In this article we explore factors that constitute ‘the social’ for theteacher Susan, which at the same time highlights ethical aspects ofthe exercise of her profession. We meet her in a situation where she issetting grades, and our interest focuses on the relations that becomeof concern for her in her professional task to give the students theirgrades. In this exploration, we recognize the renewal of interest inrealism and examine the possible links that can be drawn betweentransactional realism, as a pragmatic view, and the new materialism,here represented by actor–network theory. Building on a narrativefrom an interview with a named teacher in a daily newspaper, theempirical study focuses on actors constituting Susan’s reality whengrading. Our argument is that in order to understand the complexlevels of aspects that influence teachers’ actions, it is necessary tostart from the local and from there trace the human and materialfactors that may affect teachers’ room for action. Bringing materialaspects into the consideration of Susan’s situation helps us see thattechnology itself changes time and spaces and moves the action ofgrading into spaces outside her professional sphere.