Turn a Rubric Into a Grading Assistant - Kyle Zhang

This walkthrough turns your existing rubric into an assistant that drafts specific, consistent feedback - so you review and personalize instead of writing every comment from scratch. You stay in control of the grades; AI handles the first draft of the words.

Before you start

Remove student names from any work you paste. Treat the chat like a public space.

Step 1: Give Claude your rubric

Paste your rubric exactly as you use it, then tell Claude its role:

You are my grading assistant. Use the rubric below to evaluate the student work I paste next. For each rubric category, give a score and one specific, encouraging sentence of feedback the student can act on. End with one strength and one next step. Rubric: [paste your rubric]

Step 2: Paste one student’s work

Add the (de-identified) response. Claude returns scores per category plus feedback. Read it critically - you’re checking whether it matches your judgment, not accepting it blindly.

Step 3: Calibrate it

If the tone is off or it’s too generous, say so: “Be a bit more rigorous on evidence,” or “Keep feedback to one sentence and grade-appropriate language.” It will adjust and apply that to the next ones.

Step 4: Work through the stack

Paste responses one at a time, or a few at once. Because the rubric stays in the conversation, feedback stays consistent across the whole class - one of the hardest things to do by hand.

Step 5: Make it yours

The drafts are a starting point. Add the personal touches that matter - a note about a student’s growth, a reference to class discussion - and enter the grades yourself. The assistant saves the typing; the teaching stays yours.