If you had to write down, as a percentage, what you are doing in class on a lesson by lesson basis you might find that you have time to mark student work live, as it is happening. This is not something that can be done every lesson, however, when it can be done it will save you time and it has many other benefits.

Before we get into this tip, I have to say, this is extra work and it is not for everyone, it can be hard to spin the plates of having a classroom working and marking student work at the same time, also, it is not possible to get the whole class marked and the marking be quality.

The best way of doing this I have found is being up and around the room, never get the students to come to your desk and bring their book with them, you do not want to break the flow of learning too much.

As you are going around the room and marking the work, have a discussion with the student about the work, this is one of the benefits and something you would not normally be able to do if you were marking the work without the students present. You can ask them about the misconceptions they made and why they made them or if they are finding something simple move them on. This method saves time as the misconceptions are being eradicated as you move around the room.

I have found this method to also have an impact on the amount of work completed by students, if the students are aware that at some point during the lesson you are going to come and look and mark the work, they will want to ensure they have completed enough, don’t tell them you are you going to check on just say. “This lesson I will mark ten books”

Of course, one of the main benefits to this tip is the fact that when you do come to mark the books you already have some of them marked and responded to, thus saving you time. Over time you will get better and quicker at this, again, it is all about consistency.

Practical, impactful and quick feedback ideas

Marking - Less is more

Getting students to assess and improve work

Why wait to mark work?

Marking - comment or score - never together

A method previously known as marking