Tough Tasks

As a substitute teacher, you often end up being a glorified baby sitter. Teachers seldom want you to teach new material to students, because chances are you'll do it wrong, and then they'll have to spend the next class undoing the damage the substitute did. For the most part I showed video's, administered tests of some sort, or gave out packets of class work. Occasionally I would have to grade the tests I gave, and this is where I had a dilemma. It's one thing to grade a multiple choice test, but grading short answer can be problematic.

In the class I TA, I grade half of the assignments. For the most part they are small assignments - reflection pieces, drafts. I do not grade final drafts. This is fine by me. I'd rather not grade final drafts that carry large weight in regards to students final grades. I don't mind grading papers; it's not an incredibly difficult task. The problem I find is that there is no real rubric to grade papers on. There is an assignment, but not a rubric so I'm left to make my own judgement calls.

Another important piece that I've figured out about grading my third time through, is that I cannot sit down and grade twenty pieces at a time. Potentially I could, but it's not fair to the class. Even when I grade five papers, I find myself being more lenient towards the end of the grading process. I'm not sure if it's because I just want it to be over with and it's easier to give a "B" then to think about it, or if my brain gets tired and I miss mistakes and stop thinking about what I'm reading.

Two things I've learned so far:

1. I need a rubric. I will always have a rubric for assignments I give. Even if it is a basic, one-page assignment, there will be a rubric.
2. I need time to grade. It's important to space out the grading process. Maybe as I progress I'll be able to grade more papers at a time, but for now I need to break it up.