To pull out of exam marking?

[katemiddletonsnudeheels]

I have concluded I am terrible at it, feel like crying and am getting absolutely no support.

Has anyone done this before? Would I be better ringing up tomorrow and apologising but saying I can't do it?

Depends what you're marking. My mum and dad mark a level papers and I know I get quite a bit more for what I mark than they do.

Don't give up the idea entirely. I hated AS but love GCSE. Maybe it's finding your niche. It took me two evenings to mark 20 AS papers. So about £20 an evening. GCSE works out much much better!

I have done paper script marking for a few years, a while ago. I just used to grit my teeth and say, to myself, ok another 10 and I will have dinner, another 10 and I will water the garden etc. When my scripts arrived I would work out how many I had to get through in a day and divide them into piles. The lessening of the mountain and the posting of the scripts back on a Saturday made me feel I was achieving something. I don't think I could do it now, with all the pressures in school, I find it difficult to keep up with my class marking.

I usually mark but not doing it this year due to other commitments. I used to worry myself stupid about the online standardisation but eventually realised everybody makes mistakes and some errors and stopped worrying about it so much. Just do what you can do, keep in touch and be honest with your team leaders. They are desperate for markers and don't stress if you can't meet your targets, just do your best. The team leaders do understand as they are marking too.

I've done SQA marking - I only do it for the CPD to be honest. It's stressful and this year I decided after marking that I probably won't do it next year due to the way it takes over your life.

Not sure if you're England or Scotland OP but I don't think the money we get paid up here is that great considering the amount of time spent on it.

Agree with Salmon - the pay looks good when it hits your bank account but as an hourly rate it isn't fantastic. It definitely is good cpd though (also SQA).

Money not brilliant. I do it for my annual pitiful contribution to the family coffers, and to keep my hand in, as I have been out of teaching for a while.

I keep records of my marking time but not my OLS time. Happy to share a bit more info if you want to PM?

I'll never do CWK again - hated paper, love online. Get a lovely big monitor and turn it sideways!!

I slow down so much if distracted - have foam earplugs and noise cancelling headphones to keep 'in the zone'!!

Try not to think about how you could teach it better as you're marking. That slows you down. Stop periodically and make some notes then put it out of your head. I get great ideas for resources whilst marking.

I resigned half way through two years ago - sailed through the training papers, but when it came to the allocated scripts I found the mark scheme imprecise and the team leader often unavailable for advice, which meant I had to stop marking until she replied - not good when you've set aside time to mark and are up against a tight deadline. Next morning at school I discovered that one of my colleagues had done exactly the same, for a different subject. If you're conscientious and careful, the hourly rate doesn't work out to be commensurate with the level of expertise needed - and life's too short to do something you hate!

Just be glad you're not marking undergraduate scripts. The feckers write stuff you haven't taught them and then you have to go and find out if they're right or just talking bollocks - this can take ages sometimes.

The online standardisation is terrible, and the exam board I mark for are extremely slow, but it's worth persevering.

I moderate, now. Much better.

I love it. I start marking on Saturday, but seriously - you've just started. Everyone needs support to get into it, and at the very worst, if you fuck up some of it, your team leader has to discuss with you anyway or it gets remarked while you get paid. Don't beat yourself up about it.

Last year one of the people in my group put her suggested marks up for everyone to see by mistake - they were fucking awful! She was so far off, for a course she taught on and for the simplest question, it was shocking. Yet hey, she got corrected and nobody thought she should be kicked off, so try not to stress. The money is good!

My faith in the integrity of the exam system has now been completely restored.

Mine doesn't start until next week. I've said definitely I wouldn't do it again, this year and last year, but I always need the money.

Casualobserver I can't tell if you're being sarcastic

I'd hope and pray that any exams my child had sat weren't marked by someone like you.

By me? Why?

Because you're "terrible" at it and not getting any support? I wouldn't want to be marked by you either. I don't blame YOU for it though. It sounds like you've been set up to fail with a lack of training and support. I can imagine how stressful it is, especially when you know how important the results are for some people. I hope you give the exam board some constructive feedback!

Blimey, have you never panicked and been a bit overwhelmed when you do something for the first time? :)

Of course. I'm sympathising with you!

Well, your kids' exams probably have been marked by some people like OP. Also, some of the doctors you've been treated by were unsure and nervous and sometimes social workers make bad calls when they're in difficult positions. These jobs are important so it would be great if they were always done perfectly but unfortunately because super humans are in short supply they have to be done by normal, imperfect people.

So much sympathy, OP. I was in tears the first time I had to mark coursework assessments (for university students). Now I have to help other people do it for the first time and I've concluded that while good support and training massively help, you can't avoid the fact that most people find it really scary and difficult at first.

Also I had one person recently who was supremely confident - no nerves at all about marking! His marks were so off the wall that I had to re-mark nearly everything he'd done. When you're making judgements that have a subjective element (I teach an essay subject) you should be unsure and second-guessing yourself sometimes.

Stick with it OP. Fist time through is by far the hardest. If you persist and get the hang of it, next year is easier and by the time you're five years in it takes waaaaay less time and effort to do it well.

If anyone here is really a marker, and I'm sure at least some of you are, do be careful what you're posting won't you? Daily mail and all that. Plus, you know, the contract that says you must not talk about fight club.

How are you getting on Kate? Hope you're feeling better about it now you're getting stuck in!