Have you ever had a teacher that waits until the last few days of the six weeks to update grades and then does it all at once? If so, you’re definitely not alone. I’ve been there, and honestly it sucks.

There’s nothing worse than being worried about how a major grade from a test or project will affect your grade and not being able to do anything about it, because at that point you don’t have time to retake the test or do extra credit. You’re stuck with the grade because of lack of time.

Teachers need to understand and respect that students need time to bring their grades up and it’s unfair to leave them in the dark about their status in a class, especially when it can come down to  graduating or not. To put it simply, as students we are expected to complete work for all eight of our classes on time. I’ve often heard my own teachers complain about how they are so overwhelmed from having to grade all their classes work, without recognizing how hard it is to be the one actually doing that work. Students are expected to do all their work on time and encouraged repeatedly to not wait until the last minute to do so, and yet teachers fail to meet those same expectations. It’s simply unfair and unkind.

Not to mention, it must be incredibly stressful to be a teacher having to input grades for 200 students for all of their homework assignments, in class work, projects, tests and quizzes the day grades are due. That seems like way more work and pressure than its worth; make it easier on everyone and just get your work done early enough that students can bring their grades up if they need too and you don’t feel as overwhelmed. Follow the advice you give your own students and don’t let your work pile up. Trust me, it will help everyone.

At a school like ours where grades and GPA mean everything and determine much of our social standing and life after high school, it’s important to help students succeed in such a high pressure environment. A simple way to make this process easier is to require teachers to complete their grading as they go, instead of waiting until the weekend grades are due to input them all into the system.

Teachers, from me and what I’m sure is a large population of your students, please make this process less stressful, for all of us.