Skip to content
@TeacherToolkit
Most Influential UK Education Blog
  • Account
  • Logout
  • 0 items
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Exposure
  • #5MinPlan
  • Podcasts
  • Resources
  • The Toolkit
  • Teacher Training
  • Contact

Over 2,500 subscribers = VIP Resources --->

THE TOOLKIT MEMBERSHIP

8 Tips For Making Marking More Manageable


Reading time: 3
Pile of papers

Ed Davis

Edward is currently head of Year 5 in a Junior School in South West London. He has been teaching for 4 and a half years and is currently leading Science, but previously spent 3 years leading PE. He is always keen to help others learn...
Read more about Ed Davis

What do teachers hate the most about teaching?

When I think of teacher workload, one of the most common issues that comes to mind is marking. I regularly feel that my time would be better spent creating powerful and exciting lessons for the children I teach, rather than trawling through books.

This is not to say that marking doesn’t have its benefits. It can be quite a powerful assessment tool and can help us in planning those subsequent lessons. Marking policies and marking in general is an ever-changing aspect of teaching. Schools are always looking for ways to minimise it, but it is difficult to bring marking workload down to a point where it is stress-free. 

8 ways to make marking manageable

Below are some useful things that I do to avoid over-marking and being overwhelmed and overworked. These also allow me to spend my time adapting lessons and supporting my children in different ways.

1. Who are we marking for?

Ask yourself, who are you marking for? We might put a comment in a book because it looks good for parents or senior leaders during parents’ evening and book looks, but does it help the children learn? Is it beneficial for them? Make marking meaningful, not unmanageable.

2. Find someone to mark with

A great idea that a few of us started some years ago were marking parties. Getting together with other teachers to mark makes things that bit more bearable. Even if you’re not discussing the marking itself, having other person to talk to whilst you do so can be a very welcome break from what can be quite a monotonous task.

Why not hold a regular marking party with your colleagues?

Click To Tweet

3. Mark with the children 

Marking work ‘live’ can save hours and gives children instant feedback when they need it most. 

4. Prioritise

Most of us won’t teach every subject every day. Maths and English are my priority after school. For subjects that are taught once or twice a week, I will take the ‘little and often’ approach. A few books of each during a spare 5-10 minutes will mean that over the course of a week, I can get them marked with ease.

5. Highlighters

We use pink for good work and green for what could be improved. Rather than writing a comment, highlight what you think has been positive and what could be worked on. Arguably, this will be far more effective than an overall comment for their work. 

6. Mark with a purpose

Use the success criteria to help you. If you find yourself constantly struggling with what to write and feel that you need to write something, tailor your comment to something that the child has met within the success criteria. 

Do you find yourself stuck for words when marking children’s work?

Click To Tweet

7. Mark with ‘The blue box’

I regularly find that what I want to write can more easily be summarised verbally rather than via a written comment. The teachers in my school have grown accustomed to using a ‘blue box’ to let children know that there is something in their work we wish to discuss with them. The book is placed in a box where the children check before going off to lunch. Other colours are available!

8. Regularly re-assess your marking policy

This is something that has been quite effective for us. A simple discussion about what we are doing individually as teachers and the impact we have seen can influence and help others to think about their own marking to make it more manageable. We still mark everything (well, most things), but the in-depth marks for us are only big writes. Most other things are simple marking using stamps, discussion with the children or very simple comments (unless there is something we feel we need to comment on).

I in no way suggest these ideas as the ‘best’ ways of managing marking, but they are simply different strategies I have used that work for me and I hope that others will find the same. Re-evaluating the way I mark is something that I regularly do and with an ever-changing curriculum, it is always an important practice to uptake. Involving other staff in this is also key as together, we can work to support one another in something that can often seem like a thankless task.

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Related

25th February 201924th February 2019 by Ed Davis
Posted in Assessment, Primary, Teaching and LearningTagged Assessment, Formative Assessment, highlighters, Marking, success criteria, Summative Assessment, The Blue Box, Verbal Feedback, Wellbeing, Workload

2 thoughts on “8 Tips For Making Marking More Manageable”

  1. Keeley Warren says:
    26th October 2019 at 10:40 am

    Contact St Matthias Primary School for details of our open days on our ‘No More Marking’ feedback and editing lessons:
    Emailto:admin@st-matthias.towerhamlets.sch.uk

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Marking, Marking, Marking - TeacherToolkit

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

New Membership Resource

New Membership Resource

Impactful lessons

LessonUp

Most Popular Blogs

  • Just For Fun: 10 Staffroom Observations
    Just For Fun: 10 Staffroom Observations
  • In-Tray Exercise
    In-Tray Exercise
  • A Coaching Strategy for Schools and Colleges
    A Coaching Strategy for Schools and Colleges
  • 10 Tips For Successful School Transitions
    10 Tips For Successful School Transitions
  • 10 Activities To Do In Tutor Time
    10 Activities To Do In Tutor Time
  • The 5 Minute Lesson Plan (2021)
    The 5 Minute Lesson Plan (2021)
  • Research Questions About Education
    Research Questions About Education

Track Staff Wellbeing

Welbee - Track Staff Wellbeing

Unlock Student Potential

FixUp - motivational talks and workshops for schools and colleges

5 Minute Plan 2021

5 Minute Plan 2021

Best-Selling Books

The Revision Revolution
Mark. Plan. Teach. 2.0
Just Great Teaching
Teacher Toolkit: Helping You Survive Your First Five Years

Latest Video

Follow on Twitter

My Tweets

RSS Feed RSS – Posts

Teachertoolkit Logo Red

Most Influential UK Education Blog

Our rights, our ranking, and reach by @TeacherToolkit Ltd. Copyright ©2021

  • Tel: +44 (0)20 3886 1800,
  • Newsletter Resources,
  • Privacy,
  • Terms,
  • Newsletter Unsubscribe,
Design for Digital Web Agency
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing using this site we'll assume you're OK with this. Accept Read More
Our Privacy and Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT