English teachers-there is so much work and marking to do,how do you stay on top?

Answer 1

Some things they can mark themselves in class guided by you.....simple tests and exercises etc.
When things get really bad and you`ve got loads to do, set them some type of creative writing exercise (in pairs usually works well) and while they are working you can mark away at your desk, casting an eye round every so often, calling all of the class together at the end for feedback.
As for planning and programming it does get easier as the years go by, not just because you do repeat tasks but with experience you constantly see easier and better ways to do things.

Answer 2

First, don't have major assignments due at the same time in all your classes. One class at a time turning in term papers or book reports is just fine.

Use a rubric or grading guide. Have the students attach the rubric to the paper. They can see from the rubric what you expect and what criteria you will use for a grade. When marking the paper, you can just mark the rubric. There are rubrics like crazy on the internet.

Have students score each other's papers using the rubric. Then the originator can revise her/his work before turning it in. For that matter, they can have anybody they want read the paper.

Have your students write more than one essay on the same general topic, the importance of characters' names in Of Mice and Men for example. Have them use peer review to choose the best one. You give them credit for having written all of them, but you grade only the one they submit for your reading. Of course, they have time for revision after peer review.

Use a variety of ways of having the students present their work. For instance, they could present a scene from Romeo and Juliet in modern language or do a TV talk show in which Montel or one of them interviews Atticus Finch. Whoever is playing Montel has to know the book to know what questions to ask and obviously, whoever is playing Atticus has to read To Kill a Mockingbird too. When they present, there are no papers to grade, but you know if they know their stuff. Think about other ways to do this.

Make assignments that take more than one class period to complete so that you don't have paper coming in every day and every day from every class.

Have the kids work in teams. That way, one assignment works for several students.

Answer 3

The key to staying on top in any teaching job is to be organized and focused.

In my experience, teachers need to be very clear on communicating expected outcomes of assignments to students. In doing so, it makes it much easier to grade papers and assigments because they have either met the required objectives or they haven't.

Secondly, teachers need to be very aware of what the specific outcomes of their courses are ( as required by their provincial or state education ministries ) Lot's of teachers get bogged down doing stuff that is neither expected, nor required of them.

Third, when marking written papers it helps to have prepared a score sheet (doesn't have to be complicated ) that grades the students specifically on the parameters that you have communicated to them for that assignment.

When you start reading student work, it will making marking much simpler. As you become more experienced at marking, you learn to key on those things that are important to you about the assigment.

If you are weak at spelling and grammar, don't assign work that will require you to spend hours correcting those elements. In other words, use excercises that focus less on writing skills and more on comprehension or interpretation skills or whatever.

When giving assigments related to spelling and grammar, tailor them to a format that is easy for you to correct.

Answer 4

Most teachers (especially in Secondary Schools) are over worked and under paid, not supported by the government or the majority of society (esp parents). It's a very difficult job.