xmas exams
Last week I started the oral exams with all my classes. The vast majority were a success and that put my students in good stead to start their writtens this week. A 40 out of 40 on the oral, for instance, gives you 40% of your overall final mark which is of course very encouraging.
Writtens started on Monday and finish at the end of next week. My exams (I had a total of six – two per day) finished today. Now you would have thought that a week with no lessons and no lesson planning would have been a breeze. Allow me to correct that fallacy.
Note: While writing this a guy on a moto-concho just sped by and crashed into a bunch of parked moto-conchos outside the cyber cafe. Luckily he was not carrying any passengers and no one was injured/killed. That’s what happens when you buy your driver’s licence.
Back on topic. I’ve spent the past three days supervising and correcting 148 exams. I’ve never been so brainwashed by correction. After five or ten goes at correcting identical papers your brain switches on auto-pilot and starts ticking and crossing appropriately. It sounds silly but this is actually a fairly accurate description of what happens. Nevertheless, it took time and very nearly drove me insane. Thankfully my mental health was unaffected, or at least back to normal.
The vast majority of the marks were very good, surprisingly so in some cases. A couple of my classes have an average of 85% (!) overall, which means most people got 90% or more and a few did very badly. Whether this was the result of good teaching, good learning, well-timed cheating or a combination of them all, I’m thrilled to bits. A lot of my students have this knack of giving me the impression they don’t care or they’re not listening, yet when it comes to the exam they prove me seriously wrong. Either that or they study very very hard, though that’s highly unlikely if you ask me.
Charly said,
December 7, 2006 at 6:52 am
Great to have your news, as usual, Daniel.
Sounds like you’re been having a tough time of it, though you tone suggests your’re handling it well. Schadenfreude perhaps, but the instant road accident report makes me feel like I’m there with you.
Stay sane
Love, dad
Maisie said,
December 7, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Hi Daniel! I’ve finally caught up woth your blog again – haven’t looked at it in a while as uni has been pretty mental lately as have a lot of other things in my life! Sounds like you’re having an amazing time anyway – it’s very interesting to know all this stuff
Keep them coming. Hope you’re well
Speak to you soon
Maisie xxxxxx
Joel Holdrinet said,
December 9, 2006 at 12:23 am
Hi Daniel, thanks for the reply, I’m doing alright, working at the moment as an outdoor adventure leader mainly teaching navigation and helping with orienteering events, which is fun, better than my last job… as a dishwasher at a really busy restaurant…
I was taking a graphic design course but it didn’t appeal to me as much as I thought it would once I got to understand it better and as a result I did not complete the course.
For the moment I’m just focusing on working, I don’t know what I want to study so I’m not going to waste money investing in something I’m not sure I’ll like.
Anyways, I know your email address is on this blog somewhere so next time I’ll write an email. Thanks for keeping in touch,
Joel.
Mike Lucas said,
December 10, 2006 at 5:23 am
Hey Daniel!
I’ve also caught up with your news after a couple of months wondering what you were up to. Sounds brill fun. I’m still holding out on the idea of coming and seeing you – volunteered for a European Parliament job on your doorstep a couple of weeks ago, but they gave it to a more deserving candidate. I’ve been flying all over the shop for the last 3 and a half months, now looking forward to some R&R over xmas and skiing in the new year.
Keep enjoying and don’t get too good a tan.
Luv, Mike x
dominicanjournal said,
December 10, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Hi guys!
Very good to hear from you all. I really appreciate the comments! Joel, sounds like you’re getting on well. And Mike, do come and visit if you can. I don’t know a more deseverving case than an uncle visiting his nephew on a business trip.
Like I said, great to hear from you all. Keep the comments coming!
Love, d