My room is now covered in neat stacks of end of term exams, papers and portfolios waiting for my review. I used to dread this end of the term flood but I have changed my opinion on this.
It is really pretty exiciting.
Those stacks contain the sum of what my students have learned this term. Each paper is a snapshot of where someone is in their life. Some are wonderful, some middling and some not-so- great. They reveal what is important to people, how they chose to spend their time, their best efforts and the I-hope-I-get-by prayers. They are little windows into people's hopes and priorities.
They also tell me how I did as a teacher. What I taught well and what was a crash and burn. What people valued in the class and what was a got-to-get-through moment. After I score everything, I will take stock of where I am and what I need to improve for next time. Then I will write these ideas down so I can make use of them the next time I teach that course.
Pretty good stuff - a chance to improve as a teacher and understand my students better. Not a bad way to end the term. It is worth a few extra pots of coffee.
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