marking | mamavsteacher

For various reasons, the last few weeks at work have been crazy. I have had to work a lot at home and do an awful amount of marking.

This has meant that I have spent some of Sprog’s waking time holed up in our study, something that I desperately try to avoid. However, I get small snippets of him joining me now and then.

Our selfie/melfie for March had to be one of these shots. We were playing as he copied my facial expressions and thought it was hilarious. Turns out my boy is a bit of a flirt with the camera!

He did also try to help with my marking, especially when he saw my pretty pink pen that I do it with (much more exciting than standard red to take away some of the pain of marking).

Making progress… 2 words that teachers live by. How do we know our students are ‘making progress’? By assessing their work, knowing them inside and out and by challenging them to be better.

The reality for your average Joe Bloggs teacher is that we know they are ‘making progress’ through their written work and for us that means marking and lots of it!

Now whilst I’ve gone back to work full time, I am lucky enough that we are a little overstaffed for the number of teaching hours in my department at the moment. That makes me the lucky one who isn’t currently teaching for a whole timetable and therefore has more non-contact time in school. But even I have marking to bring home still.

The reason I blog about this is not a rant and rave (it sucks, but I’ve known that since my first term nearly 5 years ago) but because today, in glorious sunshine, I sat and marked outside for the first time in 2 years.

It was like the first time you buy a Magnum each summer, or the first taste of a creme egg leading up to Easter, or your first mince pie of the season. The first time I got to mark outside!

It was extra special as last year I avoided the sun at all costs, a hazard of being really large and pregnant in the summer! I sat outside only when shaded and my swollen feet were in a bucket of icy cold water. But this year, it’s on! It was shorts, vest top, sexy sun hat and a pile of marking all the way! How wonderful?!?!