What has been working for me

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Home : 2002 : May : 18

What has been working for me
By Rae

I am also a first year teacher. The beginning of my year was very similar to what is being described! I would stay at work until 6 and still bring home a stack of work. While I accept that paper work will always be an
issue, this is what I have been doing to help ease the burden! As the students are working on an individual assignment, I walk around the room with a red pen and check the completed problems as they do them. This allows me to monitor and adjust if I see someone is having a problem or move on if a student seems to be "getting it". Then when it is time to check papers I already have much

of many assignments checked. I just have to go over the ones I didn't see. It is a tremendous time saver, plus you take care of any misunderstandings immediately. I also allow the students to check their own work. Each student has a red pen in their desk, they take all pencils off of their desk, and we check together. I have found this immediate feedback helpful. The students see if they are not understanding something and it allows them to ask me questions on the spot. It has worked great for when reteaching is necessary, and even for those who don't need reteaching, it is a good review. Believe me... I still am learning to manage my time better. I now make myself leave my classroom no later than 5, but I have found I am taking home less to grade! Good luck! Remember we are all in this together!