I constantly find myself trying to strike the balance between homelife and preparing for the classroom. At two of the three colleges that I work for, they pay for prep time and it is never equal to the amount of time actually spent. However, I always get paid back when I have great student evaluations of the course or grades at the end of the course. What has been my saving grace in my larger classes is using the scantrons and the automated machines to grade the quizzes and tests. I became so efficient at this type of grading that students would know their test grades by the end of the class! If your facility has not already invested in this equipment, I would strongly recommend your facility invest. I even put homework questions on a scantron and run the homework through as well and what would have been a 2 hour grading session turns into a 30 minute one! Good luck, trying to find the balance.
