How has your week been?
I was deployed to mark the exam essays written by our fourth and fifth graders yesterday and today. And what I have learnt throughout this process depresses me a bit.
Since I have only worked three months at my new job, I carry an uncharacteristic amount of idealism and optimism with me. I wanted to avoid teaching to the test and peppering my charges with beautiful phrases and forcing them down their throats. Coupled with my fortitude to do the right thing, I had wished for the presence of mind so that I could teach my young students to come out with original Show not Tell phrases they could be proud of. As for students who are weak writers, I wanted them to work with their existing language skills and use short sentences strategically.
I even likened myself to a boxer, wielding short, designed-to-kill emotional punches at the right moments.
Don’t they say that brevity is the soul of wit or something?
Unfortunately, the marking rubrics don’t allow for my out-of-the-box interpretation. Published authors might write something original like I felt weighed down by an anvil in my chest and let the punch sink in. But in order to score for Language, students need to write something like the following:
Cold shivers ran down my spine as panic engulfed me. My hands were clammy and my heart palpitated erratically against my rib cage. I stood rooted to the ground and winced at the scene unfolding before me.
In order to ace their essay exam, students need to write a succession of bombastic-sounding phrases, never mind if they have appeared on countless other scripts.
Never mind if they sound empty and devoid of emotion. Just dump them in and hear the results bell 🔔 clang as the marks descend to embellish their script.
I’m not sure what to make of this. I need time to reconcile this dissonance between my hopes and the unforgiving realities associated with my educational landscape. I did copy down some phrases while marking these scripts. Phrases that I would later distribute to students that encompass the entire ability spectrum.
It was a scorching Sunday afternoon. (for the really weak writers)
The sun shone brilliantly in the azure blue sky. (for the middle block)
A flurry of thoughts spun me into a vortex. (for the strongest writers)