I am having a Moaning Myrtle Moment
I hate the end of the week! Do you know what happens at the end of the week in my Outback Schoolroom?
I can hear the murmurs from other home tutors ...
- Packing up the weeks work,
- making sure it is marked AND
- writing Bl*&dy feedback.
The kids are great at putting their work into the send in drawer. Its a great acheivement for them as they don't have to deal with it again. With tricky pieces of work they jump for joy as the put it in.
I then have to get the coloured pens and star stamp out. Many activities I get the star stamp out and mark as they do it, especially when they are needing help. Many times they call the answer out in draft work and you answer back....but still this all needs a tick on it just to please the teacher. Sometimes I feel like ticking everything right or wrong just to see how well they (the teachers) are looking.
The star stamp has been the answered to many of my dreams... I have started just putting a stamp on the page corner if it is all correct. The kids do remind me to do it as I go now.
One of the worst things to mark is quick maths ... a page of additions and subtractions.. no answers. You have to quickly do them ALL as you go. With Mr Procrastination this can be 50 wretched sums. Do the teachers think I need practise????
Another horrible think to deal with is grammar sheets. My grammar is my weakness and as such I prefer teachers to check. Also when you are dealing with a multiple choice question for a Year 6 student I am at odds. To be honest I don't mark english sheets UNLESS I am given answers now and asked to... certainly solved all my problems. The teachers have got the hint and now supply answer sheets.
Then there is feedback, for me that either happens on a Friday as the kids work on Monday. Usually Monday because after a hectic week of school my brain is fried. I always think better on a Monday and don't rush through the set marking.
It's like an exercise in creative writing and I really wonder at times if some teachers actually read it. Especially when any questions I put in go unanswered. I am NOT saying all teachers are like that some are brilliant at getting the sets back.... but then you get those who send it back 6 to 8 weeks after you post it in.
Anyway I have finished my feedback now.
Kids had a great day at school.
Sets ready to be posted on Friday or by next person heading to town.
I am with you on the marking. We are expected to mark every little thing in maths. I love your star stamp idea ... easy.
ReplyDeleteFeedback ARGH on occasion I remember to sticky note things throughout the kids work to point out what they have found particularly difficult.
The ideal way to do feedback is at the end of each day but just like the kids all I ever want to do is get out of the schoolroom for a while and I never seem to go back. When being very organised (rarely) I will take it back to my room to do of an evening.