Grading
I always try and grade students work and hand it back to them immediately. I find that they know the class will be better engaged and understand errors they have made. Is it ever acceptable to not return grades immediately?
John,
Out of necessity, if I have essay or written papers, I will read the first few without assigning a grade. Then, after I've read them all, I go back, read my comments, and assign a grade based on the rubric or my sense about their performance based on the whole of the class. Anyway, all this takes time, sometimes, multiple days. But generally, I agree, it's important to get graded material returned to the student ASAP.
Barry Westling
I do the same, i try to grade them as soon as possible to show the student i have a responsability with them. Unless they are projects, it takes me a little longer since it takes me longer to read and grade every single project.
Carlos,
Yes, students will appreciate getting graded work returned sooner rather than later. There's the immediate satisfaction of knowing how they performed, plus the the cumulative feeling of "I'm making progress towards a goal". That's invaluable. Why would we want to withold that kind of motivation?
Barry Westling
I always get the students homework and quiz grades back to them as soon as possible and entered into our grading system. This way they have a great understanding on how they are doing.
Alan,
I think it's a natural desire to want to know class performance. Sometimes I give short answer quiz, and as each student finishes, I circulate about, collect the quizzes, and begin grading right on the spot. Usually I have most quizzes graded by the time the last student finishes, so I'll say, "hold on for a moment" finish grading, enter the grades, and return the quizzes, with discussion in the form of a review. Instant feedback! For longer assessments, I try to get the graded tests back after the students take a break, or at least by the end of the class period. I know this can't work for everyone, but I know students appreciate getting their graded material returned.
Barry Westling
I agree, I try really hard to grade assignments as soon as possible but projects and papers are a lot harder to do. At times, we try to assign group projects to cut the number of grading down as well as it works on team building.
Leslie,
However it's done, I can just say sooner is always better than a delayed response. Students thrive on points and grades -- it's like a currency to them, and they want to be "wealthy".
Barry Westling
