Grading System that Works for Me

 

Are you looking for a grading system that works?! Is it report card time again?!  Trying to save time because your schedule and to do lists are CRAZY TOWN?!  I want to share 3 tips that I use for my grading system and how those tips can help save you time, stress, and scrambling when it’s report card time!

 

One of my systems for grading my kiddos’ papers is that EVERY paper that my kiddos turn in go DIRECTLY into the in bin.  {you can see this in my Periscope video below}  I never have student papers stacking up on my desk or shoved in a teacher bag.  ALL of the papers I need to grade are in my in bin!

Another one of my systems is to collect papers to be graded in ALPHABETICAL order so that when you grade them, you can put your grades into your grade book instantaneously because your stack of papers that you’ve graded are in the same order as the list of your students’ names in your grade book.  Boom.  Time saver!

One other KEY element to keeping your system EFFECTIVE is to NEVER ever EVER let your in bin over flow.  Keep on top of it.  Set aside an hour on Tuesdays, let’s say, to GRADE!  Don’t let your in bin over flow, and you’ll thank yourself.  And maybe me?! Repeatedly.

 

Tip number two is all about keeping ANECDOTAL NOTES! I use an itty bitty notebook to keep alphabetical anecdotal notes about my kids.  Whether I jot these notes down during individual conferences that I have with these students or whether I jot down a specific note about a kiddos’ most recent reading test, I keep anecdotal notes of little, yet significant observations that I’ve made on each student all marking period long.  Then, when it comes time to write report card comments at report card time, I grab my anecdotal notebook to help me to write meaningful and specific report card comments on each and every kiddo.  I love having this resource that I’ve created at my finger tips at the end of each grading period.

 

 

My last tip for you regarding report card time and grading systems is to keep your data organized and all in one place for each student.  One way that I keep track of my kiddos’ data is in my excel sheet style grade book.  At a  glance I see ALL of my kids’ grades in one place.  I can also add notes right into the grade book right next to each student’s name.  I could also add these notes to my anecdotal notebook.  Or do both! Whatever works for YOU!

I also keep a data binder for each of my students.   I use these binders to keep periodic work samples, assessments, notes, progress reports, pre-assessments, or a work piece that stood OUT to me {whether for a good reason or a bad reason}.  Does EVERYTHING need to go in there? NO.  But I like to think of our data binders as a SNAPSHOT of their learning.  These data binders are a great tool come report card time AND act as a great portfolio at parent teacher conference time as well.  They are a crucial part of my grading system that definitely works for ME!

If you want to hang on to these ideas for later, be sure to pin this post using the image below!

For a bit more detail on my grading system and a few VISUALS of what these tools look like, check out my periscope video replay below!