Hello all,
I imagine you didn't think that you'd be hearing from me again so soon, but I have a few things on my mind that I just need to get out there into the universe. Having come here to the UAE to teach ESL students in a regular classroom environment I figured that there would be a number of challenges in terms of ensuring that the curriculum goals and expectations are met. In my initial interview the interviewer told me that the students would have varying levels of English and that my instruction would need to accommodate this.
My students knew only their alphabet and a few colours in English when they walked through the door in September. The challenge that this presented seemed so daunting at first. We were unable to communicate with one another, and every little lesson seemed to be a big challenge. As the months have passed, I am starting to see some amazing growth with the students. They are beginning to speak in sentences (albeit most of it is broken English), and they are attempting to communicate with me on a personal level. I think my students must presume that I'm hungry because they are constantly bringing me little food gifts.
Anyway, I was told a couple days ago that the school manager (principal) wanted our report cards to be submitted by March 15th. This really wouldn't be a huge issue for me if there were a traditional report card program to work with where you input the mark and leave a comment. The problem is, this report card is generated by clicking off objectives as having been met within the world's slowest online database program. The objectives have mysteriously changed since the first reporting period, and for math, my students would all end up with Es if I were to use the check box system since I have not covered the bulk of the selected objectives that they've listed. I should add that we were not told prior to the term beginning what objectives we should be assessing the students with.
So working with this report card program I have decided to be fair to my students instead of being fair to the objectives. Some of these kids have worked so hard, and to not acknowledge their growth would be a huge shame. I have discussed this with colleagues, and they really can't begrudge me for making a decision like this.
On a side note, I am very seriously considering not returning to Canada during the summer. I may wait until summer 2012. It just seems like such a large journey for such a short period of time. With so many people busy working, and without a car to get around I think I would be too bored, and unable to make the most of it. Please feel free to email me and let me know what you think of this!
Keith
PS It was 93 F or 33.7 C today!
I imagine you didn't think that you'd be hearing from me again so soon, but I have a few things on my mind that I just need to get out there into the universe. Having come here to the UAE to teach ESL students in a regular classroom environment I figured that there would be a number of challenges in terms of ensuring that the curriculum goals and expectations are met. In my initial interview the interviewer told me that the students would have varying levels of English and that my instruction would need to accommodate this.
My students knew only their alphabet and a few colours in English when they walked through the door in September. The challenge that this presented seemed so daunting at first. We were unable to communicate with one another, and every little lesson seemed to be a big challenge. As the months have passed, I am starting to see some amazing growth with the students. They are beginning to speak in sentences (albeit most of it is broken English), and they are attempting to communicate with me on a personal level. I think my students must presume that I'm hungry because they are constantly bringing me little food gifts.
Anyway, I was told a couple days ago that the school manager (principal) wanted our report cards to be submitted by March 15th. This really wouldn't be a huge issue for me if there were a traditional report card program to work with where you input the mark and leave a comment. The problem is, this report card is generated by clicking off objectives as having been met within the world's slowest online database program. The objectives have mysteriously changed since the first reporting period, and for math, my students would all end up with Es if I were to use the check box system since I have not covered the bulk of the selected objectives that they've listed. I should add that we were not told prior to the term beginning what objectives we should be assessing the students with.
So working with this report card program I have decided to be fair to my students instead of being fair to the objectives. Some of these kids have worked so hard, and to not acknowledge their growth would be a huge shame. I have discussed this with colleagues, and they really can't begrudge me for making a decision like this.
On a side note, I am very seriously considering not returning to Canada during the summer. I may wait until summer 2012. It just seems like such a large journey for such a short period of time. With so many people busy working, and without a car to get around I think I would be too bored, and unable to make the most of it. Please feel free to email me and let me know what you think of this!
Keith
PS It was 93 F or 33.7 C today!
No comments:
Post a Comment