Taking a Back Seat...

Source: Microsoft Office

I've been putting all my energies into marking public exam papers and training level one teachers recently so my blogging activities have had to take a back seat. I'm deeply sorry for leaving you, my dear readers in the lurch for a week.


Instead of keeping to a few posts a week, I  manage mere a post a week. But, I always believe in this ...something is always better than nothing! Don't you think so? As for this post which is also my 100th post, I'll only confide in you about the exam-marking...


There is nothing glamorous in wading through piles of scripts, particularly on a hot tropical evening, with the soap opera beckoning. But it is important work, calling for precision, professionalism and, up to a point, compassion. Marking scripts can be pretty monotonous. But you get occasional dramatic glimpses into the lives of the pupils. I can remember one paper with only a plea scrawled across the sheet...PLEASE GIVE ME SOME MARKS. I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWERS. THANK YOU. 


I get a curious good feeling out of marking papers. Sometimes it can be quite frustrating. Again and again, you see pupils not doing themselves justice. Their exam technique is poor and they made mostly some of the 'silliest mistakes' on earth. But from a professional point of view, it is a great opportunity to see how the work that goes on in the classroom stands up to external examination.


These are among the things that I as a teacher hate to see in the scripts I'm marking:

• Handwritings that look like chicken's scratch.
• Dreadful spelling, punctuation and grammar.
• Direct translations from mother-tongue to English.

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A question for teachers: 

What do you look for when you mark your pupils' exam scripts?

A question for parents:

If you were given a chance to whisper a word or two to your kids' examiners,
what will you say to them?

First Anniversary...

Thanks Orkut Greetings!

Today, September 12, 2011 is my blog first anniversary. Hip! Hip! Hooray! This calls for a celebration as this post is my 96th post! Yeah! In a blink of an eye, Sophyta's Casita has turned one and she is short of only  4 posts to 100 posts with this First Anniversary entry.

A year ago, I was very skeptical about embarking on the project called BLOGGING. I had been reading Mas's rambling at LET'S VIEW MY BLOG and Kaz's writing on her family at KAZ WRITES, but it took me ages to muster enough courage to create a blog.

On this given day a year ago, I published this post and started the adventure in the blogosphere. However, only six months later I made up my mind to announce my blog to some very close friends. Wistfully, most of them chose to acknowledge my blog through small messages on FB. I understand them perfectly...to leave a comment on a blog pressing for ideas and views whereas commenting on FB are less wordy. Even so, Mas begged to differ. She was my very first blog commenter, and she still is to this day.Thanks my dear Mas!

Kaz is another friend who deserves enormous credit for encouraging, motivating and supporting Sophyta's Casita all these while. The sweet lady never failed to comment on my posts, and needless to say most of the comments on each post are Kaz's!

Writing this blog has brought so many awesome things and people into my life. It's really amazing. I've met interesting people through the blog whom I'm so glad to call them friends. Here they are ... Amy, Ash and Becky, Kim and Robin. These are friends from "the other side" of the world.

Sophyta's Casita doesn't hold giveaways. There is no candy. But, I'm truly appreciative to those who have come a-calling at Sophyta's Casita doorstep. Please accept my big fat THANK YOU hearts!