Correcting Junior & Leaving Cert Exams

littlebsci · 16-07-2008 12:10PM

Into my last 50 thank god, finished those by tomorrow at the latest. Lost the plot with it for two days this week and couldn't get through them at all but other than that I have to say I haven't found it too bad. When I set my mind to it I could get between 10 and 15 corrected in an hour so that makes it worth it. It's the report we have to do that I'm dreading, I know I'll spend far too long doing it.

partmak · 16-07-2008 01:28PM

If anybody received their advance payment, how much was it? Some people got like 500!:(

sitstill · 16-07-2008 02:02PM

I'll be finished them by the end of the week. Can't wait. I got my advance last Thurs, I got
E500, is that good or bad?

Toto Wolfcastle · 16-07-2008 04:30PM

Would people say it's worth doing once for the experience if not the money?

spurious · 16-07-2008 04:39PM

janeybabe wrote: »

Would people say it's worth doing once for the experience if not the money?

Absolutely.

It's actually worth doing more than once, though probably not in successive years - perhaps every seven years or so, just so you can let the horrid memories fade. Ideally try for the chance to correct your subject at all of the levels it is offered. The conference itself is also a useful experience in seeing how teacher input can 'help out' where a question has been particularly difficult or confusing for candidates.

Toto Wolfcastle · 16-07-2008 04:40PM

spurious wrote: »

Absolutely.

It's actually worth doing more than once, though probably not in successive years - perhaps every seven years or so, just so you can let the horrid memories fade. Ideally try for the chance to correct your subject at all of the levels it is offered. The conference itself is also a useful experience in seeing how teacher input can 'help out' where a question has been particularly difficult or confusing for candidates.

Lol sounds delightful! It's definitely something I'll try to do next year so.

littlebsci · 16-07-2008 09:38PM

janeybabe wrote: »

Would people say it's worth doing once for the experience if not the money?

Absolutely worth the experience and the money isn't all that bad either. Well it has worked out well for me, suppose it'd depend on what subject you're correcting though. This is the first time I've done it and it definitely opened my eyes to exactly how the subject is marked. Although we can all get the marking schemes I now really think it's not the same thing. Think I'll do it again next year.....providing I don't get a better offer!!

ateam · 17-07-2008 01:19PM

littlebsci wrote: »

Into my last 50 thank god, finished those by tomorrow at the latest. Lost the plot with it for two days this week and couldn't get through them at all but other than that I have to say I haven't found it too bad. When I set my mind to it I could get between 10 and 15 corrected in an hour so that makes it worth it. It's the report we have to do that I'm dreading, I know I'll spend far too long doing it.

You could get 10 to 15 corrected in an hour! That's 4 minutes per paper..what were you correcting foundation Irish!?

I could get about 6 to 8 corrected an hour, but some days there's paperwork, post office trips etc. I got my advance payment of €500.

What's everyone putting down for expenses?

rainbowtrout · 17-07-2008 01:45PM

i have just finished my second 200. 250 to go. so sick of it this year. this is my 7th year doing it, might give it a miss next year. Got an advance of €1200 (already spent!). I think €500 is usually given to new correctors and it increases if you do it in subsequent years. Think i'll move back to ordinary level if i do it again, higher level LC is not worth the hassle.

ateam · 17-07-2008 04:24PM

rainbowtrout wrote: »

i have just finished my second 200. 250 to go. so sick of it this year. this is my 7th year doing it, might give it a miss next year. Got an advance of €1200 (already spent!). I think €500 is usually given to new correctors and it increases if you do it in subsequent years. Think i'll move back to ordinary level if i do it again, higher level LC is not worth the hassle.

Wo what subject is it? 450 seems like a lot. Yeah ordinary level is almost the same money and half the work I'd say.

freire · 17-07-2008 05:24PM

littlebsci wrote: »

When I set my mind to it I could get between 10 and 15 corrected in an hour so that makes it worth it.

Ten to fifteen and hour seems like you got quite a mind to put to it - I can get through 40 in a day if I'm motivated but thats a lot of hours, probably 8 solid hours on the desk. Almost done now however.

sitstill · 17-07-2008 05:30PM

freire wrote: »

Ten to fifteen and hour seems like you got quite a mind to put to it - I can get through 40 in a day if I'm motivated but thats a lot of hours, probably 8 solid hours on the desk. Almost done now however.

40 a day! Thats loads! The most I can get through is 30 but I average about 25. I guess it depends on the subject and how much you put your mind to it though.

freire · 17-07-2008 06:33PM

sitstill wrote: »

40 a day! Thats loads! The most I can get through is 30 but I average about 25. I guess it depends on the subject and how much you put your mind to it though.

Yes Sitstill, it's a moxy load alright - but not every day - thats from 10 to 10 in the evening with a few breaks, worth it though to get through it but it's incredibly tiring on the bit of grey matter I've left. 25 would also be my average- it's JC Higher French so it's not the most taxing, just kinda monotonous and sometimes irritating if you ken.

partmak · 17-07-2008 07:40PM

rainbowtrout wrote: »

i have just finished my second 200. 250 to go. so sick of it this year. this is my 7th year doing it, might give it a miss next year. Got an advance of €1200 (already spent!). I think €500 is usually given to new correctors and it increases if you do it in subsequent years. Think i'll move back to ordinary level if i do it again, higher level LC is not worth the hassle.

is that mean new correctors will get paid less at the end as well?

MathsManiac · 17-07-2008 08:59PM

partmak wrote: »

is that mean new correctors will get paid less at the end as well?

No.

The advance is a percentage of what you got last year, if you did it last year, and otherwise €500.

Fees per script are the same for everyone at the same subject & level, and later you get the total less the advance.

littlebsci · 17-07-2008 09:28PM

freire wrote: »

Ten to fifteen and hour seems like you got quite a mind to put to it - I can get through 40 in a day if I'm motivated but thats a lot of hours, probably 8 solid hours on the desk. Almost done now however.

Well to be fair the subject I'm doing lends itself to quick enough correcting. On average I probably got in around ten done in an hour but naturally some hours only saw me correcting 5 or 6-it depended on the standard of answers I came up against. I still would only have done in the region of 30 each day, there's ony so much anyone can do before they go goggly eyed!!
It's not a case of me not doing a proper job by any means, I took what I was doing very seriously, as I already said I was just lucky enough to be doing a subject that could be corrected quickly enough if I had peace and quiet!

freire · 17-07-2008 10:11PM

littlebsci wrote: »

It's not a case of me not doing a proper job by any means, I took what I was doing very seriously

I'm not for a second questioning your commitment or professional standards - just saying respect to you for that rate of turnover - and you're correct on the goggly eyed observation, it sure fries the old brain.

Invaluable experience for future pedagogical endeavours however, very glad I did it and it should possibly be mandatory for all teachers to do at least once - sort of initiation or rite of passage! (not sure how that would go down with the wider teaching community though). Anyway it's pocket money for summer period. In other words, beer tokens. Well done all.

ateam · 18-07-2008 10:29AM

littlebsci wrote: »

Well to be fair the subject I'm doing lends itself to quick enough correcting. On average I probably got in around ten done in an hour but naturally some hours only saw me correcting 5 or 6-it depended on the standard of answers I came up against. I still would only have done in the region of 30 each day, there's ony so much anyone can do before they go goggly eyed!!
It's not a case of me not doing a proper job by any means, I took what I was doing very seriously, as I already said I was just lucky enough to be doing a subject that could be corrected quickly enough if I had peace and quiet!

So you were no where near 15 scripts an hour? Odd that you said that.

littlebsci · 18-07-2008 12:14PM

ateam wrote: »

So you were no where near 15 scripts an hour? Odd that you said that.

If you had read what I wrote properly you'd have seen that I said "When I set my mind to it I could get between 10 and 15 corrected in an hour". That doesn't mean that I got 15 done every hour. It means I realised I could get 15 done in an hour. Some hours I did get the 15 corrected or 13/14 others I didn't, as someone who has corrected this year you should understand that the number you get done each hour can vary.

kmart6 · 18-07-2008 12:53PM

Read the posts mate s/he clearly stated that they could get ''between 10 and 15 corrected in an hour''!!!! Odd that you can't read!!

ateam · 18-07-2008 01:20PM

littlebsci wrote: »

If you had read what I wrote properly you'd have seen that I said "When I set my mind to it I could get between 10 and 15 corrected in an hour". That doesn't mean that I got 15 done every hour. It means I realised I could get 15 done in an hour. Some hours I did get the 15 corrected or 13/14 others I didn't, as someone who has corrected this year you should understand that the number you get done each hour can vary.

Within that though is the clear suggestion that some hours you corrected 15 scripts per hour otherwise you wouldn't have said 10 to 15. Then you dramatically cut you number to 5 to 6 per hour.

15 an hour even when you put your mind to it seems quite a lot, that's 4 minutes per paper. Even with a poor script comes totting and counting which in itself can take some time, as it should because you don't want to make a mistake.

I just felt it was an unnecessary exaggeration.

Tom Dunne · 18-07-2008 01:24PM

Ok, people, let's keep it civil and not get too pedantic.

kmart6 - your post was unhelpful, please keep posts relevant.

littlebsci · 18-07-2008 01:47PM

ateam wrote: »

Within that though is the clear suggestion that some hours you corrected 15 scripts per hour otherwise you wouldn't have said 10 to 15. Then you dramatically cut you number to 5 to 6 per hour.

15 an hour even when you put your mind to it seems quite a lot, that's 4 minutes per paper. Even with a poor script comes totting and counting which in itself can take some time, as it should because you don't want to make a mistake.

I just felt it was an unnecessary exaggeration.

Look, I think at this stage I'm well past exaggerating.
There's no point in me continuing to thrash this out given that I know the rate at which I worked for the past few weeks.
Bottom line is, every subject (Maths Vs History for example!!) and level is different to correct and providing your advising is happy with the standard of work you're producing then noone realistically should question anyone else's work rate!!

ateam · 18-07-2008 01:48PM

littlebsci wrote: »

Look, I think at this stage I'm well past exaggerating.
There's no point in me continuing to thrash this out given that I know the rate at which I worked for the past few weeks.
Bottom line is, every subject (Maths Vs History for example!!) and level is different to correct and providing your advising is happy with the standard of work you're producing then noone realistically should question anyone else's work rate!!

Yeah 15 an hour is way too much. Every subject whether it's maths or history deserves proper attention and I don't think students of any level will be hearthened to hear that a marker on some hours spends 4 minutes per paper. No wonder there's so many appeals.

littlebsci · 18-07-2008 02:00PM

That's your opinion and you're free to have it but I certainly don't agree with (or appreciate) the insinuation that there will be a high percentage of appeals based on my work.
I assume that is what you're insinuating??

fletch · 18-07-2008 02:02PM

I tend to agree with ateam on this one. By stating that "When I set my mind to it I could get between 10 and 15 corrected in an hour", I'm sure that at some stage while correcting you must have "set your mind to it" and as such corrected approx 10-15 within an hour. I find that quite frightening that you could correct such a large volume of exams in such a short time frame. While I do not have any experience directly correcting exams, I fail to see how exams which took 2-3hours to complete could be corrected accurately in the timeframes you are suggesting.

ateam · 18-07-2008 02:03PM

littlebsci wrote: »

That's your opinion and you're free to have it but I certainly don't agree with (or appreciate) the insinuation that there will be a high percentage of appeals based on my work.
I assume that is what you're insinuating??

Why did you say you corrected on some hours 15 scripts per hour! That's all I want to clear up.

littlebsci · 18-07-2008 02:16PM

Because some hours I'd come across a particularly bad batch that'd break your heart coz the candidates in question just weren't able for the paper they had to sit so they attempted very little etc! Conversely, other groups I'd be doing would contain large numbers of scripts that would have loads of little mistakes that you'd try to give marks for so those naturally take a lot longer!

spurious · 18-07-2008 03:44PM

littlebsci wrote: »

Because some hours I'd come across a particularly bad batch that'd break your heart coz the candidates in question just weren't able for the paper they had to sit so they attempted very little etc!

I used to hate getting batches of papers like that. You'd turn the page knowing they were struggling to get anywhere near the pass mark only to find they'd left out the last question(s).

sitstill · 20-07-2008 02:15PM

Just marked my last paper woo hoo that was hell!

Correcting Junior & Leaving Cert Exams

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