Friday, May 21, 2010

Will My Students Make It?

I teach exam classes every year. This year, I'm not just teaching SPM students, but PMR students as well. You can imagine my stress level now. PMR trial exams are coming soon in September, followed by the actual exam in October. Then it's the SPM trial exams in October, and the actual exams in November and December. I find myself constantly counting down to those dates, getting stressed up realising that I've not taught them certain topics in the syllabus, or wondering if I have given them enough exercises to help them master certain language or writing skills.

Recently, my SPM students sat their English mid-year exam. Looking at their answers, I could sense all my worries coming back. I thought I had given them enough practice all this while, and I was confident that the majority of them could score well. On the contrary, it seems that they had a lot of wrong answers. Usually, I would start marking their papers first, but now, I'm a bit apprehensive. Looks like I need to double my efforts if I want them to improve further. Well, on the bright side, this is a timely feedback for me which helps me to evaluate my teaching strategies.

My PMR students will start their mid-year exam next week. If they are nervous about it, they surely don't show it at all. In fact, their English teacher (that would be me) seems to be more worried about it. How ironic! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will fare well. I've taught them all I could, but I don't know if it will be enough. Let's hope that it is...

Well, one thing is for sure. Teaching exam classes is a tough job! I just hope that all this effort will be worth it in the end...

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