Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Deja vu. It is the second turn of the seasons, and every now and then seasonal things happen that doesn’t seem strange this time around, but I remember my surprise last year. Like finding that the shower drain was blocked by a frog who chose to live there. Yep, there is another frog in the drain this year, and lots of frogs hopping in my courtyard every night. And last night there were suddenly thousands of the double-winged bugs around my house, the ones that apparently are super-delicious. Paul was mad at me last year for not telling me they were there until it was too late and my neighbors grabbed them all up. So this year I scraped up about half a margarine container of them for him.
Yesterday I really tried to find out what the structure is for grading my Form IV students. They just had a mid-term exam. Do I give a terminal exam in June, as seems normal? Yes. So it seems pretty clear that like last year, their first term grade will be the average of these two tests – other quizzes won’t count toward the grade. But this grade will be used for “Continuing Assessment” and NOT for their final course grade. Then in the second term, there is a “Mock Exam” at the end of July. This is a regional exam, sort of a warm-up for the National Exam. But it is taken very seriously, and results are sent to Dar es Salaam and compared to all the other schools. But does it count toward their final grade? No answer on that. Do I give a midterm exam in the second term? Yes. Does it count, since the final big National Examination is what everything depends on? No clear answer. Do I also give a terminal exam? No. Oh well, I’ll just continue to play it by ear. But this school system has certainly made me very skeptical of the educational value of Standardized National Examinations!
All Hodie’s puppies have their eyes open by now, and they are just beginning to explore their territory. They are a lot cuter – and bigger. Hodie seems to be very thin. I hope she is eating enough, and not losing nutrition through worms or something. Looking at the size of those six plump puppies, it must be a real strain on her system to be producing all the food they need to grow. She isn’t bothered at all when I pick up or carry away a puppy or two, but she growls and snaps if anyone else threatens to get too close for her comfort zone.
Yesterday I really tried to find out what the structure is for grading my Form IV students. They just had a mid-term exam. Do I give a terminal exam in June, as seems normal? Yes. So it seems pretty clear that like last year, their first term grade will be the average of these two tests – other quizzes won’t count toward the grade. But this grade will be used for “Continuing Assessment” and NOT for their final course grade. Then in the second term, there is a “Mock Exam” at the end of July. This is a regional exam, sort of a warm-up for the National Exam. But it is taken very seriously, and results are sent to Dar es Salaam and compared to all the other schools. But does it count toward their final grade? No answer on that. Do I give a midterm exam in the second term? Yes. Does it count, since the final big National Examination is what everything depends on? No clear answer. Do I also give a terminal exam? No. Oh well, I’ll just continue to play it by ear. But this school system has certainly made me very skeptical of the educational value of Standardized National Examinations!
All Hodie’s puppies have their eyes open by now, and they are just beginning to explore their territory. They are a lot cuter – and bigger. Hodie seems to be very thin. I hope she is eating enough, and not losing nutrition through worms or something. Looking at the size of those six plump puppies, it must be a real strain on her system to be producing all the food they need to grow. She isn’t bothered at all when I pick up or carry away a puppy or two, but she growls and snaps if anyone else threatens to get too close for her comfort zone.
