Marking; keep it simple

Make the learning journey explicit for each child, and seeking to make the job of marking more specific to individual needs.

Your lesson has a lesson objective or WALT, outlining the generality of the lesson, with a "so that", in some cases, to clarify the learning journey.

The task has Success Criteria or the WILF, essentially the mark scheme for the piece of work, which may have been exemplified with a WAGOLL, "What a good one looks like".

So marking can take place against the structural needs as defined. In fact, this aspect of marking could be simply ticked, by the child in one colour as having been achieved and by the teacher in another colour to validate.

However, there is also a personal dimension. In a mixed ability class, there will still be variation in outcome, determined by the innate and developing ability of the learners.  I'd hazard a guess that these targets or goals are more likely to be literacy based, although there will be identified gaps in knowledge that might also be highlighted.

Can you remember the personal targets for each child, especially if you have thirty children in a class and maybe, in a secondary school you take a dozen different classes in a week.?

If you set targets, where are they?
On a display or interactive board?
Inside or on the outside cover of an exercise book?
On a card in the middle of the table?

Are they easily available to support  in-passing conversations within a lesson?
How often do they get reviewed- half termly/termly?
If a child has three specific learning targets for a half term, they may then have eighteen targets over a year. Does this support dynamic progress?

Importantly, where are they when you want to mark the books?

Solution?

• Put personalised targets on a fold out slip, at the edge of the exercise book, so that during the lesson, the child and the teacher can be aware of the specific targets.
• This can prompt conversations specific to that child, support the learner’s self-evaluations and also support teacher oral and written feedback, as the slips can be folded out during marking.
• Targets can be achieved , then become non-negotiable in future work, with new ones added.
• This approach also supports record keeping, as the slip forms an on-going record of achievement.

Discussion with schools where this idea has been promoted shows that the subtle change described has a significant additional impact on teacher-child conversation, centred on learning.

It’s always pleasing to have positive feedback.

Try it. It costs nothing and might just tweak learning.