I hate marking. I know that’s hardly an unusual opinion, but I really, REALLY hate marking.

Part of my problem is that, as a neurodivergent person, I really struggle with tasks which:

• can’t ever be “finished”;
• are pointless;
• are boring;
• are ignored;
• are high effort but low effect.

Marking is all of the above and when I say I struggle, it isn’t just a case of not liking it but plugging through anyway; it’s more like a mental block or task paralysis.

Marking is even more arduous for teachers of subjects reliant on extended writing. I’ve taught a lot of subjects throughout my career, and can say with some confidence that English, History and Religious Studies were always the most difficult to assess, no matter the age being taught.

Furthermore, these days we are ALL teachers of literacy, which adds to an already unmanageable workload!

While I honestly believe that about 95% of general marking should be cast into the fires of Mount Doom, the Pedagogical-Powers-That-Be are reluctant to remove the red tape of red pens. After all, parents like to see the teachers are working, don’t they?

So! To put a happy red tick in the performance management box, I created these bookmarks.

Go ahead and download a free copy of the template below! I hope they save you time and make the assessment slog just a touch less sucky.