My latest crop of students are fierce completers of homework and I love it! I’m a firm believer in the need for individual student practice outside of the classroom. However, I’m not a huge proponent of “grading papers” in the traditional sense.
I generally take the time to go over it with them in class the next day to make sure they understand what I’ve asked them to do and to ensure that they’ve taken the time to practice the skills that I’ve taught them. However, I rarely, if ever, sit with my red pen and go over every single paper to make sure they’ve multiplied or divided fractions correctly. There just isn’t time for that nor does it benefit them.
Checking it in class allows them to follow along with me as I show them ( or reinforce ) the correct processes, techniques, strategies, and skills involved in mathematical problem solving. They get to ask questions, share common misconceptions, and generally get more out of the experience than if I were to simply slap a grade on the paper and hand it back without ever discussing what went wrong with them.
Popular schools of thought suggest that all graded student work should have teacher commentary either attached or written on the assignments. The realities of modern schools ( data collection, item analysis, disaggregation of individual student achievement data, law suits, faculty meetings, club sponsors, and teacher personal lives ) doesn’t allow me to sit with my coffee on the back porch and check 160 papers every night. This being the case, going over it with them in class is more beneficial to them and a better use of my limited time.
(Parents and nay sayers don’t worry. My students all get credit for doing the homework. I recognize that many of us are still stuck in that extrinsic reward mentality when it comes to school work and as such, they should get something tangible for the work they put in…other than a better understanding of the content.)
