Grading is what makes teachers so mad about being a teacher

Well that and the crappy pay. But honestly, the pay is a minute issue compared to the grading. It's so horrible. It's boring, tedious, mind-numbing, tear-inducing, most dreaded thing ever, awful. I am particularly resentful of grading. Here's how grading goes as you become more experienced:

Year 1- every assignment ever given is turned in and graded by the teacher on accuracy.
Year 2- every assignment ever given is turned in as a "notebook" and graded by the teacher on completion
Year 3- most assignments ever given are turned in as a "notebook" and graded by the teacher on completion, remaining assignments ever given are turned in an graded by the teacher on accuracy
Year 4- most assignments ever given are turned in as a "notebook" and graded by the TA (teacher assistant) on completion, remaining assignments ever given are turned in and grade by the teacher on general accuracy
Year 5- most assignments ever given are turned in as a "notebook" and graded by the TA on completion, most remaining assignments ever given are graded by the teacher on general accuracy, remaining assignments are forgotten- if the student asks to turn it in, they get extra credit
Year 6- most assignments ever given are turned in as a "notebook" and graded by the TA on completion, most remaining assignments are forgotten- if the student asks to turn it in, they get extra credit, remaining assignments are graded by the teacher on general accuracy

If you lost track of this- here's the break down. First I did too much, then I did a little less, then a little but less than that, now I barely grade.

But the grading I have to do now is like hard grading. Stuff I actually have to read. It sucks. It's not interesting and any teacher who tells you so is lying. I'm reading the same thing over and over and over. "Interesting" stopped showing up about page 3.

So then how do students show they're learning? That's way easier than you'd think. You see, students copy and plagiarize ALL DAY LONG. The work they actually turn in rarely shows what has truly been learned. It shows what's been completed. As a teacher, I can gauge a student's learning by seeing how engaged they are in class (tuned out means not learning, duh). By asking them questions. By seeing how quickly they complete that work. By seeing how much of that work they do on their own and how much they do with a friend.

The thing is though- non teaching people don't get this. People really think teachers need to sit down and score papers and give cute little letters grades to determine how well a student is performing. Teachers are not dumb people, teachers know their stuff. And just like a dentist can have a conversation with someone and quickly determine whether or not that person is another dentist. I can have a conversation with a student and quickly determine whether or not they know the same stuff I do.

So I hate grading, it's a pointless exercise that just sucks time out of day. But I have to do it, it's part of the job, so I'm going to keep doing it and complaining about it every single step of the way.