Do you feel attacked when you open your To Be Graded list?
Nearly every online teacher has been in a situation where the grading inbox seems to be an avalanche of work that needs attention, feedback, and evaluation. There are even days when a teacher grades one assignment only to return to find the queue has grown by 5.
What to do TODAY:
Wrangle the TBG Monster (To Be Graded):
You did it! You tamed the beast of TBG
Now, prepare for effective grading practices:
- Selective: Give feedback ONLY on the skills or standards being measured in an assignment.
- Example: An assignment asks a student to summarize a short story. This assignment is assessing the student's reading comprehension. The teacher can omit feedback on grammar, punctuation, and other writing standards. It may be tough, but RESIST. This assignment is not assessing those skills. If the course is well designed, those skills will be assessed at another time.Also, too much feedback overwhelms students and may have a negative impact on growth.
- Specific: Use details from the student’s work to give specific feedback.
- Example: Rather than saying, "I know you can do better" say "Take a look at the dependent variables again. Notice how they impact the independent variable at step 6."
- Balanced: Give a mixture of positive and constructive feedback
- Use a feedback sandwich of 1 positive, 1 constructive, 1 positive comment. Be aware of tone, which is difficult to convey. Consider using the record feature to leave audio feedback.
- Task-Based: Comment on the work, not the student. Say, “You provided great support for your claim” rather than “You are a great writer!”
- Transferable: Given feedback that contributes to the student’s overall growth. Refer to course objectives to give feedback that can help in future assignments as well.
- Timely: Feedback is most effective when given soon after the student submits work. If work is more than a few days old, assign a grade and move on.