The approach to marking on the previous page has several advantages:
a) By splitting the marking, it can be done in two different places at two different times, with two different mindsets. The first-pass can be batched up and done at school, when you are tired, as a matter of routine. The second pass can wait until you have some quality time to focus
b) The second pass targets precise groups of students with specific needs, this should improve your focus and the quality of comments and contribution; you are not just focusing on assessment but on one single aspect of assessment (for example, 'how to achieve the very highest grades')
c) This approach involves getting as much of the work as possible done by other people. Boring repetitive work.
d) By doing the first pass separately, a teacher can establish a consistent pattern to this work which, in time, will pay efficiency dividends. It will get quicker.
e) This approach is flexible: it is consistent with time-boxing for the second-pass - a great advantage at busy times of the year. This removes a binary decision: there should never be a situation in which the first-pass and at least part of a second pass dones not take place.
f) The first pass is quick. It can be done just about every day and just about immediately. This means that your class become accustomed to NEVER seeing a book without red marks on it. They become aware that if they fail to do enough work, they are spotted and dealt with quickly, without fail. In some schools, this is a major behavioural advantage.
g) We all know that Teaching is about more than subject knowledge. A teacher's brain is full of two lots of skills and knowledge: one relates to subject knowledge, the other relates to pedagogy. There is value in – as far as possible – keeping these separate and concentrating on one at a time. Therefore, in the first pass, a teacher considers nothing but marking; in the second pass, mostly subject knowledge. Separately and subsequently, the teacher updates records, comparing grades and assessing progress, and considers what needs to be done from a teacher's perspective.