Report Card Season

It's report card season again.

I had my reports done a week ago, as I was asked by the office. I asked if I should use the same one as I did last symester, and Feline (who interviewed me in Ontario and works in the office here in Guangzhou) said that would be OK.

Yesterday, Guo asked that I make changes to the report, so it's not the same as last symester, and could I have them done by Friday? I said that would be fine. There's really no other answer! They don't want me to use the same frame of evaluation.

Last symester, there were things like: "Can understand simple English instructions"; "Can use scissors and crayons"; "Can count to three; and "Attends to stories or instructions for 15 minutes". There are about forty of these questions. I put a check in the appropirate box, signifiying that the skill is Developed, Developing, or Not Yet Developed by the child.

It's fair that they've asked me to update the reports, as it makes sense that the report shouldn't be the same. I just wish everyone was a bit more organized with what they want from me.

I also had to prepare a list of all the songs we've learned this year. I compiled that, and had it ready the day after Guo asked me for it, which was Tuesday. Today, Guo asked if I would do the same for all the words I've taught, and the phrases I've taught. And, it needs to be done by tomorrow since another teacher will be testing my students.

Now that we're into the second term, it's very difficult to quantify what I've taught the children in the last eight months. I can churn out the words in the different units that I've been required to teach, but I've taught them much more than that. The children can now form simple sentences on their own, answer questions, and tell me little stories. These things aren't a product of rote memorization, but of months and months of labourious, patience-testing classroom conversation.

Gosh. It's frustrating being given requests that need to be fulfilled by the next day. I probably wouldn't work on the projects until the night before anyway, but it's still aggrivating. I figure the office is busy and they don't know what they want from me until the day before. I guess this is the way the world works though, and I should just get used to it.

Next Friday is the last day of school, but also another Parents' Day where I have to come up with, yet again, a fun and engaging way to show the parents everything I've taught the children in the past year. I've run out of ideas, since I've done quite a few of these now.

After lunch when Parents' Day is done, I'm to meet with all the parents and talk about their children, and how they can improve their English. Groan. Like anything being taught to three and four year olds, the only thing you can do is repeat everything a million times, and be supportive in both success and failure. So, I'll just tell the parents that if they want to help their children learn, they must be patient and encouraging in the process.

OK, on to my reports.