stop marking at home. it will help students.

I didn't take a single piece of student work home to mark this entire school year. 

I was happier and my student's marks and work improved considerably.
Picture the heroic martyr like teacher taking home piles of marking. Staying up late, checking work, marking test papers only to return tired the next day at school but having taken one for the team so that the students are better off. 
This image while good intentioned, needs to be replaced.

How did I do it without just being lazy?

- design assessments so that students conference with you to mark
- outsource as much marking as possible to the students
-don't create busy work for students
- use break time at work to mark

1) design assessments so that students conference with you to mark

As a Grade 4 team we designed every summative test (final exam) in English, Science, Humanities and to be marked with the student and teacher in a conference lasting between 5 - 10 minutes.  

Students wrote papers, created presentations (which can be marked in real time) or built models etc. that they would bring to demonstrate their learning and how it met the criteria of the assignment. 

I would also give them specific feedback in real time with examples, highlighting what was awesome and what I would suggest for improvements. We would both discuss our rational for the mark we would assign. 

I used to take things home and write these notes, but quickly found that not only did I have to write a lot to ensure that students understood the nuances of my suggestions, but that they didn't read them or if they did, the written text had less impact than the 1 on 1 discussion. 

Kids said:

"I understood why I got the mark I did and know what I would do differently next time"
"This was way better than the stress of writing a test in two hours and I didn't have to guess what Mr. Macleod was going to be marking us on"
"By conferencing it showed me things I hadn't thought about and gave me a chance to talk about them with Mr. Macleod instead of just getting a grade back"
  
2) out source as much marking as possible to students. 

I remember taking up tests in Mrs. Pike's Grade 5 and 6 science classes and saying to myself "Oh, that was the correct answer, now I know". Having students mark as much of their own work as possible:

- helps them see directly what they misunderstood 
- saves you time to do something more meaningful for the kids
- allows you to collect their marked work and simply record marks to help establish who needs help (transfering marks into your markbook takes approx 2 minutes vs the time it takes to mark each ssignment x the number of students in your class)

After we took something up I would make myself available for help right away saying "If you got 8 or more out of 10, you likely have it. If you had 7 or less out of 10 come see me now so that we can go over what you need help with". 

BUT THEY'LL JUST CHEAT AND CHANGE THEIR ANSWERS IF THEY ARE MARKING.

nope. 

Procedure is that we mark our work in a colour different than what we wrote it in and there is nothing allowed on our desks, allowing clear sight of what is happening in the room. As long as students demonstrate that I can trust them, this can continue. Not once all year did I have one instance of a student trying to alter an answer.

3) Don't create busy work for students (or yourself)

Ask yourself, is this worth having the kids do it and me look at it? If the answer is no... don't do it. 

4) use break time to mark

Yes, some Math exams were not marked by students. I did them. 

My class had pet gerbils this year, so once a day students stayed in my room to care for them, while I stayed in to supervise the kids. Yes it meant I was a little less social in the staff room than I would have liked this year, but spending 30 minutes at recess or over lunch marking meant I had that much more free time after school to prepare a healthier meal, go running, hang out with friends, meditate, see a band, sleep etc. 

Break time at school spent relaxing is time you deduct from time outside of school. 
I didn't take a single thing home this year to mark... yes I took some material home to plan... but I will continue to work on that this coming year by actually planning more with the students direct input. 

By not taking anything home I:

- provided students with direct meaningful feedback
- spent more one on one time with students to enhance our relationships
- helped them develop ownership and an understanding of an assessment of their work
- allowed them to learn from their mistakes
- saved time so that I could engage in more meaningful tasks with them
- showed up to work more energized and found a healthier work life balance
- wrote a blog hoping to encourage you to do the same