Data Inconclusive

Having students turn in work through Google Classroom has its ups and downs.  I like that you can clearly see who has turned in their work.  The submit button means I never have to hear someone say, "I turned it in, you must have lost it."

So, let's call that one point in the pro column.  Obviously, my sixth graders may disagree.

I've had a hard time learning to love grading in the digital form.  Thinking about the paper and ink I'm saving the school system sort of makes it easier to swallow, but I do miss sitting with pen in hand adding comments and corrections to student essays.  Of course, my wise niece told me just last year that kids never read those comments, so maybe all that work on my part was for naught.

Score add a weak point in the con column.

Let's talk about those papers a little more.  Usually, on a weekend like this one (and last one for that matter), I'd have a stack of papers sitting in a metal basket on my dining room table.  Every time I'd pass by I would be forced to face the mound of work that awaited me.  Tattered papers would reach out to me, begging to be graded as I procrastinated my way through a thorough house cleaning.

This afternoon blue skies and cool temperatures beckoned my bike and me.  When I looked at the dining room table it was neat, with nothing but a newly filled fruit bowl.  There were no persuasive essays calling my name.  No, those ungraded essays were neatly filed in the virtual land of Google Classroom.  Sure, I saw my laptop on the table, but it kept quiet- sleeping like a mouse as I grabbed my bike and water bottle and headed out the door.

To be fair, let's call it a draw.  


It seems the pro/con list has come up inconclusive.