A Random EFL Teacher Muses

Tests, tests, tests

Today I wanted to share something interesting, but, alas, I am literally buried under. Under tests.

Every year starts the same - the whole department conducts entry skill tests: Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking.

I think you can easily guess that evaluating some of those is more troublesome and headache-inducing than others.

RANT ON

What I hate about checking Writing and Speaking is not even the fact that I don't like correcting mistakes (I do like it, duh! I am a teacher!). What I loathe from the bottom of my black-black heart is making.

For me making means consulting the criteria (which our students are usually made aware of in advance), counting all the mistakes from different categories, evaluating content, cohesion and coherence.

Don't get me started on Speaking and having to listen to one student a hundred times to mark it properly!

❓Why do I torture myself so much❓

It's simple.

I love suffering.

I want to be fair + I want to mitigate any risk of parents knocking on my door to demand an explanation as to why their child, the light of their life, got a 3, or, God forbid, a 2.

RANT OFF

❓Do you like conducting, checking and marking tests❓

P.S. I went to my school's garden to mark tests today. Was totally worth it.

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250 viewsYulia Bondarchuk, edited  Sep 9, 2024 at 14:47

Tests, tests, tests

Today I wanted to share something interesting, but, alas, I am literally buried under. Under tests.

Every year starts the same - the whole department conducts entry skill tests: Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking.

I think you can easily guess that evaluating some of those is more troublesome and headache-inducing than others.

RANT ON

What I hate about checking Writing and Speaking is not even the fact that I don't like correcting mistakes (I do like it, duh! I am a teacher!). What I loathe from the bottom of my black-black heart is making.

For me making means consulting the criteria (which our students are usually made aware of in advance), counting all the mistakes from different categories, evaluating content, cohesion and coherence.

Don't get me started on Speaking and having to listen to one student a hundred times to mark it properly!

❓Why do I torture myself so much❓

It's simple.

I love suffering.

I want to be fair + I want to mitigate any risk of parents knocking on my door to demand an explanation as to why their child, the light of their life, got a 3, or, God forbid, a 2.

RANT OFF

❓Do you like conducting, checking and marking tests❓

P.S. I went to my school's garden to mark tests today. Was totally worth it.