11 May
A few things today:An update on the exams mentioned last week and an event happening at our school today, which can only be classified as chaos bordering on anarchy.
So last week, I mentioned that the exit exams for all seniors in high school were being reformed. As it currently stands, each school makes their own version of an oral exam, where the students have to speak for 15 minutes and, at the end of it, are given a grade...this is the grade they show universities and carry with them forever. Each school has its own standards, its own questions, and its own grading system. This makes for a VERY subjective exam, based partly on the whims of the teacher, partly on the rules of the school, but judged the same by outsiders. Seems unfair, huh? For example... my school is one of the best in Prague (prob the whole country) and I have have no doubt that some of the kids we teach will be leading this country someday! (My own little bragging moment - sorry!) So at their "Maturita" exam, they get between a 1 and 5 for a grade (1 is the best). If my student gets a 1, he/she is really good! At another school - perhaps a lesser-quality gymnazium (college prep high school), a student can also get a 1, but it's relative to the students in the school. If he/she were to be examined at our school, they might only get a 2 or 3. There is just no objective standard. So universities looking at these scores really have no solid meaning to attach to them. Secondly, there is no standard way to grade between tests even in your own school! On Monday, you might be sick or crabby, giving out lower grades, but on Wednesday, you feel better, get more sleep, or whatever, and your standards might change. We have been improving on this within our school. A few years ago, our head English teacher (and dear friend!), Katie, introduced a grading rubric, giving us some solid criteria with which to give marks. It's a great improvement within our own system, but doesn't solve the larger problem. Last week I mentioned the reforms that are happening though. In 2005, it was decided that NEXT year's seniors would be given a new "standardized" exam. It's slowly coming together, but due to many factors, it's still a work-in-progress. Last Friday, students staged a protest downtown in (famous for other protests)Wenceslas Square against having to implement the new exam so soon. During their protest, the government announced that it would delay the exam for 2 years.
Good points of that decision: Less work to make a whole new exam so soon and to teach it to our seniors. Also, hopefully, there will be less ambiguity as to what will be ON the exam and they'll have some of the kinks worked out.
Bad points: A good thing delayed because it had a few flaws...hopefully it will actually happen! As it stands now, our seniors, for 3 more years, will have this subjective thing still governing their futures!
Okay, second thing to mention today - the "Last Bell": The Maturita exams start in a week and a half and the week before the exams, they have school off to study. So it's the seniors last day of school - the last bell they'll hear! They basically TAKE OVER the school. They play music, spray teachers and otehr students with water...or cheap, old-man cologne like today. They sell food, play games, whatever they want...and it is CHAOS! Right now there's a football (soccer) match going on outside between the seniors and the other classes. I should be watching, but ...here I sit!
One of our favorite classes has a Ska band. They're playing tonight and have invited us, so that's the most exciting part of the weekend - to go watch a few student bands play in a club. ;-)
posted by Kassidee Kennedy @ 9:19 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home