Fast and Focused Grading: How to Tackle a Giant To-Do List

Earlier this week I posted a picture of my to-do list to my Instagram stories. Because I went out of town for the entire duration of spring break, I had a pile of grading to get through in just one day when I got back. Many viewers sent supportive messages throughout the day, but even more expressed shock when I managed to finish in just 5 hours. This told me something I didn’t realize before: I’m a fast grader.

I’m not sure how many of my “tips” will translate to people who aren’t me. Some of the things that help me tackle grading quickly are just ingrained in my personality. But, since some of you asked for it, I’ll share some tips to help tackle a giant to-do list based on my experience.

Make a list

When I feel overwhelmed by a mounting to-do list, I always write it down. Usually, I do this in several spots. I’ll add items to a post-it and then compile a giant list on a notepad or my whiteboard. I get satisfaction from crossing items off my to-do list (who doesn’t?), so that motivates me to get down to work right away. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve found that the larger the to-do list, the more motivated I feel to get to work. This is why I like putting it on my whiteboard or a giant notepad. If I put it on my phone, I will move away from the screen and the urgency disappears.

Don’t grade everything

Something I’ve learned in my years of teaching is that not everything needs to be given a grade. (Insert gasp here.) I know this is not a popular opinion, especially with students, but it makes sense. When you’re writing a research paper, you move through drafts. Some of your research or writing will be trimmed, modified, or eliminated by the time you get to your final draft.

The same can be said of a student’s final grade. It should represent the journey of a quarter, trimester, or semester, but it doesn’t need to show every single moment from that time. My students do a lot of formative work in my classes. If I wanted, I could put in a formative grade for each day, based on participation, writing drafts, or progress towards a goal. However, I only record 2-3 formative grades per week in order to keep my grading load lighter.

There is no shame in reducing the number of assignments you enter into the gradebook. This can be true for assignments that show students are doing poorly. Consider what went wrong (did they misread? Did everyone forget to do the assignment?) and try again with modified instructions or a bigger student buy-in. Then, toss the first attempt and forget it!

You can learn more about this from Jennifer Gonzalez, the guru behind the Cult of Pedagogy. Here’s a helpful e-book she’s written on the topic.

Break up large tasks

On this infamous day of grading, I had a class of research papers to score. I had already completed several classes and saved my smallest class (just 14!) for the end. However, each was 6-12 pages long and they would require a lot of focus. I chose to score these first, doing 5-6 at a time. When I started feeling burned out, I switched to an easier task on my to-do list, crossing 2-3 items off the list. That physical act of eliminating tasks energized me and I was ready to score more essays.

Modify your feedback

While I was grading papers for my sophomores, I spent up to 15 minutes on each essay. This was because I printed out each paper and hand-corrected the mistakes as I found them. I also filled out a rubric and offered brief feedback on that. However, with my AP Lit timed writings, I read them once, circled scores on a rubric, and recorded one sentence on the bottom of the rubric. Done.

Why did I change my feedback strategies? Because of how much time my students have spent on this these tasks. This was only the second large research paper my sophomores wrote. They will be writing more in the next few years, and I want to make sure they truly understand why they lost points. I also found that many students don’t click in to see digital feedback, so I chose to print the papers and give feedback the “old-fashioned way.”

But my AP Lit students take on-demand essays every 2-3 weeks. The rubric never changes, and the strategies don’t change too much either. Therefore, they don’t need tons of feedback from me—just quick notes to point out where they went wrong or how they could improve next time. Overall, my point is that if you’re using the same scoring strategy continuously, you shouldn’t need to give feedback in long sentences.

Another example

My sophomores are constantly writing APE paragraphs (assert, prove, explain). When they don’t meet my expectations, I could write, “Your thesis needs to make a stronger assertion sooner,” or, I could write, “ASSERT!” and they’ll know what I mean.

Use your repeated lessons and student relationships to shorten your grading into a shorthand style. I write a lot of single words (awk, WC, nice, etc.) and often just resort to underlining or highlighting things that I like. If I take any points, I put in a quick sentence to explain why that was. APE paragraphs only take me 2-3 minutes to score each MAXIMUM, so I’m able to get through a whole class in just 20-30 minutes.

Know your body and reward what it needs

Because of my short attention span, I need frequent breaks. But I’m also a very social extrovert. On this long day of grading, I felt tempted to wander next door to my friend’s classroom and hang out.

However, I knew that a one-minute pop-in would turn into a 20 minute conversation, so I saved that for my lunch break. When I needed a break, I queued a few items to the printer and took the long way to the printer. Stretching my legs each hour made it easier to come back, look at my giant whiteboard to-do list, and get back to work.

Design the right rubric

I’ve said it before and it’s one of the biggest aids in grading—having the right rubric can streamline your grading. Look at a rubric you use for an assignment and ask yourself these questions:

• Are the requirements written out or do I have to write them in?
• Are things spatially laid out to allow for circling or checkmarks or do I have to fill blank space?
• If I ONLY wrote a score on this rubric, would the student understand what they did well?

I’m in favor of detailed rubrics that allow me to circle or underline requirements. Once again, I can just write a word or two to show that something is missing (or excellent!). I give more focused feedback within the document and the rubric takes almost no additional time at all.

I have a separate blog post on designing strong rubrics if you’d like more information on this!

Manipulate procrastination

This is a bit of a follow-up from “Break Up Large Tasks” from earlier and it’s unique to whomever is grading. I have a short attention span, but I thrive on completing big tasks. Therefore, when I’m grading long papers from my sophomores, I force myself to score 5 per day (including weekends). Now, I hate grading on weekends, so I often score 6-7 per day to chip away at my weekend workload ahead of time. This equals up to 60-90 minutes of grading each day, which I can usually fit in during the school day (or after school). If I stick to this schedule, I can be done with an entire class in a week!

I think one of the biggest hurdles for teacher grading is battling procrastination. And I’m sorry to say, I don’t have the magic remedy for procrastination. I just remember how I teach my students not to procrastinate on my schoolwork, then try to model that same behavior in giving my feedback. I try to have all grading returned within a week, two if it’s a large research paper. If I take 2 months to return it, then how can I criticize the students for turning in late work?

In the end…

On this day of grading, I managed to get these tasks done in five hours. However, there are several things that I have going for me that many teachers do not have:

• I am a fast reader.
• I have small class sizes (smallest class is 9, largest class is 24).
• I had almost a full workday to score before the end of the quarter, which many teachers don’t get.

Even if you don’t have these gifts, consider what strengths you do have. Do you have a marking period every day? A quiet workspace, free of interruptions? Money to spend on a new grading program or training? My advice is to identify your gifts and learn to use them to your advantage and reclaim your nights and weekends!