Sutorenjaa In Japan

Let the Great Assigning begin...

Yay yay yay... school is almost over and a new year will begin! Yes, it is February, but here the school schedule is a little different from the States. Basically, their school year begins in April and finishes in the following March. Sounds like a long school year... BUT they still get a month or so off from school in the summer. They also ge a spring break... but that break is when they change grades. I hope that's clear.
Ok, part 2... so, the kids have to take midterms and final exams for each subject at the end of each term. However at the end of each school year, the 1st years and 2nd years have to take placement (covering all subjects) exams. These exams will determine what class they will be in for the next year. So, for each grade, there are 5-6 classes (here, the teachers move from room to room, rather than the kids moving to each classroom... so students have all their classes with the same classmates). For example, the second years have 6 classes, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, and 2-6. The 2-1 and 2-2 are the top classes, meaning over all, the students in these classes score highly on their placement exams.
Yesterday, the first years took their placement exams. Things were all quiet on the front until the end of school bell rang. Then it was a flurry of teachers and papers around the ole office and then... complete silence as the room was completely vacated. Of course, except for me. Actually, I was helping a student prepare for an English speaking exam. :D
After helping the student, I was to go to the room at the end of the hall to help... GRADING!
When I stepped in, the room was crazy with teachers at tables flipping though exams and marking student work. Apparently, all the teachers in the department get together to grade the students' exams. Most of the exam was multiple choice and only 2 sections were written. One of the writing parts was a 2 sentence translation while the other part was a 4 sentence (at least) long composition. And what was the ALT to grade, you might ask? The multiple choice? The translation? NO! Of course, as the native English speaker I graded the compositions. Yay. I was overjoyed at the thought of staying late after school and grading about 200 1st year compositions. Oh the thrills. I had to grade for content, fluency and grammar (4 points each). It was a wreched task. I'm still not sure how to grade "content" for a 4 SENTENCE composition! Is that even enough to get content?! Well, I did it. Of course it took me forever longer than the other teachers (da bums!) but I still finished in a decent amount of time. I must say that I think I have done quite well at mastering this speed grading thing. Yata!

posted by KidBach @ 9:18 AM