Writing and Speaking Assessments

Time is taken each term out of the regular curriculum to assess the students' writing and speaking abilities in English class.

Students are given the topic and guidelines one week prior to the test, and practiced writing and memorizing their statements at home. Then, in class, students have 40 minutes to write without any aids. The week after that students recite their submission to me and attempt to answer some simple questions. I evaluate and assign a grade for their writing and speaking.

The 3rd graders were instructed to write a recommendation for a tourist to see and experience a part of Korea's authentic culture. They were to offer a few tips for those travelling to the site for the first time, and I must admit, they clued me into some really neat cultural attractions that I will need to visit someday.

Grade 3 submission. Above average.

The 2nd graders wrote about their favourite movie, including what they liked and didn't like about the movie. Apparently, Frozen and Frozen 2 are pretty big here.

I have 250 students at my main school and everyone one of them participated in the writing and speaking assessment. I had already graded 248 of written submissions when my co-teacher leaned over my desk and said "the most important thing about grading the assessments is..."  Jaw agape, I was stunned into silence. It took all of my willpower not to snarkily explain that that kind of information would've been beneficial before I graded 99% of the tests. I decided to keep quiet and, instead, complain about it in my online blog. Thanks for reading.

What was the most critical thing about grading the assessments? That, unlike the previous English teacher who gave out all As causing untold problems for the school, I should differentiate between the high quality and lower quality submissions. In other words, don't give out too many As. I don't blame the previous teacher because the grading criteria provided were next to useless. For the 2nd graders, essentially the evaluator (me) was asked to count the number of sentences to determine the students' grades. I asked about the quality of the sentences and how mistakes should impact on the grade. Basically, I was told, "It's up to you."

I gave out plenty of As and I suspect the class average is a little higher than expected, but naturally, I also gave out a good share of Bs and Cs, and some Fs if the students submitted blank papers. It's hard to know if I did a good job with the assessments or if the teachers are generally happy with me as an English teacher since they never provide feedback, but based on the reactions of the students when they received their grades, I think they were happy, which makes me happy.

Grade 2. Average.

Grade 2. Above average.

I really enjoyed spending a few minutes with each student, even though it was mostly an exercise in memorization. I tried to be as cheery as possible because I could see that the students were nervous. Several students were visibly shaking during the speaking assessment. Most students looked off into the distance trying to remember their lines. Some had excessive hand and leg jitters or rocked nervously in their seats. Hilariously, students would slap themselves in the face or head if they forgot what they were meant to say. And most students cheered with joy or groaned with agony when they ended their speech.

I felt especially bad for the students who did poorly. There are plenty of slackers, smart asses and trouble-makers in my classes, but for the most part, these students seemed remorseful that they weren't able to complete the assignment. They would often sit in silence for a minute or so, then say something to the effect of "I can't do it" and "sorry" to me then leave the room. They weren't devastated or anything like that, but still, it was touching that they said sorry.

I was impressed by several students who were really amazing and quite proficient in English, so I happily gave some perfect scores. I have some superstars in class and it's incredible what these kids can do.

Intergenerational ethnic animosity