The First Exam

            Today I gave my first English exam to my students and ended my first trimester of teaching English in Vondrozo.  I should start this story on Wednesday and Thursday of last week though.  On those two days I gave a practice exam to my students so that they would know what would be on the test and how the test would look when they took it.  In this practice exam I used the exact directions and the same format of questions, although different question, they would see on the test.  When made the test twice as long as the review, 40 questions, but most of the answers were fill in the blanks
or circle the correct answer, with 11 short answer questions. 

            On Monday, the day of the test, the four sections of Seconde were split into six groups and put into six different classrooms.  This was done so that there were only two students at each desk, instead of the usual three to four, to lower the chances of cheating.  All of the Seconde students also took the same test at the same time so that they could not help their friends out by telling them what was on the test.  Each of the six classes had one to two teachers watching to make sure that no body cheated, but of course some got away with it. 

            The students are used to getting a test on a half sheet of paper and then doing all their work in the notebook which they turn in.  So when my test was passed out with a page and half of writing and all the blanks and spots to fill in one the test itself there was a low murmur that rolled over the classrooms.  Unsure how to precede many of the teachers came to ask me how the test was to be administered and after a short explanation the test was on its way; with a few of the teachers taking the test to. 

            Once the test was over I graded the 293 test that I had and the results were not that bad.  The lowest grade was a 3.5/20 and the highest was a 16.5/20, with the average at about a 10/20.  The grading is done under the French system so it is out of 20 instead of 100.  Everything is also graded harder so a 10/20 ends up being a passing grade.