Everyone is trying to achieve a work-life balance, but for teachers, that simple concept is actually very complicated. One of the reasons teachers struggle so much with having a life outside of school is the amount of grading that we have to do. While I’m biased, I believe secondary science teachers have the most grading, especially with the labs and having multiple preps. I want you to be able to manage and achieve this, so in today’s episode, I’m sharing four tips that will cut your grading time in half.
Now, some of these ideas may seem drastic to you, but I encourage and challenge you to listen with an open mind if you really want to cut down on your grading. Each of my four tips includes limiting what you collect, which items you grade for accuracy, and trying batching when you grade. A lot of the pushback I get when I suggest ways to cut down your grading, are teachers’ concerns of not checking in or assessing students based on their work. But don’t you worry! I’ve thought of a way you can check in daily with your students to ease your concerns.
Grading student work is part of teaching and we’re made to believe we should be spending hours a day on this one task of teaching. However, if we want to achieve a work-life balance, we need to find a better solution. And while the four tips I share in this episode might seem extreme, they will help cut your grading time in half and allow you to have a life outside of school while also checking in with your students daily.
Resources Mentioned:
Show Notes: https://itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/episode120
128. Admin Appreciation - The Best Ways My Admin Ever Supported Me
127. Teaching AP Chemistry With Guest Zach Matson
126. Teaching AP Environmental Science With Guest Ashton Allgood
125. Teaching AP Biology With Guest Beth Hines
124. Teaching AP Physics With Guest Laura Preiser
123. What to Do When You Care More Than Your Students Do
122. How to Nail Your Teacher Job Interview + 3 Mock Lesson Ideas
121. Burned Out? When It’s Time to Make a Change
119. Increasing Retention - How to Get Students to Remember Dense Topics
118. CER: What It Is, and Why I Never Explicitly Taught It
117. How to Prep for a Long-Term Substitute Who Doesn’t Teach Science
116. Behind Schedule? What to Do and How to Prevent It in the Future
115. How to Act Confident When You’re Not
114. How to Bounce Back After You Mess Up
113. What to Do When You Have No Energy - Truths for the Classroom
112. What to Do When You Have No Energy - Systems for the Home
111. Priorities and Boundaries in the New Year
110. How to Manage a Classroom of Apathetic Students
109. 10 Questions to Ask Yourself as You Reflect Over Your Course Sequence
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