Grades A'-dieu

I've never quite learned how to grade less. Part of the dilemma is the ingrained expectations that students develop that anything that is not collected and evaluated by a teacher is "for no reason." Another is that the completion rate and quality on any assignment increases substantially if "it's going to be collected."

Of course that leads to a major difficulty. Mountains of grading. I have turned to online grades in order to avoid the tedious task of calculating points and percentages every time progress grades are due. I never yearned to be an accountant, and grades are 90% accountancy. Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull, as Monty Python made famous.

Nevertheless, the grades/points still need to be entered to be calculated. I've never been able to avoid the importance of writing well, and so, most of my grading is evaluating essays. And, as a former editor, I find it next to impossible not to edit and correct the language on the papers as well. (This is beginning to sound mightily compulsive, isn't it?)

Like the Perfect Storm, it all comes together today by 3 pm. The insatiable computer must have all grades entered. It goes without saying that all the grading will not be completed by then, so, they are truly "progress" grades, or best estimates for where the student is currently, and where they are headed.

Two, three hours of evaluation and entering, and finally the grade machine is satisfied for now--but not for long. In four weeks, it will all be repeated again. I do think that I am developing a form of "grading block" this year, a close cousin of writer's block.

Luckily, most of my students have learned that for my courses, at least, grades are mere passing information on a broader journey, like the speed of a car. The goal isn't the grade but the journey, the scenery, and where you end up at the end. Grade reform must be about as old as the profession itself, but it's not something that we are currently tackling. Perhaps it is a nut that will never be cracked. All I know is that the amount of teaching time I invest in grades and grading never justifies the benefit.