Domesticity is not one of my strengths. I never make the bed, loathe the vacuum, and emulsify everything I try to cook. At times, the pandemic exacerbates these weaknesses, offering me opportunities to DoorDash more often than is really healthy, providing a reason for extended sofa time, and allowing me to become one with my leggings.
Needless to say, I did not think the pandemic would make me a better adult. Weirdly, though, the pandemic has made me more aware of one thing: laundry.
When I come home from school, my clothes go in the laundry. This means the washing machine fills up faster than usual. In other words, I’m doing laundry far more often than in the past when I could get away with re-wearing a skirt.
In doing laundry more often, I started to realize that it’s actually easier for me to run the machine each time it’s full rather than waiting until the laundry topples the hamper and begins to carpet the laundry room floor.
And that realization has also helped me with grading.
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Starting the Machine
When the washing machine is full, I add the soap and turn the dial. The same is true for grading. When there’s something to grade, I’ve learned that I just have to begin. Even if I only get part way through the “load,” I have more grades behind me than when I started.
The Dryer is Fine
Sometimes, I have to admit, though that the laundry sometimes sits in the dryer for a few days. The same is true for grading. As long as I’ve started working on a set of grades, it’s okay if it takes me a few days to work through them so long as I am steadily making progress.
In the past, I’ve believed that I had to get each set of grades finished in one sitting and that if I graded in drips and drabs, I was less efficient. However, the laundry approach to grading has helped me realize that I’m actually more efficient if I grade a little before school, a little on my plan time, and a little after work. Each time I pick up the red pen, I make a small dent in my workload and, before you know it, the clothes are clean and the grades are done.
Laundry Hacks
In addition to the laundry approach, here are a few other ways I make grading more efficent:
- When I’m washing my work clothes, I constantly have to refer to the care instructions. The same is true in grading. When grading anything that’s not multiple-choice, use a rubric. Think of the rubric as care instructions for assessment. A rubric promotes equity and makes providing feedback more efficient. My favorite rubric is here.
- Everytime I start the washing machine, I’m grateful that I don’t have to carry my clothes to the river. Maytag technology has made my life so much easier. And the same is true for grading: technology makes grading more efficient. For me, this means using the comment bank in Google Classroom to make written feedback more efficient. This also means using one of these 3 methods for providing virtual feedback.
- Before the pandemic, I didn’t wash everything every time I wore it. Similarly, I don’t grade every formative item my students see. When I do take formative grades, I always provide students with retake and revision opportunities in the same way that I can turn to a dry cleaner or tailor if I need additional help.
At the end of the day, laundry will never be my favorite chore, and grading will probably never be my favorite part of teaching. However, by applying the laundry approach to grading, I’ve taken back my time, lowered my stress level, and pushed this metaphor to the extreme.
