Checking of Notebooks/Copies- A Problem for Teachers

As a child, I always saw my teacher as a celebrity who wears good clothes, nice shoes, carry a good handbag, who can sing very well as she teaches us how to sing the nursery rhymes , gives us work to do and checks them. Checking was the best part of being a teacher, I thought so. I just loved the idea of being able to mark a tick with a red pen.

But only after I became a teacher myself did I realize , checking copies is no game for kids and in fact the most difficult task for a teacher. Being in this profession, you get to do a lot of checking whether as a teacher or Head. As a Head the main problem with teachers as per my observation is very late checking of notebooks. For me it's a blunder not just by a teacher but from the school too. As a teacher , I had no one to guide me on how to solve this problem but now, I would like to take this opportunity to share what I learnt and discovered to be the best technique in keeping track of your checking.

How to be on time in  checking students' work

After giving the students their work, keep moving around the class and watch out for the student who finishes her/his work first and check it immediately. Continue this till the last copy but don't worry if you are left with few copies to be checked after the period is over because it's normal. You must be wondering how you will be able to check the copies so quickly as it would need a thorough concentration. So there's also a solution to that. When you are on round, don't move blankly but instead keep an eye on what the student's are writing and catch their mistakes and make them correct it there and then. In that way you will only just need to put a "tick" on it.

Another important point is, do not waste your time in chatting while in the staff room and make checking of copies a priority. Once done, you can chat as much as you can. ;)

Voila!! Problem solved.

The above is what I think is the biggest problem but I'll be coming back with other problem that teachers face while working.

Do let me know if you have any problem that you face in the classroom and are seeking for solution.