Teacher Talk Blog | Tips to make marking easier

Fantastic Feedback and Marvellous Marking: Making Life Easier (and More Effective) in the Classroom

Ask any teacher what their most hated aspect of the profession is, and chances are, they'll probably give an answer that involves the word 'marking' and 'workload' (most likely in the same sentence, complete with extensive eye-rolling!).

Marking is conventionally perceived as a monumentous and often thankless task, taking up valuable hours in the evening and at weekends, without much in the way of reward.

But, rest assured, there is a way to manage your marking successfully, to ensure that you still maintain a good work/ life balance, whilst providing a higher standard of marking for your class (yes, honestly!).

Productive marking tips for the primary classroom, teacher stamps, verbal feedback and more!

Here are just a few tips to help you to get the most from your marking, and get back some of those valuable hours in the evening.

	1. Encourage peer marking. Peer marking, if arranged well, can be really effective. Model the process first; explaining what they need to look for when assessing the work of their classmate, and encourage open communication, allowing students to identify what they thought was successful in the piece of work they were marking.
	2. Use your verbal feedback teacher stamp! Few tools in the classroom are as useful as this fantastic teacher stamp. When talking to students in class about their work, have it with you at all times, so that you can mark their books when you've discussed their work with them verbally. To ensure that they've understood the feedback, get them to jot down the main points underneath your stamp.
	3. Use stickers to reward achievement. If your students have taken the time to listen to your feedback and produce a really excellent piece of work as a result, don't forget to give them some recognition for their efforts! An excellent primary school resource for doing just this is, of course, the humble sticker. You can find a great range right here.

Of course, written feedback will always have value, but it's important to keep in mind that there are other successful marking techniques that can be employed in the classroom, which can also help in terms of allowing you to enjoy a restful evening every once in a while!

Classroom Capers' Verbal Feedback Stamp Options:

This key teacher stamp message comes in a variety of single stamp options (red, green and violet!), as well as part of various multi-stamps in which it is provided alongside other useful marking messages.

Click here to see the range of stamp options.

If you prefer a different colour or a different combination of messages alongside Verbal Feedback in a multi-stamp, then consider our custom stamp options which enable you to create a fully customised stamper that includes from 2 to 5 other stamp message options. click here to view our custom school stamps.