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Make suggestions, report errors > teacher īs behaviour during a test
teacher īs behaviour during a test
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kmochniak
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teacher īs behaviour during a test
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Hello everybody!
I was wondering how you behave during a written test. Do you help students sometimes? If so, how much? If not, why?
I must say I do help my students sometimes. I don īt give them answers. I just say: "Think about this one a bit more" or something like that. Today I helped a student for the first time in my life indicating the right answer. I feel horrible about it.
Tell me what you do.
Hugs, Kasia |
16 Jun 2011
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lizsantiago
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I have never given an answer to a student because i would only be cheating myself, since a test not only tells what the students know but also how well did you teach them. i have helped my students by telling them when the answer is not right so they can think a little bit harder or refreshing their memory. for example if i see he/she has not answered something i would tell him/her: do you remember when we where talking about (whatever the topic) that i say bla bla bla (something that might help him remember without telling him)? or maybe telling them if the answer is missing something. dont feel bad about giving him the answer but i would suggest that you find out if what he couldnt answer was because he forgot it or because he didnt know it. if it is because he didnt know it then try to reteach that because at the end that piece of information he is missing he might need it to understand other things later on. |
16 Jun 2011
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maryse pey�
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Hi dear,
just wonder why you did this : has this student been progressing and you wanted to show him / her that (s)he deserved a better mark to underline this progression ?
Did you want to help him / her just because his / her classmates are unfair with him / her ?
Did you partly recognize yourself in his / her behavior and expectations ?
I am sure you had a good reason to help this student of yours.
Don īt feel guilty : just be conscious of what made you act like this. Than analyse again the case : would you have acted in the same way if you had known why you gave the answer ?
Once the actual reason pointed out in your mind you will be able to behave in a more serene way dear.
We are only human beings with very subjective behaviors. Just be consious of that and try to act according to your wisdom AND your heart... |
16 Jun 2011
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kmochniak
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I helped him cause I īm sure he knew it, he just forgot. I still feel bad.
@maryse : Can you tell me what you do during the tests? |
16 Jun 2011
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teresasimoes
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I think situations like that happen. What you feel means that you self-assess your daily work, which, in my opinion, is a very important attitude in our teaching job. That is the first step to improve. Anyway, Iīm going to tell you about my experience: When I prepare a test for my students I make sure every detail is clear about what they are supposed to do. I also do a matrix of the test structure, contents, marks for each question, allowed resources and the correction criteria. I send them a grid with this information through email a week before applying the test. When my students do the test I never say anything. They do it all by themselves. |
17 Jun 2011
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Olindalima ( F )
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hi kmochniak
don īt feel guilty - special feeling is something some teachers have, others don īt; special feeling can īt be the rule, but, if you felt you needed to do that, for sure you, and only you, have the whole background, we don īt -for sure your attitude was right, we don īt know, we can īt say, each student is a ONE and different; applying different criteria to differrent people is something I consider perfectly correct. We are not all alike, but we have the right to be given similar opportunities. What you did, for me, is something natutral - a special situation ( you noticed it, no matter what reasons ), needs special answers.
However
my usual way of working can be copy/paste from what TeresaSimões has just written. In advance, we discuss what they will be required to know - grammar, vocabulary, worksheets to make a revision, extra printables for the ones who want a " higher" evaluation, a matrix, how much will every question be marked, 4, 5, 6 possible subjects for a composiotion ( not the exact subject, but something around this or that , so that they study some more vocab, can write tons of possible composions, while they write at home, they are studying).
I usually upload all this info in a private folder in a moodle platform, when I arrive in class I don īt need to tell them anything, cause some of them have already seen it and have passed the word.
Be sure, what you do with your heart, won īt hurt,and will brighten your kids � day, what you do with your head, will teach them, if they feel like learning.
Congrats, is what I can tell you; more important than everything is that we have to have happy children, this is my first duty , as a mother and as a teacher.
hugs, sorry for the misspelling, I īm writing only with one hand, it īs a little difficult
Linda
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17 Jun 2011
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Mehlika Sultan
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hi
if a teacher helps some students during a test itīs not so good coz other students might think you have favourites. if you help somebody once, means you have to do it for others also and many times more.
it īs a really hard feeling to bear. i wish you honestly to overcome this difficult situation.
if from my experience,
first before beginning the test i talk about how good they are and how easy is the test for them cause i am sure that they have studied hardly. and i am sure they can pass it if only they concentrate on the task not on other things. also i ask them not to disturb each other that might cause them making more mistakes. then i try to refresh the lesson when we used to talk about that topic.(if its necessary)
during a test i try to walk through the classroom to encourage the students that i think are thinking too much about a question. i also tell them to do the part that they are 100%sure of answer and later on work on the hard part for them so they can spare some more necessary time. a teacher support during a test itīs very important for students:can pat their back and whisper :come on try again or i am sure this is a piece of cake for a smart student like you. just try to motivate them and give them the feeling that you believe in them, increase their self-confidence!!!
try to comfort yourself that your student just forgot...
best wishes
aysegul
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17 Jun 2011
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Bruna Dutra
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I think the whole concept of assessing students � progress throught tests is terrible, but still, haven īt seen a better one. 
A test is just ONE of the evaluation tools, in my opinion. Therefore, I would never feel bad about showing the student the way to the correct answer, after all, the the main idea is still TEACHING/LEARNING the subject, isn īt it? And very often, I hear from my students that they learned more WITH the test than in class itself. All I can conclude is that the "IDEA" of a "test" actually HELPS the students, but not to the point that the teacher will feel bad for actually HELPING the students.
PS: I mean this providing you īre testing your own students in a regular course/school. I acknowlegde the fact that assessing people īs language skills as an admission exam or international test is way different, because they īre not YOUR students.
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17 Jun 2011
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kmochniak
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Thank you all very much for your opinions. I have read some interesting ideas here which I am going to use with my pupils in the future. And thank you for comforting words.
@bruna: My Students indeed have the same feelings about learning a lot during the test. It īs like the final summary of what we discussed previously.
I īve got something to think of and I know I need to work a lot to improve my testing methods. Although i can do nothing about the final test as it is assigned by the DOS.
Thank you all again.
Hugs,
Kasia |
17 Jun 2011
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