The classes, they are a-growing…
This year I have three classes comprising 34/35 students. Of course, during the next few weeks, 4 or 5 will drop out of each class because they realise that they’ve chosen the wrong profession (they’re the lucky ones, some of them only realise this when they flunk the second or third year).
It’s not the number of students that is the problem. The students at the school are usually relatively civilised, we have very few problems with violence or vandalism, so the atmosphere is usually relaxed.
The new buzz word is “individuelle Förderung” = individual student support
The problem or challenge is to help the students overcome the deficits in major subjects in the first half term. German, English and Maths are the subjects that cause the main problems.
This year I have 3 45-minute lessons in the large classes.
To evaluate the students’ standard of English, I had them write a test in the first lesson after I had explained that although I would be recording the grade for information purposes, the grade would not be included in the final English grade for the first half term. I just wanted them to write the test so that I could evaluate the strengths and weaknesses.
Here’s a link to the test:
And here are the answers which you’ll have to photocopy onto a transparency to lay over the answer sheet in the test:
I saved marking time by reading out the answers to the questions at the end of the lesson and then took the answer sheets home for further evaluation.
After analysing the test to identify which grammar points were relevant for which question, I drew up an evaluation form and marked the areas which needed improvement by highlighting them with a bright pink pen. I then used my teacher software program to record each student’s results and print off little graphs to show their grade and the average grade of the class.
This took me three hours for each of the two classes.
In the next class, I had the students complete the test, asked them to swap the answer sheets with their neighbour, had them mark the papers, then they were given the table listing the grammar aspect for each question. I told the students to mark the areas of grammar that needed working on. Then I collected the papers to work on at home, recorded the test results for each student and printed off the labels to show the students’ marks and the average marks of the class.
Reduce marking time
Jim Smith – the “lazy” teacher – suggests the following steps for reducing the piles of papers that teachers mark. Important: Ask yourself the following questions BEFORE you set a task.
1) W’hat will be produced?
2) How will it be presented?
3) How can it be assessed?
4) Who will assess it?
5) What role will I have to play in this?
6) What role will the students have in this?
Since I am the proud owner of a netbook as of yesterday, I will download my teacher software onto my new computer. The next time I have the students complete this test or a similar test, I can record the students’ results directly in the lesson using my netbook and then print off the graphs at home to hand out to the students in the next lesson. I will save valuable marking time that I can invest in developing a curriculum to help the students overcome their problems with grammar.
Nip discussions about grades in the bud
I use the teacher software Notenbox7 which has taken the hassle out of grading a term’s worth of work.
You’ll probably already have something similar on your PC:
http://www.awin.de/NotenBox7.html
It has the advantage that the student always knows what his / her grades are at any time of the week during the term. Everytime they write a test or complete a homework assignment, they get a little sticker showing them the grade for the completed work and the average grades for all the other tasks they have completed so far. After a class test, I can print off the stickers to show each student’s test grade, his/her average grade for the term so far and a little graph that shows the distribution of grades within the class.
Yes, I need quite a lot of stickers during the year, but discussions on grades are no longer a pain because – as I tell the students – “I don’t determine your grades, you do.” Weaker students are also more motivated to go the extra mile if they see that their grades are slowly improving.
Less teaching, more learning 