summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2009-11-02 04:40 pm
summercomfort) wrote2009-11-02 04:40 pm
Why I dread grading so much
One of the most frustrating things in teaching is the grading. I haven't yet met a teacher who expresses delight at grading. I mean, I love the other parts of teaching so much that the grading is worth it -- I love learning new things with the students, I love creating curriculum because it's very much a collaborative creative process -- students need to contribute in order to make learning happen, I love the students, the atmosphere that is youthful energy and engagement.
But I loathe grading.
I'm not saying I loathe assessments. I do plenty of assessments -- visual and oral in class -- how hard were they working on the research project? How powerful was their presentation? How profound their questions? That is part of the class-time, and that comes naturally.
The grading I'm talking about is where I sit at home or in my office and read over all of these ... products, and assign each a quantitative value and then write comments.
I dread it because it is monotonous, but also hard.
It is boring because:
- I'm not learning cool things about history
- There is nothing creative here -- I am essentially reading the same responses x 30, and performing the same evaluative process
- There isn't a person-to-person interaction -- I'm seeing a very focused, distilled aspect of a person, while the person is not here
At the same time, it is hard. This is not the boredom of an assembly-line. I need to give "helpful feedback". This is actually a translation process: her thought process, translated to paper, interpreted by me, evaluated against my internal expectations, assigned a numerical value, then translated into words that describe why it has failed my internal expectations. This is difficult. A lot is lost along the way.
On the other hand, grading is necessary. Or rather, individualized assessment and feedback is necessary. I can't get to each student in class. I can't measure a student's writing skills in class. This needs to be assessed individually, and assigning-and-reading essays is the best way. Individualized feedback is also important-- the students need to know what they can do to improve. Eventually they will become good at self-assessment, but in the meantime, they need some help with the measuring of their work.
Okay, back to grading now. :/
But I loathe grading.
I'm not saying I loathe assessments. I do plenty of assessments -- visual and oral in class -- how hard were they working on the research project? How powerful was their presentation? How profound their questions? That is part of the class-time, and that comes naturally.
The grading I'm talking about is where I sit at home or in my office and read over all of these ... products, and assign each a quantitative value and then write comments.
I dread it because it is monotonous, but also hard.
It is boring because:
- I'm not learning cool things about history
- There is nothing creative here -- I am essentially reading the same responses x 30, and performing the same evaluative process
- There isn't a person-to-person interaction -- I'm seeing a very focused, distilled aspect of a person, while the person is not here
At the same time, it is hard. This is not the boredom of an assembly-line. I need to give "helpful feedback". This is actually a translation process: her thought process, translated to paper, interpreted by me, evaluated against my internal expectations, assigned a numerical value, then translated into words that describe why it has failed my internal expectations. This is difficult. A lot is lost along the way.
On the other hand, grading is necessary. Or rather, individualized assessment and feedback is necessary. I can't get to each student in class. I can't measure a student's writing skills in class. This needs to be assessed individually, and assigning-and-reading essays is the best way. Individualized feedback is also important-- the students need to know what they can do to improve. Eventually they will become good at self-assessment, but in the meantime, they need some help with the measuring of their work.
Okay, back to grading now. :/
no subject