I feel I bit off more than I could chew last week. I was drowning in papers!!! Any advice for how you’ve stayed productive? - Pinned by Paperwork

Dear Pinned,

I’ve been there! After my first middle school ELA unit wrapped, I thought I wouldn’t continue in implementation. However, I learned about setting a routine for giving feedback in and out of class, which was a game-changer.

In a 45-minute class flow, this is how I managed my “teacher time”:

• The first 10 minutes while students read their books, I had micro-conferences with them on their reading and unit pace.

• The second 10 minutes was a whole-group writing or grammar experience.

• We’d move into self-pacing for the final 25 minutes where I’d pull students who needed revision work for 5-10 minutes and then reserve 10-15 minutes for giving feedback on submitted mastery checks in class.

My rule was, “Unless you’re bleeding or vomiting, you may not talk to me while I’m giving feedback.” Even though it was just 10-15 minutes, since my mastery checks were so targeted on one teaching point with clear mastery criteria, I could give feedback FAST – my favorite thing was to use the rubric feature in Google Classroom! To end class, we’d do a super quick look at the public tracker to set goals for the next class, and they’d be on their way.

You could also consider bringing the grading into a more student-led flow. I’ve worked with educators who have a “grading station” as part of their self-paced classroom where students can self- or peer-assess mastery checks against an answer key and the educator spot-checks them after they submit them. Or, perhaps you use auto-grading forms that give the learners instant feedback that you can monitor without having to grade.

The other huge piece was a tip I learned from one of our mentors, Moira Mazzi, in her article “Grade Smarter Not Harder.” In it, Moira talks about the importance of claiming a small block of time outside of class each day to grade. For me, this looked like spending 30 minutes of my 60-minute planning block giving feedback on mastery checks. On days I didn’t have a planning block, I’d usually get to school 30 minutes early and knock it out. Doing a little bit each day drastically reduced the pile-up on my desk!

Wishing you a quick unpinning!

Emily Dia
Partnerships Manager

Emily Dia worked as a classroom teacher and instructional coach for the last 20 years. Her grounding purpose is to create equitable access to transformative teaching for all children. She is passionate about culturally responsive + relevant practice, assessment + grading reform, and dynamic curriculum design. As the Partner Transformation Manager for the Modern Classrooms Project, she spends her days supporting educators, schools, and districts in reimagining instruction with the Modern Classrooms model. Emily holds a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University and a Master’s degree in Learning & Instruction from Northeastern University. When she's not thinking about creating paths and systems for all to students succeed, she dreams about reading a book on a beach and enjoying time with her family and dog Buffy, slayer of vampires.

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