Teacher Batching Part 3: Five Simple Ways You Can Save Time Grading

Would you rather have someone do all of your lesson planning or all of your grading? How about taking your recess duties for the week or taking over your grading for the week? Or, would you rather have someone make a difficult phone call home or do a day's worth of grading for you?

Since you’re here, I am assuming you’re much like me, and you’d choose help with grading any day! I can handle the lesson planning, I can handle the recess duties and after school duties, I can handle the difficult conversations at home, but what I can’t handle is the grading. It’s just not fun. Ironically, as a sixth-grader in middle school, I thought grading papers was the coolest thing ever. I would visit some of my previous teachers after school and help grade their math worksheets and spelling tests. The fancy pens, the pretty stars, using stickers, it was so much fun! But, I guess my definition of fun has changed a bit over the past twenty years.

Today, we are covering part three in our three part series which has been all about how you can cut down on your planning and prep time and stick to your contracted hours by using a little hack I like to call, “Teacher Batching.”

If you haven’t already done so, I would like to encourage you to be sure you take some time to either read Part 1 and Part 2, or head to the Let’s Talk Teaching Podcast with Kayla Durkin and listen to these episodes which are now streaming on all platforms!

Teacher Batching Tips Blog Posts

Teacher Batching Part 1: 5 Ways to Optimize Prep Time and Stick to Contracted Hours
Teacher Batching Part 2: How to Define Your Goals and Use Your Time Efficiently
Teacher Batching Part 3: Five Simple Ways You Can Save Time Grading (Currently reading)

Let’s Talk Teaching Podcast with Kayla Durkin

Episode 49: 5 Ways to Optimize Prep Time and Stick to Contracted Hours

Episode 50: Batching Teacher Responsibilities

So How Do I Save Time Grading?

If you are looking for grading tips and you’re ready to learn how to grade papers efficiently, you’ve made it to the right place! I’ve got some great grading tips for teachers lined up for you. If you’ve read or listened to the previous posts, you’ll know that my grading system was less than ideal when I first started teaching. I was trying to grade every single thing I ever collected and I soon realized it just wasn’t feasible. I also realized that grading late work might be one of the biggest punishments on the planet, especially for complex assignments.

With time, I soon realized that I could not only save time by teaching batching my grading system, but I could also save my sanity.

So let’s do the dang thing! Let’s get you into a routine that’s going to help you feel more confident in your grading routine and implement a system that is going to help save you time.

Assign Based on Quality, not Quantity

First things first, be intentional with what you’re assigning. Be sure that you’ve taken time to review the classwork ahead of time so that you can be purposeful in the tasks you’re asking students to complete. I think it’s fair to say that we have all been in a situation where we didn’t preview the assignment as well as we should have, and while our students were working through their assignment we had to go back and reteach things we maybe didn’t teach in the lesson or didn’t realize the assignment was going to ask for.

This practice can be a hard habit to get into, but it really starts with beginning with the end in mind. Start at the very end of your unit and ask:

Will this assignment help students achieve the end goal?
What are the target standards really asking?
What will students be assessed on in the end?

Once you can answer those questions, you can build your final assessment. From there, work your way backward. What lessons need to be taught in order to get your students to proficiency within those final standards? What practice might they need along the way to get to that proficient state?

Once you can answer those questions, you can start planning purposeful assignments that will reinforce the skills that are being taught during the lesson. We don’t want to assign our students busy work because we feel like they need practice, we want to pre-plan for misconceptions and guide our tasks based on the practice they will need. Thinking about quality over quantity, when working toward a specific standard, can you assign a juicier task that kills multiple birds with one stone, rather than assigning a large number of questions? Using math, for example, do your students really need to do 20 of the exact same type of problem for you to know if they are proficient? Or can you assign maybe five practice problems and one or two juicy tasks instead?

Whether we are talking about identifying a part of speech, using the Pythagorean theorem, or labeling the structure of an atom, chances are, we will know within a few questions if our students know how to do it or not. We don’t need to ask them the same type of question 20 times just to have them show us 20 times that they still aren’t sure what they are doing.

Being purposeful in the tasks that you’re assigning will cut your grading down significantly because you won’t have to grade items that didn’t need to be assigned in the first place.

2. Rethink Homework

I am all for classwork and having students work on a task independently, but I’ve never been big on assigning work that is expected to be completed at home. If a student isn’t using their time wisely and needs to take an assignment home as a consequence of their actions, that’s a little bit different, but for the most part, I try to keep all the work that I have assigned as in-class work.

Throughout my time as a classroom teacher, I’ve realized a few things. For starters, the students who are doing well in class, who maybe don’t even need the assignment, are usually the ones who have their homework completed for the next day. The students who are struggling, who need more support, who need the practice, typically don’t have their assignment done, or if they do, they had help from an adult who maybe actually did the assignment for them and just had them write the answers.

Another thing I’ve realized is that we have incredibly high expectations for our learners. It seems like there is less and less time for creative play, recess, and just allowing kids to be kids. Music and gym classes are getting shorter, math and reading blocks are getting longer. No matter how many PBL’s we do, there will always be more than our students need, but sometimes that “more” isn’t necessarily academically driven. Our students need time to pursue their passions as well. They also have responsibilities at home. They are involved in this, that, and another thing. The pressure to succeed is higher than ever. The amount of students who are struggling mentally because of the intense pressure is becoming more and more every year. So let’s give them some time to just be kids again. To play with the neighbor next door, to pick up a game of football at the field, to have time to work a part-time job and make a little spending cash.

Let’s be more intentional about our planning and the time students are giving us in class so that we don’t have to assign homework.

3. Only Grade What You Need To (NOTE TO SELF - REREAD!!)

There will still be classwork, formative and summative assessments, a few quizzes, exit tickets, etc. However, not every exit ticket, piece of classwork, or assignment needs to go in the grade book. Whether you teach third-graders or high school seniors, chances are you’re going to assign classwork that you collect. It’s important to review the work you’ve assigned so that you know where each and every student is at, to inform your instruction, and to know who and what needs to be retaught. However, whether it’s a physical piece of paper you collected or a digital document, you can easily skim through, look at a few of the more challenging tasks, notice a few misconceptions, and then recycle or mark the task completed.

A good rule of thumb is to assess every standard three times. This allows students the opportunity to work towards mastery while also allowing you to know if students are proficient in that standard. Each standard should have at least two formative assessments, as well as a summative assessment at the end of the unit or learning period. Aside from that though, the daily practice that you’re doing doesn’t always need to be graded. Think quick writes, think-pair-share, graphic organizers, small group instruction, whiteboard utilization, group tasks, scoot activities, etc. There are so many ways that students can work towards mastery and can practice in class without having to do a paper and pencil assignment that requires you to grade it.

4. Use Class Checklists to Stay Organized

I am a firm believer in hands-on practice, using manipulatives, task cards, escape rooms, project-based learning, etc. However, at the end of the day, there are just certain assignments that need to be done either by paper and pencil or digitally. These are the assignments that tend to stack up and cause us the most stress. These are the assignments that typically overwhelm us because we are trying to keep track of who turned in what, what class each paper belongs to, who is still missing, etc. Or, we are just eyeballs deep in digital assignments that still need to be graded or checked off.

I have a few ways that I like to stay organized when grading assignments, but my favorite way is probably these simple student checklists.

I like to print off these checklists and have them handy at all times when collecting physical papers. There are a few ways you can use these Editable Student Checklists. The main goal here is that you are going to collect assignments one by one by either calling students up to turn in assignments, having your VIP student collect assignments, or even having students mark/highlight their names as they turn in their assignments. You can use whatever system works best for you, but as you’re collecting these, you’re simply going to either check off each name as you collect their assignment. For any student who is gone, missing, or doesn’t have their work done, you will make a corresponding mark next to their name. This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, I quickly just write an A for absent, L for late work, or whatever letter makes sense to me in the moment haha. This part is crucial though because you’ll want to know why an assignment might be missing or if something was turned in late once you’re ready to put these assignments into the grade book.

I already know what you’re thinking, there is no way you will have enough time to call students up to turn in their assignments. So, let me break this down, step by step.

You’re simply going to have the class lineup in alphabetical order (it helps to have a class list posted, especially at the beginning of the year so that students can get themselves lined up while you focus on collecting assignments)
Next, each student turns in their paper. Have them place it on the table, in the tray, on your desk, etc...upside down.
You’ll mark off their name.
Then they can transition into whatever the next task or activity is in class.

This method takes less than two minutes to go through! Once you’re done, you will have a stack of papers in alphabetical order, you’ll have a checklist of whose has been turned in and whose was missing, and you’ll be able to paper clip the assignments together, with the checklist, rubric, answer key or anything else you’ll need to grade it, and you’ll then be able to put it in your stack to grade later. I know we are used to having students turn their paper into the tray whenever they are done and I actually still do this too. I let students keep their papers in the tray for safekeeping (especially for those forgetful students, that way we don’t have to spend a half-hour digging through their binder, backpack, locker, Chromebook sleeve, you name it.. Trying to find the assignment they are certain they finished, especially if it’s not being collected until the next day.) My students just know that whenever it’s time to turn in their assignment, they need to go grab theirs out of the tray and get in line.

I really love being able to physically paperclip everything together and put it into my stack, but if you’re a digital fan and you’re looking for a Google Sheets grading sheet template, this one is awesome!

5. The Secret Sauce to Grading Papers Like a Boss

Okay, this is where things get really real! This is my number one tip for saving time while grading! Now that you’ve reconsidered the amount of homework you’re assigning, you’ve prioritized what you’re going to grade, and everything that needs to be graded is either in a nice paperclipped pile or waiting for you inside of your digital platform, this is the secret I’ve been dying to share with you!
Normally I would ask you to keep this just between us, but this is a tip I want you to share with all of your friends! Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to grade every single assignment every single day.

Yep, I said it.

You don’t have to grade every single assignment, every single day. It’s just not sustainable!

Instead, you’re going to grade all of your assignments on one particular day during the week. This specific day is going to be reserved for grading. Whether you have prep time before school, during school, or after school. This is going to be your designated day to grade and enter every single assignment into the grade book.

Why, you ask? Well, for starters, when we try to grade assignments here and there throughout the week, we are starting and stopping the process so many times that we are actually wasting a ton of our prep time. By the time we organize the papers alphabetically, spend time getting out the answer key, get interrupted three times, log into our digital grade book platform, it just feels like we never really get anything accomplished.

We aren’t going to spend five minutes here or there trying to get a little bit graded at a time. Instead, you’re going to choose one day a week where your entire focus for the day is grading everything that is already in your alphabetical, paperclipped stack. Everything is already in alphabetical order. You already know whose papers were turned in on time and whose papers were late. You already have the rubric and/or answer key clipped to your pile. You’re ready to go. You are going to politely shut your classroom door, turn on the latest T-Swift album, and start busting out these grades.

Once you get into the rhythm of it, you’re going to get faster and faster each week. This really is a mind shift though. You need to be committed to grading on the day you’ve set aside to grade. You can’t get distracted by the treats in the staff room. You can’t get sucked into checking your email and then going down a rabbit hole. You need to stick to the task at hand, get everything graded, enter it into the grade book, and celebrate by leaving at your contracted time!

Reasons why I believe teacher batching your grading is the ideal way to grade:

Grading late work suddenly becomes manageable
All grades are updated and finalized once per week
Students and families will know when to check their online grade book
No more hauling papers home each night
Time and sanity saved!

Once you get into a grading habit that works for you, it still might be your least favorite thing, but at least it’s manageable. Here are just a few more bonus tips that I’d like to mention that can help enhance our grading experience:

Enter papers directly into the online grade book after they are graded instead of putting them into a paper grade book and then into the computer. Another huge time saver!
Channel your inner 6th-grade self and use a fun colored pen, stamps, stickers, etc. just to make it more fun :)
Create a really cute “needs to be graded” folder to keep ungraded assignments organized until your grade batching day.
Make a folder just for Answer Keys so you can always have the answer key handy, even if it’s an assignment that was handed in late

If you’re looking for more ideas, be sure to listen to this episode on the Let’s Talk Teaching Podcast with Kayla Durkin, and as always, if you need anything at all, please reach out to me and send me a DM on Instagram! I would love to chat with you!

As always, if you need anything at all, head on over to Instagram and send me a message, @mrskayladurkin.

Let’s Talk Teaching Podcast with Kayla Durkin

How do you feel about teacher podcasts? I’ll admit, I wasn’t super into them at first either. However, once I realized the impact they can make, I was hooked.

Sometimes, the best teacher PD we can receive comes from having conversations with other educators, which is what the Let’s Talk Teaching Podcast is all about!

And guess what, I release a new episode every Friday! Whether you’re driving to school, driving to the gym, or folding some laundry at home, if you’re looking for a new teacher podcast to listen to, this is surely one you do not want to miss!