Teachers devote countless hours each week to grading student work. But there are ways to change this! Here you find simple ways to save time on grading to make your work week more manageable as a teacher! 📝

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How to Get Faster at Grading?
One day, I found myself buried under a mountain of ungraded papers, wondering if I’d ever see my desk again. I know you’ve been there too, right? As much as we love seeing our students’ growth, the reality is that grading can feel like it’s taking over our lives. 😭 But what if we could grade faster without sacrificing quality? That’s what I set out to do, and along the way, I discovered a few tricks that really make a difference.
But before we dive into those time-saving strategies, let’s take a moment to remember why grading matters in the first place. 👇🏾
Why Grading Matters?
It’s important to establish our reason for taking grades in the first place. Otherwise, we would all be tempted to just throw every assignment out the window!
- Communication: Grades help us communicate with students and families about student progress.
- Track Progress: Grades help you to see what teaching methods are working vs. what’s not working to impact student learning.
- Planning: Grades help us plan our instruction to fit student needs. They drive instruction for your class.
Keeping these reasons in mind prevents teachers from things that are unnecessary when it comes to grading student work. ✅
Save Time on Grading with Tech Tools
Technology has really streamlined grading in my classroom by leaps and bounds! You can shave hours of grading time from your schedule each week with FREE online software and smartphone apps.
Here are some of my favorite tech tools that help you save time on grading student work:
- Plickers
- Seesaw
- Flubaroo
- ZipGrade
- Using Google Classroom Resources

These are just a few of the resources available online that help teachers become more efficient with grading. Some of these tools can be quickly accessed and used right from your smartphone! Which no one leaves home without anymore. 📱
I am constantly raving about apps that help me teach more efficiently because technology in the classroom isn’t just for student improvement. Teachers can improve grading routines through technology as well. 💻
Spend Less Time Grading by Enlisting Student Participation
Train students to be a part of the grading process, which will save your time grading everything alone.
Some ideas on how to enlist student participating in grading are:
- Using rubrics that students can easily follow and use for self-checking.
- Peer-editing checklists and partner work for students to check each other’s work.

These ideas may work best with older students, but with patient training, students can learn to edit their work at any age!
Ask Room Moms / Dads or Assistants to Help with Grading
Don’t be afraid to ask for help with grading student work!
Now I do put a major disclaimer on this tip. I am not suggesting to hand over student papers to complete strangers who have no idea what they’re doing!
You also want to be careful about sharing confidential information pertaining to your students.
Nor should you assume that it’s someone else’s “job” to get your students’ papers graded.
Let me clarify:
- If you have a TA (Teacher Assistant) / Parapro that helps in your classroom, organize your workflow so that he or she can take on some grading assignments.
I make this super easy by keeping stacks of work request sticky notes that only take a few seconds to complete. I attach these to the papers that need to be graded. My TA has a designated area where I keep papers for her to check. - Get an approved, dependable classroom volunteer to help you. Maybe you are allowed to have a Room Mom or Dad, a retired teacher, or some other adult come to help you in the classroom.

If you are concerned about not being able to “see” how your students are doing on an assignment, just ask your helper to leave the papers in your organized paperwork area so that you can access their progress/ results.
Grade LESS Work
If you want to save time on grading student work–stop grading every single thing that your students complete.
This is a challenging one for many teachers. We feel like students will not take the work seriously and give quality effort unless it’s for a grade.
If students are only motivated to complete something just for the grade, then I encourage you to reflect on ways to increase student engagement and excitement in class. Maybe this will help.
Taking up every single assignment for a grade will definitely lead to overwhelm and teacher burnout!

Quick Tips on Grading Center Work
I love using math and literacy centers in my classroom. Students complete an activity at each center, several times a week.
Do I grade every single center activity? Nope. Here are the different ways I handle these center activities:
- Look over them for major gaps or lack of understanding. If a student bombs a center activity, I will briefly conference with them when they come to my small group teacher table.
- Ask my teaching assistant the main center work. I will often pull one center activity that really targets a specific skill or standard and leave one of these work request notes for my teacher assistant to grade.
- Have students self-check their own papers. I train my students on how to complete the center, then get the answer key to check their own work.
The rest go in my lovely recycling bin! No stacks of papers to take home for grading.
Using AI for Quick & Simple Ways to Grade Faster
AI tools like ChatGPT can be a game-changer when it comes to grading. I know, I was skeptical at first too! But once I started using AI, I realized how much time it could save. Here’s how AI can help you breeze through grading while still giving your students the feedback they need:
- Instant Feedback: AI can quickly analyze student responses and provide instant feedback, especially for objective questions like multiple choice or true/false. Imagine how much time you can save!
- Quick Rubric Application: If you use rubrics, AI can help match student work to the appropriate rubric level, highlighting where the student excelled and where they might need more support.
- Error Spotting: AI can spot grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in student writing. No more endless red marks—AI helps you catch those mistakes in a snap.
- Comment Suggestions: Tired of writing the same comments over and over? AI can generate personalized comment suggestions, saving you the time it takes to write them out yourself.
- Data Organization: AI can help organize and summarize student performance data, making it easier to identify patterns or areas where the whole class might need more instruction.
- Personalized Feedback Templates: For longer assignments, AI can create feedback templates based on common student errors, allowing you to quickly tailor comments to each student.
Using AI tools like ChatGPT doesn’t replace your professional judgment—it enhances it! 🧠 You’re still the expert, but now you’ve got a little extra help to make grading faster and more efficient.

Use Teacher Stamps to Save Time on Grading
Another simple way to save time on grading involves the palm of your hand! 🖐️ They’re teacher stamps. These little beauties allow you to quickly give students feedback on their assignments.
Using stamps is one of my favorite time-saving tricks for grading. Self-inking stamps make it super easy—just open the lid, stamp what you need, and close it up. No fuss, no mess, and you’re onto the next paper in no time! ⏰
Plus, these stamps come in all kinds of styles, and you can even personalize them to match what you’re looking for, whether it’s checkboxes, feedback, or just a little “Great Job!” message.
If you’re looking for a way to make grading a bit quicker, I’d definitely suggest checking out the stamp options above—you might just find one that’s perfect for you!
Teacher Grading Stickers for Fun Grading
In addition to stamps, you can also use grading stickers to make the process faster and fun. They remind me of the personalized sticky note messages that I love to use when giving student feedback. But if you don’t want to go through the DIY process of making them, you can invest in these instead:
Custom stickers make grading a breeze! These personalized stickers let you quickly add encouraging messages to student work without needing to write out comments every time. I like to keep my stickers organized by theme or subject in a small binder or drawer—this way, I can grab the right one in seconds. It makes grading faster and even a little fun!
Speed Up Grading By Batching Your Work
Have you ever heard of batching? 🤔 I use it in every area of my life to save time as a teacher-mama. This includes grading student work. Batch grading is a real time-saver! When I grade, I group similar assignments together and tackle them in one sitting. For example, I’ll grade all the spelling tests first, then move on to math quizzes. Focusing on one type of task at a time helps me get into a rhythm and move through the pile much faster, especially when I combine this with other examples from this list like using a grading stamps.
More Resources to Increase Your Efficiency
Grading student work doesn’t have to eat up all your teacher time each week.
Choose one recommended tip above at a time to implement and master. Trying to do all of them at once will only add to your feelings of frustration with grading student work.
Once you choose a starter tip, then share this post out with other teacher friends. Also, let me know in the comments section which one stands out the most to you. 👍🏾

And remember that you are NOT alone in this! You are doing your best and things will get better. I hope these time-saving tips and tricks help you transform learning beautifully along the journey! 🦋
