Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 16:51     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
I am required to give and grade homework, classwork and an assessment every school day for 147 students. I teach Social Studies so it isn't like I can have the students grade their own homework and then just turn it in for me to glance over. I have to enter a grade for each and every assignment and while I make good use of my 30 minute lunch break and 50 minute planning period, there is no way possible for me to plan and grade in this limited time period. I have kids and they have to be picked up by 6pm from their after-school program so I leave school around 5pm. Students leave at 3pm so I grade and plan for 2 hrs a day plus the one hour I get to school before school starts. So I work an extra 3 hrs per day and I average 3-4 hrs on the weekends with grading quizzes, tests and projects. Some teachers do not get to decide how much grading they have. We are required to give and grade all of this (and our admin does check on us too!).




That does seem excessive. Just curious, what system are you in?
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 14:42     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
I am required to give and grade homework, classwork and an assessment every school day for 147 students. I teach Social Studies so it isn't like I can have the students grade their own homework and then just turn it in for me to glance over. I have to enter a grade for each and every assignment and while I make good use of my 30 minute lunch break and 50 minute planning period, there is no way possible for me to plan and grade in this limited time period. I have kids and they have to be picked up by 6pm from their after-school program so I leave school around 5pm. Students leave at 3pm so I grade and plan for 2 hrs a day plus the one hour I get to school before school starts. So I work an extra 3 hrs per day and I average 3-4 hrs on the weekends with grading quizzes, tests and projects. Some teachers do not get to decide how much grading they have. We are required to give and grade all of this (and our admin does check on us too!).
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 12:05     Subject: how long to enter grades?
So then, the professional thing to do is to arrange your teaching and your assessment tools so students don't waste time doing assignments with no feedback, right?

Figure out how much time you can reasonably be expected to spend on grading. Develop your practice consistent with that. Spend your limited resource (time) on grading real assignments that represent real thinking by the kids, and less of it on the clerical exercise of insuring everyone answers the homework questions every night.

I don't care how you achieve this, but it is ridiculous to think that middle school humanities and social science teachers don't have to read essays and grade them with some feedback.

Done.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 09:20     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Years ago, before I started teaching, the teachers in my county "worked to the contract" for a few weeks. They were on their 4th or 5th year of no raise. Anyway, my neighbor who teaches middle school showed me a photo of her pile of ungraded work on her desk at school. It almost came up to her hip. This is the work that is graded in her free (unpaid) time. It represents hours of work each week. Her planning time went toward planning for the next day(s) but there was no time leftover for grading. Every year, teachers are expected to do more and more contractually but we are still contracted to work 37.5 hrs per week.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 08:42     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My friend teaches middle school and she has appr. 120 students each day. On most days, they had in homework and classwork for her to grade. That's 240 assignments to grade daily. They also have quizzes once per week and a test every few weeks plus a project every few weeks. She has one 50 minute free period per day to plan and grade. You do the math.


So when does she grade all those tests and papers? Does she save it up until the end of the semester and grade everything in one mega-work-weekend? Or does she grade it every week?


She said she tries her best to have everything done within a week but that is only possible b/c she spends quite a few hours over the weekend and 1-3 hours outside of school hours during the week to get it done.


So that would be roughly equivalent to a 40 hour week?


Oh PP. I teach at a public school and my base hours are 35/week required to be in the building. You can't arrive at your start time and be ready to teach, so almost everyone is there early. I'm at school at least 45 hours a week, plus work from home. Cool it on the lazy teacher thing. It's old.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 08:39     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Anonymous wrote:Also, your husband is fortunate to have a government job which requires only 40 hours a week with good compensation and lots of vacation and great benefits. Many people work lots harder than that for a lot less compensation.


So back to the reason this line of discussion got started -- how many people in the DC area earning say $65K a year, at a professional job, are working 50- 60 hours per week? My sense is if they are working those hours, their salary is higher.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 08:38     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Anonymous wrote:Also, your husband is fortunate to have a government job which requires only 40 hours a week with good compensation and lots of vacation and great benefits. Many people work lots harder than that for a lot less compensation.


Yeah, like me! No way does he work anything like as hard as an elementary school teacher works during the day! He's earning almost as much as a PRINCIPAL!
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 08:37     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I taught school for a number of years. It used to be considered a "profession" which, to me, meant that I needed to get the job done. I did not consider it an "hourly" job. Obviously,. you do.


Why did you leave the profession?


And, yes -- for me, my profession is most definitely a 35 hour a week job; except in September -- the first month of school always requires more work, setting things up. But beyond that, I try very hard not to work extra hours beyond the 8 a day. That is the only way I can manage to keep working at my profession, while maintaining work/life balance with my family.

As a young teacher, I frankly wasn't the more efficient at my job. I find that with experience comes greater efficiency, and I am capable of getting the job done within the hours for which I am being paid to work.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 08:34     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Also, your husband is fortunate to have a government job which requires only 40 hours a week with good compensation and lots of vacation and great benefits. Many people work lots harder than that for a lot less compensation.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 08:33     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Anonymous wrote:I taught school for a number of years. It used to be considered a "profession" which, to me, meant that I needed to get the job done. I did not consider it an "hourly" job. Obviously,. you do.


Why did you leave the profession?
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 08:31     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
I taught school for a number of years. It used to be considered a "profession" which, to me, meant that I needed to get the job done. I did not consider it an "hourly" job. Obviously,. you do.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 06:46     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Anonymous wrote:Do your really think that everyone else only works 40 hours per week without any after work effort? Really?


All I'm saying is, you shouldn't expect someone who is earning $55K a year to be working 50+ hours a week. I'm happy with my job and the hours, but I am not going to be putting in an extra 2-3 hours a day volunteer just to grade school work. If it doesn't happen during the regular school work day (9:00 to 4:30 at my school) it isn't going to be happening.
Anonymous
Post 11/28/2013 06:40     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
Anonymous wrote:


Anonymous wrote:
Do your really think that everyone else only works 40 hours per week without any after work effort? Really?

I'm a teacher who works 35.5 hours per week and earns $55K. My husband is a government employee who works 40 hours per week and earns a little over 100K. He NEVER brings work home. If he is called in to work on the weekend (special event) they give him comp time.




And that is where the term "Close enough for government work" came from. Also, does your husband get three months off every year?


I think he has 5 weeks of (paid) vacation leave a year, but he can take them whenever he wants. He doesn't have to take them in the summer.

He also gets 13 days of sick leave, and of course all federal holidays.

So I get 3 more weeks of vacation than he does, plus of course the weeks the kids get off (Christmas, Wed and Friday of Thanksgiving, and a week at spring break.

The biggest benefit to me, honestly, of being a teacher is getting snow days off so we don't have to worry about who will watch the kids those days.

Anonymous
Post 11/27/2013 22:01     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
2 months in the summer
one week in the spring
2 weeks in winter
2 days at Thanksgiving
federal holidays
Anonymous
Post 11/27/2013 21:54     Subject: Re:how long to enter grades?
I don't know any teachers who get off 3 months every year.