grading. In many cases, you may be positively surprised by their honesty and accuracy. 
• Give your students a bonus point occassionally if their grading matches the rubric to encourage academic integrity and attention to detail. 
• Pick and choose which assignments students can grade. Some assignments may be too complicated for students to completely grade on their own.
• Ask students to keep a red pen with them each class and put away all materials, other than the red pen. This prevents them from erasing a wrong answer and replacing it with the correct one. 

Select specific skills or standards to give feedback on 

As an English teacher, I'm notorious for making my students' essays "bleed" red ink. I write tons of comments - both positive and negative. Although my intention is to help students grow academically, I've recently realized that the comments are overwhelming for students, and most students don't read them all. 

Now, I'm trying to shift my focus. Standards and skills based grading are helping me narrow the type of feedback I give. This method focuses on assessing whether or not students have mastered a specific skill. 

Standards based grading can be time consuming, but there are ways to simplify the process. Here are a few tips to save time: 

• Rewrite standards in language that is easy for you to understand, so that it is simpler to select standards later on. 
• Determine which standards are most important for you and your team. 
• Create a rubric that can be used for any assignment or assessment. 
• Explore single-point rubrics. (Check out this Cult of Pedagogy blog post for helpful information.) 

Use a highlighter to mark excellence 

Most students associate the color red in school with mistakes or the fear of errors. I remember being a high school student and feeling anxious as my teacher distributed graded homework. What would the red letters and marks mean? 

Because so many student associate red with mistakes, consider adding a fun highlighter in a neon yellow or green color to your mix. Whenever you see something amazing on a students' essay or assignment, highlight it with the fun color. Then, when students get a graded assignment back, they will immediately see a splash of color on their page that they associate with encouraging feedback. 

Batch grading and give yourself space to rest 

When you sit down to grade, set a timer and pick a specific task to complete within that timeframe. You can pretend like you are racing against the clock to get your work done. After you finish your scheduled grading, take a break. Consider giving yourself a treat (snack, walk outside, favorite Netflix show episode, etc.) to reward yourself and rest. 

Don't grade everything 

Your time is valuable. You do not need to grade every bell work activity, exit ticket, or homework assignment that students complete. 

Set boundaries to protect your personal time 

Determine when and where you feel comfortable grading. This is different for each teacher, so don't judge yourself based on what works for someone else. Personally, I work best in the early hours of the morning. Like 6 a.m. early! I can crank out a lot of grading with a clear mind while everyone else in my house is sleeping. However, I try not to do work in my home in the afternoon or evenings. 

What are your grading hacks? 

Leave a comment below to share your tips and tricks for maximizing time and providing helpful feedback to students.