Creating the Environment for Progress - Part 3

This blog is Part 3 of 4.

You can access the other parts here:

Effective Marking

Part 2 was, necessarily, reflective in nature.

Norms and values, while important, involve us thinking about the structure of our classroom environment and the concepts that underpin this.

Here, and in Part 4, our focus will be a little more practical in nature.

First, we will look at marking, then at feedback.

The two are closely connected.

Marking involves the provision of feedback, after all.

Separating them out allows us to view each one through a clearer lens.

Beginning with marking then, we can say three things:

Effective marking helps learners to make progress.
Learners need opportunities to implement the information conveyed through your marking.
In general, when it comes to marking, less is more (and by this, I mean marking less frequently but more deeply).

As such, marking plays a central role in helping learners to make progress.

It is through marking that you can gain a sense of where your learners are at, what they understand and what they are capable of.

But so too is it an opportunity for you to give them the information they need to make improvements.

Thus, marking is about eliciting and using information.

We elicit information about what learners think, know and can do.

And we use this information to inform our planning and to help them to improve.

Formative vs Summative

Marking is commonly divided into two types: formative and summative.

Formative marking is where we give learners qualitative information explaining what they have done well and what they need to do to improve.

Summative marking is where we sum up a learner’s learning, presenting this information in a quantitative form like a number, mark or grade.

Both are important.

You should regularly mark learners’ work and record summative grades/levels/marks in your mark-book.

This will let you track progress over time.

However, learners generally learn much more from formative marking.

Such marking contains useful information in a way that grades, levels or marks don’t.

Here we can illustrate the point:

Summative Marking: 65%
Formative Marking: Rebecca, your essay contains a range of examples you have used to effectively illustrate your points. You have also given a conclusion that sums up the arguments before clearly stating what you think and why. To improve, you should try to use a wider range of keywords. This will help make your writing more academic, which is what the examiner is looking for.

Formative feedback is feedback that helps learners to learn.

Summative feedback is feedback that sums up what learners know.

A good rule of thumb is to give learners regular formative feedback, to always record summative marks in your mark-book and to share the latter with learners at pre-determined points in the year.

This way, you keep their focus on applying effort in pursuit of improvement.

Recording and Tracking

This is an important aspect of marking, one that will play a bigger role in your working life after your training year, when you have your own classes to teach.

Still, it is worth getting to grips with it as soon as possible.

You will need a mark-book.

Some teachers prefer a physical one, others prefer a digital version.

In this you should record the marks, grades or levels you give learners for various pieces of work.

The major benefit here is that you can analyse your mark-book over time to see what trends and patterns develop.

You can then use this information to make interventions.

For example, a particular learner might plateau over the course of a few months, while the work of a second may demonstrate a decline in achievement.

In both cases, the information in your mark-book will give you grounds to act.

Through your intervention you will be able to improve matters and, in turn, maximise progress.

This is harder to achieve if you are not recording marks for learner work.

Constructing Assessments

When constructing assessments, you should think carefully about what you want learners to produce for you to mark.

Ideally, you will want pieces of work that are rich in detail and sufficient in size to give you an accurate insight into the learning in which learners have engaged.

Assessment pieces can be formal things like tests and essays.

Or they can be more informal products on which learners work individually, in pairs or in groups.

Essentially, an assessment piece is whatever you define as an opportunity for learners to demonstrate their learning.

Therefore, it is incumbent on you, if you want to excel in your training, to design opportunities in which learners will be able to showcase the full range of their powers.

A second point to consider is whether you want to build into your assessment pieces ways and means through which you can test learners’ knowledge and understanding for common misconceptions.

For example, if you have taught a topic in which a certain idea is frequently misunderstood, you might then choose to include a specific question connected to this as part of your assessment.

Here we are directing learners so we can elicit information we think will prove particularly helpful in our assessment of their present abilities.

Identifying what you are marking for

When marking, it is helpful to know what you are looking for.

This saves time and increases your effectiveness.

Being able to do this is partly a result of experience.

However, there are two techniques you can use from the very beginning of your training.

First, refer back to the objectives and outcomes that shaped the lessons you taught.

While marking learners’ work, look to see if there is evidence these have been met.

Second, use any success criteria you have shared with learners during your lessons.

Reminding yourself of these before you start to mark will make the process much simpler.

Marking Regularly

I said earlier that marking at is most effective tends to be done less often but to a deeper level.

This does not mean that it is done irregularly.

Far from it.

In fact, making sure you mark learner work on a regular basis is imperative if you want to keep on top of where they are at and to consistently communicate what they need to do to improve.

So, you will need to decide what regular means to you.

When doing this, you should look to strike a balance between gaining a frequent insight into learner thinking, making sure that the marking you do has an impact, and maintaining a sustainable workload.

If you mark too often, learners will not have a chance to implement the feedback you give them.

And you may find it difficult to discern what progress they are making.

This is because you will be too close, failing to allow sufficient distance from which to accurately observe progress.