Being a teacher and a coach is very hard at times. I get pulled in many directions between school, coaching, family needs, and working towards my masters. Between all of this I need some “me time.” Currently, junior high and high school basketball are overlapping so my schedule is crazy right now. But I love every moment and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Everything manages to get completed it just takes good time management skill, effort, and problem solving.
The question I want to focus on is, when does a teacher/coach find time to grade papers?
As a math teacher I assign homework everyday. I want to provide feedback to my students in a timely manner so they know how they are performing. Below are three ways I go about grading papers:
1) In my Algebra 1 class, I have students grade their own assignments in class. Then we talk about the problems they missed. This allows for quick feedback.
2) Other times, I grade papers by myself while students are spending the last 10-15 minutes of class working on the lesson I just taught.
3) Sometimes I grade based on participation. For example, if a student attempts all the assigned problems they get all the points. Pictured below are examples from two students. The first student attempted all the problems so he received 17 out of 17. The second student did not attempt all the problems; leading to a score of 10 out of 17.
I would like to introduce Mrs. April Allen (or Coach Allen)
April teaches 10-12th grade mathematics at South Holt so we spend a lot of time discussing standards and expectations of students. April coaches high school softball and cheer for both varsity football and basketball. So she is also busy between balancing time between school, coaching, family, and time for herself. Below is her response to the question, how/when do you find time to grade papers?
- “In my class, most students’ grades are based on chapter tests.”
- “When coaching high school cheer, I grade assignments at the game. I grade them at halftime and between the girls’ and boys’ games.” We are currently playing in a tournament this week so here are a couple pictures of her using her time wisely to grade papers.
- April also said, “The majority of the time, I have students grade their own papers in class.”
- Her last statement in regards to this question was, “Sometimes I don’t even grade students’ assignments. I assign a lot of in class work therefore I do a lot of formative assessment by walking around watching students work. I watch for how they communicate with their “team” or peers. This helps me determine if students are understanding the topic. It also helps me assess student learning while cutting down on the papers I have to grade on my own time.”
My next question is, how do you think students would respond if homework was optional? By this I mean, homework wouldn’t be for a grade. In math, students learn by practicing so would students still do the assigned problems even if they don’t have to? Could this teach some accountability and put the responsibility of leaning more on the students?
- April Allen’s response: “At a high school level, I think 80% of students would take self-control and do the assigned problems even if they didn’t have too.
- “For an incentive, you could tell students on the day of the test that they could use any homework they have completed to help them during the last 10 minutes of the test. This may encourage more students to complete the assigned problems or at least look over them each night.”
Along with my guest, April Allen, I would like to provide some more tricks for managing time when grading papers. If you find grading papers a hassle or too time consuming I highly suggest that you try some of the helpful hints described in the following article. These will be time savers which will result in more family or free time. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/overwhelmed-grading-papers-try-these-time-saving-tricks/
You may be wondering how is this connected to “problem solving involves teamwork.” Not only do students need teachers; but teachers also need student’s help. It’s all about teamwork. By having students grade papers it is helping the teacher by allowing him/her more time to plan other lessons. It also benefits the students. It is a win-win situation. Students are able to get immediate feedback and this is a great time for them to ask questions about problems they missed. It also allows the students to think critically about the problems and understand why they missed the ones they did, and how to eliminate their mistakes on future problems.
I would love to hear how you manage your time when grading papers. When do you grade papers? How do you grade them (participation, correct/incorrect)? Do you do weekly quizzes, with homework being optional? Is the homework you assign completed on a digital platform that grades for you? Drop your comments below.
Problem Solving Involves Teamwork 
I love the layout of your blog! It is super organized and the teacher in us all, I’m sure, really appreciate that factor in your blog. After reading your blog post “Coaches, when do you find time to grade papers?”, I found myself relating to you as a teacher who coaches! Although we have our difference because I teach 4th grade and only coach Jr. High sports, I feel the pain of when and how do we get things done. There were many times for coaching I had to find someone to cover my class because of how early our bus left and then times after games where I thought to myself “There is no way I can leave school right now” because of the STACKS of papers to be graded and all of the copies to be made. It really is a tough balance, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make because I love making a difference in all of these kids’ lives. Knowing they enjoy being with me, just as much as I enjoy being with them makes it all worth it!
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Thank you for your post. I have taught 7th and 8th grade mathematics courses for the past 25 years. I have used many different ways to grade student work over the years. Presently, I have students check their own daily work papers and do not count those scores in their grades. I tend to do a lot of teaching while checking, seeing this as a chance to help students understand concepts for which they are still unclear. I have found that not using daily homework scores in their grades keeps students from becoming overly concerned with the need to be perfect, but also allows them to take risks and learn from their mistakes and errors. I then look over their papers to find patterns of misconceptions that I can address the following class period.
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JoAnn,
Do your students know that daily work does not count for a grade? If so, how do you motivate them to do it? I like how you use daily work as a teaching point and you help students with concepts that are unclear to them. I like this concept because daily homework is where students practice what they just learned. We shouldn’t expect perfection from the students at this time. They just learned the concept, they need time to process what they just learned. So what does go in the grade book for your students, tests and quizzes?
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Lisa,
The reason I coach is to watch student-athletes grow and develop. I especially love coaching junior high sports because this is when students are learning the fundamentals. I think it is at this age when you see the most improvements and I love that part! Like you said, I love making a difference in these students’ lives. My goal is to teach teamwork and how to develop a positive work ethic. Making positive relationships and memories with these student-athletes will last a lifetime and this is what brings joy to my life. All the grading seems stressful at the time but seeing your athletes smile and jump for joy after winning a game makes you rethink the difference you are making in their lives. Sometimes grading papers just have to wait until the next day.
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