I was wondering how many hours does it take you to do school work at night. How do you grade papers to make it easier on you? Can you just get grading done at work and not bring it home? Can you still have a social life when you are a teacher? If so, how do you do it? Do you agree with all the people that say teaching is soooooo stressful? Would you ever change your job or are you happy with being a teacher?
Elementary Teachers: Questions?????
I would pick out the graded assignments each week (we were required to have two daily grades a week) and grade and record those. When we did something for practice, I'd allow the children to self-check it and correct it. Those were called %26quot;checked grades,%26quot; they would get 1-3 points for them (like extra credit). If allowed by the school, I would also let the children trade-and-check practice assignments. Those were also checked grades.
I was a lot happier with teaching once I realized that I didn't need to hand-grade every paper the children completed. Then, I could have a social life.
Elementary Teachers: Questions?????
First off, I love being a teacher and would never change my profession for anything else. About the grading and planning. I usually do my planning and prep work at school but never any grading. The main thing to do is to utalize your prep time and don't spend it talking to people of surfing the net.
I do all of my grading at home when watching TV. It usually takes about 2-3 hours a week, so I can get it done during 1 football game or 2 sitcoms. If you are organized and do it every week ( don't let if pile up.) you can still have a quality social life. The main thing is don't overwhelm yourself. I have teachers at my school that stay there until 9:00 at night and all this crazy stuff. Honestly it really isn't necessary and it is really unhealthy.
1. I was wondering how many hours does it take you to do school work at night.
This depends on you. Some teachers are not very thorough and it does not take them as long to grade as others. Some teachers grade everything--and this can consume your life. You have to find a balance of what needs to be graded and what does not. In the beginning of the year, I spend hours and hours grading, but as the year progresses, I never spend more than an hour per subject every two weeks or so, but I have a system.
2. How do you grade papers to make it easier on you?
I have my students do all of their work in notebooks. I collect notebooks when we have finished a unit or a story for reading and grade everything at once. I also give all of my student's extra work in a packet form and collect their packets with their notebooks. As I grade, I complete a notebook check checklist and this makes the grading smoother and faster because I know what I'm looking for and how many points each assignment is worth.
3. Can you just get grading done at work and not bring it home?
This also depends. If you are effecient at work, and use all of your free time to grade, then no, you do not have to bring work home. I suggest to never grade papers at home though, because you tend to bring the stress and pressure from work home and you need to relax at home.
4. Can you still have a social life when you are a teacher? If so, how do you do it?
Again this is up to you. The best advice I can give you is to not let teaching absorb your life. We have a tendency to believe that because we are teachers, we do not work jobs, but we help people. This is true, but never lose sight of the fact that teaching IS a job. It pays the bills. If you do not develop a social life, you will burn out because of the incredible amount of stress that teaching brings on. You need to have something that you can use as an outlet to relax. Teaching is one of the few jobs that can easily consume your life--trust me.
5. Do you agree with all the people that say teaching is soooooo stressful?
Yes...I told someone earlier that I think I am developing an ulcer. I eat tums everyday, and I have heart palpitations.
6. Would you ever change your job or are you happy with being a teacher?
Yes. I am going to change the aspect of teaching that I am in. I am starting to burn out. I love education, but I cannot see myself teaching young children forever. I will more than likely move into adult education.
Good Luck with whatever you are doing. I hope that my answers gave you some insight.
The big thing to remember is that you don't have to grade everything. Sometimes assignments are given to GET students from point A to point B. Grading should be for assessment.
Assistants are a great resource when grading needs to be done- hand them the answer key and let them do it.
You can have a social life if you allow yourself to have one. The first year will probably be rough, but after that, you'll realize what's necessary and what's not.
