Each day I share a ride with three other colleagues on the way to school. We all live near each other. We take turns to drive to school, week on week. We estimate that our travel costs are about $7.00 to $8.00 a week. Car pooling is a good idea. We travel against the flow of the traffic as well. Every day we see all these commuters driving into town, occasionally banked up for kilometres. The last part of the drive is rather scenic as we pass by dairy farms.
Well, on the way home one of my car pool buddies marked the final examinations for his Year Nine Mathematics class. He has 28 students. The exam finished at 3.15PM and he began marking straight away as he waited for one of our colleagues to complete bus supervision duty. He continued marking as we made our way home in the car. It was my turn to drive this week. He had completed his marking before we reached his home. The drive is about 20 minutes. There were multiple choice questions and equations to mark. He finished them all. The entire class. He can relax this weekend.
I teach the same class. History. They did their final examination today as well. I will have essays and extended responses to mark. It will take up most of the next few evenings. I teach two other similar Year Nine classes. All up 87 students. That is 87 essays, and 261 extended responses. Then there is Year Eight History. More essays and extended responses. They did their yearly examination as well. The marking is part of the job. I accept that. That is fine.
I guess I sometimes wish I was a Mathematics teacher at marking time. Mathematics teachers have it too easy.
Think I will make my way to the fridge and grab a beer.
November 15th, 2008 at 12:11 am
When you’ve finished marking read this:
http://tinyurl.com/553m4c
[Original url was long and broke my template. Converted it to tiny.url. I need to check the comments template. The link points to cambridgeassessment.org.uk]
November 15th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Hi John
Hearing and feeling the history marking pain as well.
Thank goodness for the Yr 10′s SC, otherwise I’d have 8 classes of exams to mark this weekend. 6 classes is just bearable. One of our maths guys marked all his Year 7 papers (60) during a team meeting the othe rday. Impressive? Not so sure.
November 15th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Richard, the paper presents an interesting concept. Certainly eliminates a swathe of anomalies inherent in the marking process. We occasionally group mark at school just to verify the results. The papers are anonymous as the students use their external numbers. It is a useful way to test our own judgement as well.
Tony, yes, the impossible is possible with mathematics papers.
Cheers, John
November 15th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Keep this is mind, I teach Math, at times I would love to switch with the history teacher because Math is one of the most boring, dullest subjects, there are no political conversations or debates; there is only one answer (most of the time) and the subject matter is very repetitive.
November 16th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Brian, yes, I see your point. My post was tongue in cheek of course. I am hoping that more comments flow this way, with a particular emphasis on exams and marking. Thank you for the comment, cheers, John.
November 17th, 2008 at 1:59 am
I disagree with Brian in that I find mathematics exciting to teach. Having taught across several KLAs, mathematics is the most challenging yet exciting in the sense it connects well with the real world. As I type this response I cannot help thinking this wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for Steve Wozniak from apple or Bill Gates who both relied upon outstanding computer programmers who used mathematical algorithms to devop the home computer into a portable and user friendly device. In terms of marking in mathematics, the marking is certainly easy, however we don’t have the luxury of DVDs in our lessons, there just is too much in the syllabus to allow this luxury.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Hi Frank,
Thank you for the comment. I hear on the grapevine that you do bring a certain flair and pizazz to the mathematics classroom. It does connect with the real world, tis true. History also connects of course. If only the teaching of history actually prevented the human race from repeating its mistakes.
Actually, when you get down to it mathematical and physics equations probably account for everything that has ever happened in the universe.
Well, I better getting going, I have to find a DVD to show my Year 10 History class. Frank, there are some pretty good Mathematics demos on YouTube if you are interested. You could download them using Tooble and burn your own DVD.
Cheers, John
November 20th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Kia ora John
The world over, teachers are their own worst enemies. They are workaholics. Some subject areas support workaholicism better than others. That’s all I can bring to this discussion. Other than that teachers should think more of their own efficiency, rather than what has to be done for, and in front of, a class.
Lets face it, who is the better, more energetic teacher? One who is dead beat with marking and preparation? Or one who has enjoyed life and managed to get a decent night’s sleep before walking into the classroom the next day?
Ka kite
from Middle-earth
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Hi Ken,
Sunday morning. Cheers, thanks for the comment! Ah, yes… the one who has managed to get a good night’s sleep. I try and make free periods at school as productive as possible. I prefer free periods that take place before lunch and even before recess. I am more productive. The free periods that take place after lunch are less productive. Particularly Friday after lunch.
I prefer to mark essay questions and the like in a single sitting so most of the time that will take place at home. Usually in the morning. I get up at 5.00AM or earlier and mark. I work better in the morning and there is usually no disturbance, other than the cat. I stop about 7.30AM, get ready and off to school about 8.00AM. I rarely mark during the evening. Cheers, John.