Testing, Assessing, Evaluating

My students, that is...

I have already given the first quiz for each class and the first test to one of my classes. Right now, I'm working on elaborating the test for my second (intermediate level) class.

I'm enjoying preparing the tests although I did freak out just a tiny bit when I saw that one of my beginner students failed pretty spectacular in her first test (most students did great). What do I do? I mean, language teaching is pretty straightforward, you either learn or you don't. Tough, right? Any thoughts on this are appreciated. I'm planning to have the student come to my office hours and go over the materials. I want to make sure she's getting something out of our classes.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed elaborating paper topics. Ah! I was always so creative with those! My papers were nearly impossible for the students to plagiarize because I made the topics very specific and always comparative in nature.* It was fun to come up with paper topics! I also had quizzes, but I think this is the first time since my teaching years in Brazil when I have to create actual tests. I am using the templates provided by the book publisher, but today I created several review questions from scratch. It's funny that I'm totally thinking of the test as one more learning tool for the students. I have even included several "teaching moments" within it.

I am enjoying the grading too, since there's not so much of it (nothing, compared to the two semesters that I had to grade SIX HUNDRED papers -- 6 short journal and 4 longer autobiographical papers per students X 60 -- I got "incompletes" both times in the classes I was taking). It's interesting to see that they're really (for the most part) learning! What I'm doing is useful!

Teaching is fun and rewarding, that's for sure. And this kind of "real" teaching is a joy, compared to the utter awfulness (weak words) that was my experience being a "facilitator" for the biggest for-profit distance learning "provider" in the country. That is not real teaching, and I wonder if it's really any worthy kind of education.

I digress, tough. I hope that the results of these evaluations can prove that I'm doing my part and helping the students to learn! But now, I have to go to bed... ;-)

P.S. My parents are back. I went to pick them up in Maryland today. My uncle is improving lots and that's great! More later.

*After all, that's part of the name of my discipline, for those who don't already know, I try to be slightly fuzzy about that too here in the blog.