Managing the APP Marking Mountain

So my year 7 class had come to the end of their Transition unit, which meant only one thing...assessment, assessment, assessment - I felt a bit sorry for them really, with a reading test and Blackwell spelling test in their first week, followed by their reading and writing assessments this week and, little do they know, baseline testing next week, involving another 3 hours for completing old SATs papers - Well, I DID feel sorry for them, until I took on the mammoth task of marking! While I was familiar with the APP grid, it was the first time I was faced with more than 60 pieces requiring formal marking according to six AF points, and the first few books seemed to take hours...literally. 

Giving back the assessments today, during what I can only really call an "admin" lesson, was a whole other game in itself. Who'd have thought that glueing a sheet into the back of a book and writing two numbers in a grid could cause so much drama and send the classroom into chaos. 

At least I don't have to plan any lessons for year 7 next week but I will, of course, have 120 SATs papers to mark... and that should keep me well and truly busy!

: 07 Oct 2010 22:12 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem