There is no way to dress it up - marking is and will always be one of the biggest burdens in teaching. The other things like planning, training, meetings and emails all push themselves to the top of the to-do list - their turnarounds are short and they can’t be left. You can’t not plan your lessons, not turn up to meetings (tempting as it may sound) and the emails demand responses. So marking, despite being an incredibly valuable teaching tool, gets left to the wayside. It causes a great deal of anxiety for so many as the pile continues to grow or is something that forever needs doing. It is also one of the biggest reasons so many work well beyond 8-5 and spend so much of their holidays working instead of relaxing and recharging.
It will always be a challenge, particularly if you too teach essay subjects like English but there are some tools that have helped me to avoid bringing marking home and to some extent staying if not on top of it, at least afloat.
Marking codes
The most mundane thing about marking is rewriting the same thing over and over in different students' books. To avoid this, I adapted a sheet of common errors which I used to simply highlight and stick in books after their work. As it has evolved, I look at what students need to do across tasks, the skills they need to demonstrate and the varying levels of success within them. The coded marksheet I use now, contains both things students do well (WWW: What went well) and what they need to improve on (EBI: Even better if), but also gives guidance on how to make these improvements (AAF: Action after feedback). All my students have this sheet stuck on the inside cover of their books.
So instead of writing “WWW: Well done! You have specifically answered the question. EBI: Try to explain your answer fully” 25-30 times over without actually giving any guidance of how to do this, it is a case of WWW: R1 EBI: R7 or being more positive “WWW: Good R1. EBI: R7” and the students have access to instructions on how to complete this. This saves a huge amount of time; I can get through a class set of books in the fraction of time it used to take me.
Generally students will need guidance on which areas of their work to apply my feedback to, so I add numbers where the feedback should be directed and if applicable, maybe a word or so helping them in its application ie: 1. Because 2. So
Sometimes given the nuance of the subject and in some cases, the misconception made, my feedback can’t be directed as easily and I do need to write more - at times even as much as if I wasn’t using the codes. But using them helps in the following ways:
9 times out of 10, using the codes is straightforward and saves a great deal of time so the odd instances where I have to write more, is still less than doing this for them all.
It saves thinking time as I’m marking. I know what I’m looking for both positives and constructive criticism and for students who haven’t done so well or generally struggle, it makes it far easier to highlight the successes.
Even though the mistakes might be specific, they generally will fall under one of the boxes, so this makes it far easier to spot patterns, for individuals and across classes, and address them in my feedback and future planning.
Students are easily able to identify their own areas of weakness and this will inform them on their progress and how to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. My Year 11s are so familiar with them they have turned them into verbs - “You need to R8 that!”
The Execution
I normally take a lesson or at least most of it to give and let students act on the feedback. Even though it does take up a fair amount of time that would otherwise be allocated to curriculum content, unless they are able to understand and apply that feedback, the marking would be a complete waste of time! It is not there to make books look pretty, or prove you are doing your job - it is there to facilitate long-term progress.
I have a template Google Slide ready for feedback which I very quickly adapt for each round of AAF. Before giving individual feedback, I normally begin the lesson with a starter that addresses a common misconception, model how it should look and get students to apply it to a particular scenario. For example, when many of my Year 8s skimmed over important events in the stories they wrote without enough description or detail, I showed them a model and got them to ascertain what the event was and how the writer had shown it. They were then given a different scenario and instructed to use detail and description to show it on their mini-whiteboards where I could quickly check and give guidance for improvements where necessary.
Next I summarize what the class as a whole did well and where shortfalls were. I am very positive and issue lots of praise during this part, giving shoutouts to specific members of the class where possible, particularly if somebody has managed to do something they previously struggled with.
While my slide is displayed on the interactive whiteboard, on my actual whiteboard, I write numbered instructions of what students need to do. They all know the process - it is just there as a reminder.
Write out your codes
Complete AAF
Add a star to your EBI in the box in the front of your book.
(This has been adapted recently to a more metacognitive approach)
I have students write out their codes for two reasons. Firstly because I do change the codes from time to time so if the codes change, their marking wouldn’t make sense. More importantly, so they engage with it. They don’t just skim it over and actually process the information. Once they have done that, they complete their AAFs. I find this system allows most students to independently act on the feedback. Although some students still need support in doing so, it’s far less than other ways I’ve tried getting students to do this in the past.
Finally, I get the students to draw a star on the copy of codes in their book, so they can track their progress. Are they getting the same codes consistently? Are the codes within the same category? Are they going backwards or forwards? The codes are not a system of progression as a whole, but there are some which show development of a particular skill. Eg R2-R4 and R9-R11.
Also in preparation for assessments, they look back through their codes and my marking and write ‘My Last EBI:’ and whatever their EBI was for that type of task. They complete a piece of work and then use the coded sheet to try to check their work and avoid making the same mistakes again. The advice on how to achieve this is already right there and it ensures they are aware of previous mistakes and are practising proofreading their work to look for and avoid them.
Plan marking
I don’t mark everything, and I certainly don’t mark anything. Teachers do not have the capacity to mark every piece of student work meaningfully but marking sporadically can also be fruitless if the bigger picture isn't kept in mind. Plus with the focus on exam classes who tend to have more assessments and data entry requirements, it is easy to lose track of other classes, particularly Key Stage 3.
I started using a simple grid to keep track of which classes I had marked and how long ago I had marked it to ensure I didn’t forget classes - a simple tick on the week each class had been marked.
This has now evolved to a grid of what I plan to mark. I consider the skills and content I will be teaching/focussing on each unit and plan what I am teaching over the next couple of weeks. This is no extra to what I would usually do when planning, only now, as I am planning, I make a note of key marking opportunities that will be meaningful so I am a) giving feedback on skills and information that will feed into future learning b) I am not marking just anything for the sake of marking and c) I am consistently marking across all the Key Stages.
My school marking policy requires “routinely” marked books, so I aim for every two weeks. This means if something comes up, if it’s the mock period or an otherwise busy time at school, it may get pushed back a week or so and I still have wiggle room. It’s not weeks between looking at books and I have a good insight into the struggles and successes of my classes. Not just so I’m not caught short during a surprise learning walk, but so I know where I need to focus my teaching and for the point of it all: progress.
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