What workarounds did people try for "How to grade open-ended assignments and tests faster"?

Community members documented 14 workarounds: 1. Using rubrics and checklists printed right onto the paper 2. Grading one question across the whole class at once rather than one student at a time 3. Checking assignments for completeness and having students self-check using an answer key 4. Having students do guided corrections in class immediately following a test or quiz 5. Giving completion credit for small activities and homework instead of grading everything 6. Limiting the total number of grades per quarter 7. Updating the gradebook every two weeks 8. Grading at home while watching TV in the evenings 9. Taking a personal day off from work specifically to catch up on grading 10. Using completion checks for practice work and only doing detailed grading on key assessments 11. Grading formative assignments on a clipboard while walking around during class 12. Entering zeroes immediately for missing work to force student accountability 13. Adding mandatory hand-copy corrections to assignments to force students to do at least some work. 14. Passing the students despite them not knowing the material to avoid conflict with parents and administration.

How to grade open-ended assignments and tests faster

Grading open-ended assignments, worksheets, and tests takes significant time, making it difficult to return work and go over corrections with students immediately. This delay prevents teachers from providing timely feedback when students are actively working through mistakes using tools like rubrics and red-pencil reviews.

Overview

Last updated Oct 30, 2026

People affected10 accounts across 1 forum

Workarounds found14 items attempted

Community agreement48 total upvotes

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

14 items+ Contribute

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

1
Using rubrics and checklists printed right onto the paper
Did this help you?
2
Grading one question across the whole class at once rather than one student at a time
Did this help you?
3
Checking assignments for completeness and having students self-check using an answer key
Did this help you?
4
Having students do guided corrections in class immediately following a test or quiz
Did this help you?
5
Giving completion credit for small activities and homework instead of grading everything
Did this help you?
6
Limiting the total number of grades per quarter
Did this help you?
7
Updating the gradebook every two weeks
Did this help you?
8
Grading at home while watching TV in the evenings
Did this help you?
9
Taking a personal day off from work specifically to catch up on grading
Did this help you?
10
Using completion checks for practice work and only doing detailed grading on key assessments
Did this help you?
11
Grading formative assignments on a clipboard while walking around during class
Did this help you?
12
Entering zeroes immediately for missing work to force student accountability
Did this help you?
13
Adding mandatory hand-copy corrections to assignments to force students to do at least some work.
Did this help you?
14
Passing the students despite them not knowing the material to avoid conflict with parents and administration.
Did this help you?

Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/Teachers10 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“But I'm going to grade it, they are going to improve their quarter grade despite the fact that they obviously have absolutely have no idea what they're doing. Because if I don't I'll hear it from her, or the parents, or admin”source ↗

DazzleIsMySupport · r/Teachers · 163 upvotes

“Every time grades are due for progress reports I am struggling with grades.”source ↗

Level_Coffee_3613 · r/Teachers · 11 upvotes

“Thirty years in... and I hate grading more than ever. I still get behind. ... Now? I'm just perpetually behind, it seems.”source ↗

MiddleKlutzy8211 · r/Teachers · 4 upvotes

“ela teacher, most of my assignments are open ended. i use rubrics that kids get the copy of to put in their reference folders.”source ↗

Far_Mulberry7366 · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“There’s no way I can grade 130 essays or creative stories in 4 days.”source ↗

teach7 · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“Our new sped chair does basically this. It's a large reason why every assignment I make (and I'm retrofitting my old ones) now has hand-copy corrections automatically attached upon completion.”source ↗

NewConfusion9480 · r/Teachers · 2 upvotes

“Immediately after a test or quiz, I give students their paper back and have them do corrections with me in a red colored pencil as I go over all the correct answers.”source ↗

Sugar_Weasel_ · r/Teachers · 1 upvotes

“I teach writing, so grading Summatives takes me a long time. ... My goal is to get papers returned in 2 weeks, but it doesn’t always happen.”source ↗

teach7 · r/Teachers · 1 upvotes

“Having 150 essays to grade feels insurmountable, and it will only feel more so the longer they sit there ungraded. ... I would come home with piles and piles of work at the end of every quarter.”source ↗

sleepy_green_dragon · r/Teachers · 1 upvotes

“With my own kids at home I don’t get a lot of time to grade in the evenings. But I do sometimes take a day off to catch up.”source ↗

read-the-directions · r/Teachers · 1 upvotes

“I’m especially curious about worksheets, and tests.”source ↗

rebasthe · r/Teachers

Where this came up

r/Teachers education grading productivity school administration special education teaching time management workload workload management