It's that time of year again when Yr 11 have had enough of GCSEs already and they haven't even started them yet (or is that just mine). I seem to have them come in every lesson and sigh when I remind them that there are only another 2 weeks of term left, then another week and then it's the orals...I must admit that I groan too!
So, today, I took a "new" approach and showed them how things used to be! We did dictation both with my Set 4 French set and Set 1 German set and I must say it worked quite well. My French "skater boys" (as my colleague so aptley described my loud, hairy, trousers-round-the-tops-of-thighs-rather-than-waist wearning Yr 11s) actually engaged with it for about 30 seconds and my top set suffering from "last lesson of the day-itus" also did well. All I did was dictate a "model" C type answer about school that they had to write out, then they came out and wrote their version a line at a time. After that they had to translate it into English and the German class then had to make the answer and A* answer instead of C/B. I think looking backwards could be the way forward :o) They all seemed to enjoy it!
And whilst thinking about GCSEs, does anyone else find it a very long and boring process, getting the conversation question answers prepared and marked? With a top set, marking them so that the answers are A/A* level can take an age...of course, I've only heard this on the grapevine, I would never dream of getting my pupils to pre-prepare their answers, our conversations are all spontaneous and "off the cuff" in our Speaking Exams(cough) :D
So, today, I took a "new" approach and showed them how things used to be! We did dictation both with my Set 4 French set and Set 1 German set and I must say it worked quite well. My French "skater boys" (as my colleague so aptley described my loud, hairy, trousers-round-the-tops-of-thighs-rather-than-waist wearning Yr 11s) actually engaged with it for about 30 seconds and my top set suffering from "last lesson of the day-itus" also did well. All I did was dictate a "model" C type answer about school that they had to write out, then they came out and wrote their version a line at a time. After that they had to translate it into English and the German class then had to make the answer and A* answer instead of C/B. I think looking backwards could be the way forward :o) They all seemed to enjoy it!
And whilst thinking about GCSEs, does anyone else find it a very long and boring process, getting the conversation question answers prepared and marked? With a top set, marking them so that the answers are A/A* level can take an age...of course, I've only heard this on the grapevine, I would never dream of getting my pupils to pre-prepare their answers, our conversations are all spontaneous and "off the cuff" in our Speaking Exams(cough) :D
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