Establishing routines, procedures, and systems are the key to my classroom running smoothly. From the big things, like overall classroom procedures, to the small things, like adding assignments to Google Classroom, systems make my world go round. As we transitioned to remote learning, and I had to transition to remote grading, and I had to completely reconfigure my grading system.
A system for grading is going to look very different for every teacher. It depends on the subjects you teach and the assignments you give. But, I’m hoping that sharing about my grading system will help you find ways to streamline your own system.
However, there are few things I need to mention first.
How Your Assignments Determine Your Grading System
My school uses Google, so we use Google Classroom. So, to me, it only makes sense that I create assignments using Google tools. (Plus, there’s the whole Ed-Law 2d thing that dictates what we can and can’t use.) This year I have been big on Google Forms, Google Slides sorting or drag and drop activities, and Google Sheets shelf-checking activities. Using just these kind of assignments has made grading within Google Classroom so much easier.
What to do about Late Work
This year, as a department, we decided to allow students two additional days to turn assignments in late. This has been a life-saver for all of us. Students get the time they need to do or redo an assignment. And I don’t have to read a barrage of emails from students explaining why they couldn’t get an assignment done on time. It’s been a win-win.
However, accepting late work has impacted my grading system. During a regular school year, I would receive the majority of student assignments at once, and be able to grade them right away. This year, students are exercising their time management, and assignments are trickling in. This needed to be accounted for when I devised my new grading system.
How Instant Feedback Fits into my Grading System
My classes follow a basic daily structure. I start with a mini-lesson, and then I give my students the rest of the period to work. Anytime the work includes a Google Slides activity or a Google Sheets activity, I keep the Google Classroom grading window open. As soon as I see a student turn their work in, I check it, and give them feedback until the end of the period. This works well for students that need extra help because I can assist them right away. This also cuts down on the grading that I have to do later. Please note that not every student submits their work during the class period. Some need more time, and many exercise their time management, and choose to work on it later.
My Grading System Daily Routine
One thing that has helped me really turn this system into a routine is completing it at the same time every day. This is the first thing I do every morning when I’m in school. (My first period class is a study hall.)
Here is it! My grading system for my high school math classes:
Using Google Classroom Review
I start each day by going to the “Review” tab in Google Classroom. At the bottom, I find the assignments that are no longer being accepted. (These are the assignments that are due and where the two day grace period has lapsed.) For one course at a time, I open the assignment pages in a separate tab. This is a form of batching, and it really helps me focus on grading the assignment. I am able to grade the assignments quickly when I’m not switching from one assignment to another, and then back to the first.
Grading Google Classroom Assignments
This next part differs based on the type of assignment. If it was a Google Form, I open the Google Form, and flip the toggle to stop accepting submissions. I usually add a note about the last day to submit the assignment. Then, I record any new submissions, and enter them into Google Classroom. If the assignment was in Google Slides or Sheets, I grade them right in Google Classroom. (The glorious thing about grading Google Sheets self-checking activities is you can see if students earned a 100 right on the preview!)
Returning Graded Assignments
Once the assignments are graded, I return them to the students. For any students that did not complete the assignment, I enter a grade of zero and the comment “did not complete assignment,” and return those. Then, I close those tabs, go back to the Google Classroom review tab, and mark those assignments as reviewed. This way, I only see the current assignments in my review tab.
After that, I repeat the process over with another course. I teach three different courses to five different classes, so this doesn’t take long to do as it does to describe here.
The Second Set of Assignments
Once I’ve finished the grading for the day, I move on to the assignments that are on their last day of being accepted. I grade and return anything that has been turned in for them. If a student did poorly, I add in the Google Classroom private comment that this is the last day they can redo the assignment.
Emailing Students About Missing Assignments
Lastly, I go through the list of students that haven’t completed the assignment yet. I email them about the assignment and that this is their last chance to turn it in. This practice does take more time on my end, but it has been worth it. This email gives students a chance to tell me if they need more help, or need more time because of extenuating circumstances.
Now I understand that this may all sound like a lot, but that’s because I didn’t leave out any details. This entire process takes about 20 minutes for all of my classes depending on the assignment and how many students turned them in toward the end.
Designing Your Own Grading System
Once I finish grading those two sets of assignments, I will look over any other assignments turned in on the Review tab of Google Classroom. Then, if I have time and I feel like it, I will go ahead and grade more assignments. It just depends on the day.
What makes this a system is that I have a set of steps to follow, and it’s easily repeatable. How can you devise an efficient system for grading your assignments?
P.S. If your school also uses Google, be sure to check out my Google Classroom Grading Hacks guide.
P.P.S. You can check my YouTube video where I detail my grading routine.
