Skip to main content

Marking Time

The guilt finally got to me and I decided that I must do some marking before the kids go into the next academic year.

Ok, I’m exaggerating, but truth be told, I had let the marking go quiet for a little too long. I do remember the last time I blitzed the hundreds of folders that line the alcove in my room - I just can’t recall whether it concerned work from the last unit or the one I taught before it.

I could go down the totally masochistic route of bringing all the folders home and praying for some mythical creature to get them marked whilst I sleep. Instead I’ve decided to be sensible and so I’m only bringing home one class’s folders per night. Fortunately, there is enough interesting stuff on TV to stop me from ripping the work up through sheer frustration – although I have felt myself coming near.

What! you gasp in astonishment….teachers mark students’ work whilst watching TV? You betcha…and if I didn’t, I’d find myself climbing the walls.

So far, I’ve got three classes’ work up-to-date. To my amazement, I actually went back into school this afternoon after I had left for the day, to bring back another load of files. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it gave me the opportunity to see a cracking thriller called “Breakdown” whilst I marked Year 9’s oh so exciting pieces on Flow Charts (yes, it IS as boring as it sounds).

No matter. Tomorrow and Wednesday night will see me finishing off the Year 9’s (hopefully not literally) and then I can look forward to marking Year 7’s offerings… spreadsheets.

Oh joy.
I can hardly wait.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Jewberry Muds

To get the full effect, this message should be read out loud. You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation. This has been nominated for the best email of 2005. The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the FarEast Economic Review: Room Service (RS): "Morrin. Roon sirbees." Guest (G): "Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service." RS: "Rye..Roon sirbees..morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen??" G: "Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs." RS: "Ow July den?" G: "What??" RS: "Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?" G: "Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please." RS: "Ow July dee baykem? Crease?" G: "Crisp will be fine." RS: "Hokay. An Sahn toes?" G: "What?" RS: "An toes. July Sahn toes?" G: "I don't think so."

Our City

Tomorrow night, we will be celebrating the thirty-ninth anniversary of the return of Jerusalem into Jewish hands. Many people around the world continue to deny the Jewish people the right to claim the city as our eternal capital. On the Temple Mount, the Arabs do what they can to destroy any evidence of our ancient presence, yet, despite their efforts, they cannot erase the basic fact that Jerusalem has, is and will always be - ours. This is not to say that the city is less important to persons of another faith. What I am stating and categorically so, is that Jerusalem is accessible to anyone who wants to worship therein, but never it let be forgotten that, at the end of the day, we, the Jewish Nation are the only people who, since time immemorial have chosen this very special place as a destination for all our prayers - she belongs to us. Every time we pray to G-d, we face towards Jerusalem. Every single Ark in every single Synagogue faces towards the city. It’s presence in our psyche

Oh, To Be Loved

I confiscated a tub of Vaseline from a Year 8 student today. The same kid admitted to throwing a stub of paper at me from the back of the room. After the end of the lesson, I refused to return the Vaseline to him, whereupon he curtly told me to “drop dead”. When he approached me at lunch and asked me again for his precious tub, I told him that he could have it back if he wrote me a letter of apology. His response - “shut up”. Sometimes, I wonder why I bother teaching these children. I know that moaning about it here won’t help in the slightest, but at least it makes me feel a little better by getting it out of my system