Why I hate marking and what I can do about it

I hate marking! Some people don’t, but I do! I really hate marking! It’s the bit of the teaching profession that I just don’t like. I’m more of a doing kind of person. I love being in the classroom teaching, talking to students and problem solving with them. I also know I create really good lessons and they are engaged, but I hate marking. 

Don’t get me wrong, I see some brilliant work from my students. The fact that they listen to what I say, the way they present work neatly and the progress I can see that they are making within their work makes me very pleased. 

There is much debate at the moment about the use of marking and its impact. Some say it has to be done because we need to give feedback to students. Others may say that it adds to an already demanding workload. 

This is what my advice would be and this goes for anything relating to having to do a task that you really don’t want to do. I’m talking anything such as planning, preparing for something, breaking bad news, meet a colleague etc. It is to ‘Eat That Frog’.

Ok, so if you’re not familiar with the term then it might sound a bit crazy. Brian Tracy coined it and there is a bit of background to what it means. 

Imagine you have a to do list for the day and on it was to Eat A Frog. Clearly this is probably something we would not want to do and so we would delay the action of eating the frog. However there is another word for this delaying…

Procrastination is the thief of dreams. 

Not completing tasks that need to be done is bad for you and certainly can have negative impacts if it’s jobs passed down from an employer or even something required with your partner / family etc. We really can struggle to be motivated to do these tasks, just like we wouldn’t be motivated to eat a frog. 

So what should you do? Or as I write this, what should I do?

Well that’s the answer. Make sure the first thing you do is Eat That Frog. Seize the day, conquer the biggest task that you have. You will then know that your day can’t get any worse. Okay well it could because you might have a class of 15 year olds last period on a Friday. For me, marking is the frog I must eat. 

I’m aware that there is more to this than just eating the frog first. I am coaching teachers who have really struggled getting themselves on track to improve their performance, not only in the classroom, but their lives. However, I help people like you create audacious goals. These were once out of your reach but with me, I will help you reach them. Eating the frog is one thing, how about aiming towards something so powerful you never thought it could happen to you.   

Hey and don’t forget to reach out for a chat so we can see if we are ready for a journey together towards the best version of yourself.