Tips to maximize your time when grading

Have students organize their work

To save you some time putting everything in order, retrieving lost pages, etc., have students staple their pages in the correct order. You might want to have them complete a checklist on the first page and return their work only if they have checked all the boxes (e.g., things you may want on your checklist: name on paper, paper stapled on the left-hand corner, pages numbered, all drafts attached, etc.).

Make a list of the most common problems

Go over the list with the students to start a discussion about common problems and how to avoid them. You might want to think about reusing the test or assignment as an in-class activity.

Simplify the grading scale

If you find the thirteen-level system (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc.) too complex for your grading purposes, simplify (√ +/-).

Use ANGEL

Set up activities and grading options. Have students post their work; it will be easier to grade them directly online and keep track of who posted work and when it was posted.

Do not correct every grammatical error

Rather, edit one or two paragraphs and highlight the type of errors made and instruct the writer to revise the paper throughout.

Have your students self-evaluate

For some assignments, you may want students to review their work or each other's.

Provide external resources

These can to help students cope.