SchoolStackMarking takes up a large share of most teachers’ evenings and weekends. Much of it repeats: the same comment written thirty times, the same mistake corrected in every book. Most schools already pay for tools that can take on that repetition. Here are seven ways to use them.
1. Build a comment bank
Most of the feedback you write is a version of ten or fifteen comments. Write each one once, well, and reuse it.
- Google Classroom has a comment bank built into its grading tool.
- Canvas has a comment library in SpeedGrader.
- Teacher gradebook apps such as iDoceo and Additio let you save comments too.
Make each comment specific and actionable. “Use evidence from the text to support each point. Look at paragraph 3 again” is more useful than “Needs more evidence”, and it takes no extra time once it’s in the bank.
2. Mark against a rubric
A rubric makes your marking faster and your feedback clearer. Instead of writing out what a student did well and what to improve, you select the level for each criterion. Most LMS platforms let you attach a rubric to an assignment, click the levels while marking, and return the result to the student.
Share the rubric with students before they start. Work improves when students know what you’re looking for.
3. Let quizzes mark themselves
Anything with a right answer can be marked automatically: vocabulary, times tables, definitions, dates, simple calculations. Google Forms in quiz mode, the quiz tools in your LMS and apps like Socrative mark these instantly and show you which questions most students got wrong.
Save your own marking time for work that needs a human: writing, reasoning and projects.
4. Use whole-class feedback
Instead of writing comments in every book, read through the work and note:
- Common strengths.
- Common mistakes.
- A few examples of excellent work to share.
- Students who need a one-to-one conversation.
Then give the feedback to the whole class at the start of the next lesson, and have students improve their own work. Many teachers find this cuts marking time a lot and leads to more improvement, because students act on the feedback in class instead of reading a comment and turning the page.
5. Record voice or video feedback
Talking is faster than typing. Several apps, including Seesaw, let you record voice comments on student work. Two minutes of spoken feedback often covers more than ten minutes of writing, and younger students who struggle to read comments can listen instead.
6. Mark less, but better
Not every piece of work needs detailed feedback. Decide in advance which pieces are for practice and which you’ll mark in depth. For practice work, a quick check or a self-marked quiz is enough. Students benefit more from detailed feedback on fewer pieces than from brief ticks on everything.
7. Let students check their own work first
Before students hand in work, ask them to check it against the rubric or a checklist. Some LMS platforms let students attach a self-assessment to their submission. You’ll spend less time on errors they could have caught themselves, and students learn to judge their own work.
One more tip
If your school has a marking policy that requires written comments on everything, it may be worth raising with leadership. Many schools have moved to policies that focus on feedback students act on, rather than on how much is written. Fewer comments, used well, help students more.
For grade calculations at the end of a term, our free final grade calculator can answer the “what do I need on the exam?” question for students.