If you teach five Year 10 English classes of 25 students, that's 125 essays. Marking each for 30 minutes is 62.5 hours. You don't have 62.5 hours. Neither does any teacher.
The solution isn't to work faster or skip marking. It's to be strategic: mark the right things, use efficient methods, and focus feedback where it counts most.
Not every assignment needs full marking. Tier your feedback:
After collecting essays, scan all 25 for common patterns: "Half the class didn't answer the question. A quarter wrote plot summary instead of analysis. Five students nailed the VCAA essay structure."
Address the whole class: "Next lesson, we'll practise question analysis using the exemplar essay." This is far more efficient than writing the same feedback 10 times.
Individuals who need help can approach you for one-on-one feedback while others do revision work.
Train students to peer-mark using a rubric or a structured framework: "Does the introduction answer the question? Is there a thesis? Do paragraphs have evidence?" This takes pressure off you and teaches students to evaluate their own work.
Peer feedback is often powerful: students listen to peers more than teachers. A classmate saying, "I didn't understand your argument in paragraph 2," might land more than a teacher's comment.
Record voice memos instead of typing: "Hi Sarah, great thesis, and your evidence is well-chosen. Work on integrating quotes more smoothly into your sentences. You've got this!"
Record while doing a quick skim of the work (no detailed reading). This is faster than typing and feels more personal.
Feedback is only useful if students act on it. Build time for revision: students re-read your comments, make changes, and resubmit a paragraph or section. This shows you that feedback led to improvement, which is the whole point.
