Consistency is definitely something I’ve been focused on as I’ve begun this semester. I want to make sure I’m grading fairly, and keeping in touch with the lesson objectives to provide the worthwhile feedback I want to give: and it can be so hard to keep in perspective, when students have different needs and work at different paces and bring different abilities to the table. Plus we’re throwing technology into the mix, and it can be hard at times to even surpass that hurdle to get to the meat of the lesson, especially here in the beginning.
One major thing that I’ve been working on to keep myself consistent is my Feedback Repository. From my very first coaching session with my lead instructor, I was told to begin compiling feedback for students. Early on, I was resistant to this idea: it felt like I’d move away from personalized feedback and end up pasting in a catch-all response, and I didn’t like the idea of that.
However, my repository sheet is now 12 pages and counting, and none of it feels like a catch-all response. When students don’t understand how to attach a file, I’ve already written a user-friendly explanation to help them out. For the (many) students who have difficulty grasping the Rule of Thirds in their Digital Imaging class, I’ve compiled a how to that uses analogies and outlines and dos-and-don’ts. By not reinventing the wheel, I’m giving myself more time to give personalized feedback and build connections with my students.
The Feedback Repository has another purpose: whenever I grade something that doesn’t have a built in rubric, and I choose to break it down into parts (i.e. Answer, Reflection, Grammar and Spelling) I have recorded that breakdown for future use, and I’m doing it the same way every time.
Today I reached Gradebook Zero for the first time since Regular End Date kids rolled in on the 5th. And that is not a fluke! The reason I did this was that I started using the Needs Grading sorting feature.
In the face-to-face environment, I would grade like assignments at once because they were due at once. It wasn’t intentional, it was just logical. But in an open-schedule format, with students working at their own pace, I’ve been grading down the line, oldest to newest. Today I decided, heck, let’s get all those “Message Instructors” out of the way. Done.
Then I did all the file submission practice assignments. Bam. The Discussion Board. Quiz 2.1. Instead of 56 items in Digital Imaging, I had 23. I was cheering.
Consistency led to efficiency. I don’t think I had any idea how much time I was wasting switching gears with every assignment. And my feedback was suffering!
It’s an amazing feeling to close out the week and feel like I’m doing my job better than I was on Monday. I’m looking forward to another head-smack moment next week.