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[grasshopper]

It's not that I don't want to learn their names, I really do. But I am just not good at doing that, especially when I have over 100 students per semester. I learn the names of people in my smaller classes; I learn some of the names of people in my larger classes (the ones that talk a lot, talk to me etc.). That's just how it is.

It sounds like names is just one of many worries here. Frankly, I'm worried that you don't know how to hand back assignments in the first place. Just give them back. It's easy. You call out their names, and they come to get it. Bim, bam, done. There are only 45 of them. It can't take more than five minutes. 

[zuzu_]

Re: FERPA and stacks of papers, I don't think this is a violation IF the grades are not on the first page of the document AND you are supervising the students as they retrieve the exams/papers to make sure no one is peeking at others' grades.

It WOULD be a violation if you left them in an unattended stack in a box in the hallway.

[melba_frilkins]

I do a lot of testing (1 per chapter @ 12 chapters) so I hate to burn up too much time with the handing exams back and forth shuffle. After the 4th exam or so, I don't always give them back in class. But I always post their grades online (using ANGEL, but Blackboard, Moodle, or whatever would work), also invite students to come by after class to view their exams. I can easily post comments as well as their grade in the online gradebook.

[spectacle]

In my classes (35-45 students), I stack them in alphabetical piles in the front of the room... grades and comments on the back or the last page so they're not visible. 

I've never had anyone complain.  I have too many students to learn their names, and calling them out wouldn't take so long if everyone showed up on time/sat quietly, etc., but inevitably I have a bunch of doofuses wander in in the middle of handing back and interrupt me to ask, "what are you handing back?",  "did you already call my name?", "hey, where's my paper?" and so on. 

So now I just stack the piles, keep an eye out so no one peeks at anyone else's grades.

[prof_smartypants]

My classes are all between 25 and 50 (3 of them). I know all the students in my 25 person class, 3/4 of them in my 30 person class (the ones that regularly attend...) and only a handful in my 50 person class.

I've done a couple of things over the years, sticking mainly with the "end of class; mob the prof" method.

Another thing to do would be to require students to include a cover page with their name written in bold print, and put the grade on the next page. Then, stack them in alphabetical piles by last name and let them mob the piles (i.e. a-g; h-n; o-z) on their way out of class.

However, I have UG classes, and these guys will never, ever, remember to put cover pages on their papers. I also use rubrics - so I print out the rubric with the grade and attach it to the back of the paper, or write the grade on the back of the last page.

I have to hand back 50 exams tomorrow. Since there's no rubric, and I've already written the grades on the top of the exam sheet, I guess I'm SOL. Too bad this thread didn't start last week. Mob the prof it is.

[spectacle]

My classes are all between 25 and 50 (3 of them). I know all the students in my 25 person class, 3/4 of them in my 30 person class (the ones that regularly attend...) and only a handful in my 50 person class.

I've done a couple of things over the years, sticking mainly with the "end of class; mob the prof" method.

Another thing to do would be to require students to include a cover page with their name written in bold print, and put the grade on the next page. Then, stack them in alphabetical piles by last name and let them mob the piles (i.e. a-g; h-n; o-z) on their way out of class.

However, I have UG classes, and these guys will never, ever, remember to put cover pages on their papers. I also use rubrics - so I print out the rubric with the grade and attach it to the back of the paper, or write the grade on the back of the last page.

I have to hand back 50 exams tomorrow. Since there's no rubric, and I've already written the grades on the top of the exam sheet, I guess I'm SOL. Too bad this thread didn't start last week. Mob the prof it is.

I did this a few times... forgot about the exams and the grades on the front, and I grabbed a thick, black magic marker and just quickly scribbled the last names on the back of the last page right before class and did the alphabetical stacks.  It just saves so much time and hassle.

And the mob-the-prof routine makes me anxious... all of them surging for me, reaching at me with their grubby, H1N1-infested paws... (just kidding.  Sort of.)

[prof_smartypants]

Sharpie! Fantastic! Problem solved.

[professor_pat]

Here's an easy method I've used for years that fulfills all the OP's criteria. Get 1-2 of those big brown multi-compartment folders. Label each slot with a student's name. That becomes their "mailbox" for the entire term. When tests are graded, I just pop each test back in the student's slot and pass around the brown folder, and each person retrieves their test without seeing the others' tests.

I also use the folder to collect student work -- if it's not in their slot in the folder, I didn't receive it. I can never keep track when students just hand me stuff.

Works great...I mean, very well :-).

[cgfunmathguy]

It's not that I don't want to learn their names, I really do. But I am just not good at doing that, especially when I have over 100 students per semester. I learn the names of people in my smaller classes; I learn some of the names of people in my larger classes (the ones that talk a lot, talk to me etc.). That's just how it is.

You want to learn their names? Hand back stuff by calling their names and looking at their faces as you hand them their papers. I have 163 students this semester, and seven weeks in, I *know* the names of all but two or three. I now hand things back without calling names at all, and I take attendance by sight.

[conjugate]

It's not that I don't want to learn their names, I really do. But I am just not good at doing that, especially when I have over 100 students per semester. I learn the names of people in my smaller classes; I learn some of the names of people in my larger classes (the ones that talk a lot, talk to me etc.). That's just how it is.

You want to learn their names? Hand back stuff by calling their names and looking at their faces as you hand them their papers. I have 163 students this semester, and seven weeks in, I *know* the names of all but two or three. I now hand things back without calling names at all, and I take attendance by sight.

I use this approach.  My memory for names and faces is much poorer, and I will still not know all my students by name at the end of the semester.  But I know more now than I would if I hadn't used this approach.

Schools I've been at have agreed that it's a FERPA violation to leave unattended tests.  I suspect the "mailbox" method would be the same if anybody really wanted to make a point of it, but presumably nobody really would.

[zeldazonk]

I use an alphabatized accordian folder (from Staples) and I stick the papers in by last name. Then I put it at the front of the room and they pick up their own work when they see it there. (Pavolvian Response).

The only downside is sometimes they take someone else's work by mistake--but they usually bring it back.

Saves time, is quick, and organized. The folders areabout 10 bucks or so. I use them in all 4 classes.

[tinyzombie]

I use an alphabatized accordian folder (from Staples) and I stick the papers in by last name. Then I put it at the front of the room and they pick up their own work when they see it there. (Pavolvian Response).

The only downside is sometimes they take someone else's work by mistake--but they usually bring it back.

Saves time, is quick, and organized. The folders areabout 10 bucks or so. I use them in all 4 classes.

It's also a FERPA violation.

[arizona]

For bigger classes, I alphabetize, leave 'em in three stacks at the front of the room, and let them find their own.

I always had it drilled into me that this wasn't allowed because of some FERPA thing or other - although maybe if you write the score on the back?

On preview: VP said it better.

Yes--scores/grades are never on the front of the exam/paper.

[archman]

I wonder how many instructors in higher ed follow FERPA guidelines.

I'll go with 15%. That seems like a generous number.

[spectacle]

I use an alphabetized accordian folder (from Staples) and I stick the papers in by last name. Then I put it at the front of the room and they pick up their own work when they see it there. (Pavolvian Response).

The only downside is sometimes they take someone else's work by mistake--but they usually bring it back.

Saves time, is quick, and organized. The folders areabout 10 bucks or so. I use them in all 4 classes.

It's also a FERPA violation.

I'm not clear on why this would be a violation.  And I'm totally not trying to be obtuse or anything - if the papers are separated and alphabetized, and the students flip through and take their own, and if the grades aren't openly visible (are on the back, or a concealed page), is it still a violation?

When I was in college, in the big classes they'd post our test scores on a sheet with our SSN and the grade outside the department.  (This was in the days before student ID numbers - they just used the SSN).  But it was also post-FERPA.  I'd think that would be a much, much graver violation than tests in a folder at the front of a classroom where you can keep an eye on what's going on.