GRADING IS BORING

Hello teacher, if you are reading this article it means every time you hear the word grading you try to run as far as you can scared of facing the endless and tedious task of writing the report cards of your students. However, you know (and I know it too) that the further we can go is our office laptop and finish the reports.
If you are still reading is because you probably have that feeling that there is something more behind this final grading and you might ask yourself “How did my students got those marks?”, “Are they fair?”, “Do my students understand what they really mean?”. To sum up “WHY DO I LOVE ASSESSMENT ALTHOUGH I FIND GRADING A BORING TASK?”
My key to find assessment so interesting is to ensure it to be part of my everyday lessons, not only as a way to collect information (to use it for boring grading) but also, and more important, to ensure my students become aware of what they are learning, why they are learning, where they are in the learning process, and what they need to do to finally achieve the learning goals.
Sharing and defining the learning objectives in the class is crucial to ensure students know What they are learning. Kids can see a simple activity in class such as a mimics game just a fun time, or they can acknowledge that the aim of this activity is not playing but to practice an every day structure they are going to use in a funny way, of course.
Let us go a little bit further and ask ourselves if ALL WHAT WE TEACH makes sense to our pupils. The answer is not unless we pay attention to their needs, interests and motivations and we consequently prepare our lessons to be significative by leading our students into transferable learnings so that they know Why they are learning.
At this point, we all know some kids might think they have already achieved the learning goals when we teachers know there is still a way to go. It is time to find strategies to provide the students with information about where they are in the learning process and, linked to that, what they need to do to finally achieve the learning goals.
In order to promote this self-awareness of the leaning process, I gradually incorporated the use of rubrics as part of my lessons. The ones I use are written in a very plain and simple language with specific and defined criteria so that students can identify where they are and focus on what they need do.
I use different types of rubrics such as self-assessment rubrics at the end of a learning task so that students can define their effort, their opinion about the task, and their level of achievement. 

One of my favourite rubrics is the one kids use at the end of a group activity where they must discuss how they worked together and what to improve in the next task.

Finally, I also find important to promote co-assessment as an opportunity to become aware of what we are expected to do and to learn through analysing other’s tasks for example by checking the parts of an oral presentation or correcting a writing activity.

 
To sum up, all of this process of assessment provides both teachers and students with valuable information to regulate the learning process and to ensure the achievement of the learning goals through adapting the activities to the appropriate level and the best learning style considering our students needs, interests and motivations. At the same time, students become aware of what they still must learn so that they can focus their efforts on what is essential.

Hello teacher again. If you are still reading it means maybe you are considering assessment is not that boring but the centre of the learning task. Of course, once both students and teachers are aware of where they are in the learning process and what they still need to learn, it is time for grading as this final report of the task done, even thought it might not be our favourite part.

Núria Parareda