How I reduced my marking time from 4 hours a week to 15 minutes

April 1, 2025

Reading each student’s work each week, at a rate of ten minutes each, took nearly two and a half hours. Thinking of suitable comments, adding them in to the appropriate place in Google Classroom, and updating my spreadsheet markbook took another hour and a half.

Something had to be done.

Using AI to mark students' work: postscript

September 16, 2024

I didn’t think AI's answer was good enough. I didn’t ask how ethical the proposals were. I asked it to mark an Economics essay.

Using AI to mark students' work

September 13, 2024

The Department for Education in England is running a study on how AI might be used for marking work. I thought I’d test AI’s ability to mark a student’s economics essay.

On this day #7: Marking workload reduction

November 22, 2020

The only thing worse than feeling tired but knowing you have to mark 30 books by tomorrow morning is that feeling of ennui at 5 o-clock on a grim Sunday evening when all you want to do is curl up with a mug of tea and watch a movie, but having those exercise books smirking back at you.

How I became more efficient at marking and got my life back

November 22, 2018

Here is a short exposition of the changes I made in order to reduce the amount of marking I had to take home with me.

Robot, by Terry. OK, so I'm useless at drawing. Get over it!

Robots, artificial intelligence and all that

October 5, 2017

Call me a dreamer, but I think AI and robots are developments to be welcomed in education, not to worry about.

Such a shame that we can't look inside kids' heads. It would make assessment so much easier!

5 articles on assessment and assessing computing

April 28, 2016

How to assess pupils in Computing, marking, evaluation -- here are 5 articles that I hope you'll find challenging, thought-provoking and perhaps even useful!

My 10-point marking strategy

April 19, 2016

Marking is an important part of assessment, but it need not be unduly arduous.

Hollywood here I come. Or maybe not. Picture from pixabay.com CC0

Terry's 2 minute tips #1 Marking with coloured pens

April 12, 2016

Is marking with different coloured pens a good idea? That's the topic I cover in this edition of Terry's 2 Minute Tips.

What colour shall we use today? Picture from www.pixabay.com CC0

Marking with coloured pens? Don't make me laugh!

April 4, 2016

I find the notion of marking kids' work in different coloured pens ridiculous. Always have done.

Recent book reviews

One for your Geography colleagues perhaps? Review: A Little History of the Earth -- two reviews in one!

For your English colleagues: A Word for all Seasons -- two reviews in one!

For your maths colleagues: The Mending of Broken Bones: A Modern Guide to Classical Algebra -- two reviews in one!

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.

For your History colleagues: The Worst Exhibition in the World: Degenerate Art, 1937 -- two reviews in one!

Is The computing Curriculum Too Masculine? Revisited 16 years later!

One of the apparently insoluble problems of the age is how do you encourage more girls to take up Computing? I think a lot can be done, and have done so myself, but I wonder how far a lot of the effort fails to get to the heart of the issue, which could be the curriculum itself, the way it is taught, or a combination of the two?

Book review: The best writing on mathematics, 2016

I think this could be an excellent resource for teachers of mathematics.

For your Eng Lit colleagues? The Penguin Book of the International Short Story -- two reviews in one!

I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote!

Two reviews in one: Turner and Constable: Rivals and Originals -- art and history

One for your colleagues, perhaps: art, art history, ploitics with a small ‘p’.

Two reviews in one: State of Ridicule: A History of Satire in English Literature -- politics, history, English

One for your colleagues, perhaps. Sperrin has provided a wealth of information that can be used to provide a rich experience for students of politics, history and English literature.

Two reviews in one: A Little History of Mathematics