The Three BEST Pens for Grading!
Ahhh grading. A necessity, and yet my least favorite part of teaching. It is currently final exam week at my school, so this means even more grading than normal. It often takes hours on end to grade a test, and since I try to leave meaningful feedback and comments on everyone’s assessments, I go through pens quickly. I have tried just about every pen out there over the past decade of teaching and grading, and here are my TOP THREE FAVORITES:
BIC Cristal Xtra bold ballpoint pens: The first pen I fell in love with as a teacher. The package contains numerous fun, bright, colors, and the writing is SMOOOOTH and bold. Perfect for helping students notice and read my comments! I also use these for taking notes and showing out examples with the document camera. Reasonable price and the cheapest of the three I highlight here.
CONS => The writing really is pretty bold for a pen, so these do not work well for any scenario where your space is limited. For example, I don’t using these pens with my paper planner, since the boxes for each period and each day are small and require a more precise, fine point pen. Also, pressure is required to make the ink flow, so after several hours, it can make your hand tired.
PILOT Precise V5 Liquid Ink Rolling Ball stick pens: The second pen I discovered as a teacher that I stuck with. This pen is very easy to write with and requires NO pressure on the paper to make the ink flow. This is a lifesaver for when my hand gets tired! The colors are fun and bright, and even though the ink is liquid, I find it does not smear. No pressure is required to make the ink flow, so these make grading QUICK and pain-free!
CONS => The yellow color in some variety packs is a waste since it is so hard to see. These do not last as long as the BIC Cristal pens, and they cost a bit more.
Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip pens: I waited a while before buying these, because even though I love the smooth, marker feel to them, they are a bit pricey. A couple years ago I finally splurged on a bulk pack with lots of fun, bright colors, and I really enjoyed writing with them! These pens feel like a fine-point marker and create a relatively bold mark. They do not smear.
CONS => As stated above, they are the most expensive pen in this list. They are bold, so do not use these when you need precise, fine-point writing. They can bleed through thin notebook paper, but do not bleed through my paper planner or standard printer paper.
If you’re in a grading rut, try one of these varieties out to freshen up your grading experience!