Tips to Help Report Card Writing Drudgery

May is a conflicted month for teachers. On the one hand, school is winding down and summer is within reach, standardized tests are over, and you've really had a chance to develop relationships and rapport with students. On the other hand, there's so much to do before the school year really ends, like cramming in those Units you'd thought you'd get to by January, filling out end-of-year paperwork, and of course, writing report card comments.

Here's some quick tips to help with report cards to save your time and sanity. One great resource is Angela Watson's blog and podcast on stress-free report card writing. Watson outlines a 5-step formula for report card comments, which is basically a more nuanced take on the "compliment sandwich" form of report-card writing (positive statements at the beginning and end that sandwich a "needs improvement" statement).

Here are 4 more tips that have worked for me (some of these Watson also mentions):

1. If you're someone who works well with To Do lists, make a detailed schedule or list that itemizes every comment you need to write. It sounds like work on the outset, but it has kept me focused and on task. When I stick to it, I usually end up finishing comments early (yes, really). The key is in the detail. DO NOT just put "Write report card comments" on your list! This task is way too overwhelming and you'll probably just end up ignoring it or feeling like you'll never get to cross it off. Instead, write something more specific like, "Write Nathan's Math comment." Then, figure out how many comments you need to write each day in order to finish by the deadline and stick to your schedule.

2. Analyze your working style. If you had a choice, are you the type of person who works better if you sit down for one long stretch of time to write comments? Are you the type who works better if you only have to subject yourself to the misery of report card writing for 30 minutes a day? Do you write better in the morning before school starts? During your prep time? At home at night? Think intentionally about how long you need to write and what type of time you need to complete your comments efficiently.

3. It's okay to pull from "stock sentences" as long as there's still plenty that personalizes the comments to the performance and personality of each student. Instead of writing each comment from scratch, pull material from the comments you've already written. Report cards comments aren't priceless works of art! This page with 101 Report Card Comments from Scholastic has some great sentence starters for those times when you're really at a loss for words.

4. Take time to think about the importance of the comment in the grand scheme of things. Is it really worth spending an hour on each report card comment if you have 24 students? How many parents actually read the comments? Do you also have a follow-up parent-teacher conference in which you can expand and explain your comments in more detail? Which is better at your school and for your community/colleagues: long comments completed late or shorter comments completed early?

Happy Report Card Writing! Have any more tips? Leave a comment below.