I’ve
survived Exam-Grading Hell. The exams were Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday
morning. I spent a total of 18 hours, not counting breaks, grading them on
those two days. I was able to do them faster than I anticipated based on what
Dale and Kasey had said about how much time it took. I did quick, holistic
grading and got pretty good at it. After entering scores in the Excel program
for final calculations, I learned that the written exams changed grades of only
about twenty students, most of whom were in the lower part of range and dropped
to the lower grade. The majority of students had the same grade on the written
exam as on the oral one.
Wednesday
one of the supervising teachers came to talk to me during the exam. I guess she
had been told that I wasn’t happy with the arrangement and was having a hard
time. Since she brought up the
topic, I ended out venting all my thoughts and opinions about what has
transpired related to the exam schedule--the rigid adherence to policy, lack of
compassion to be flexible in special cases, not communicating the schedule
early enough to plan around it. Since I was overstressed and lacking in sleep,
tears came to my eyes while talking about the situation. She was in the U.S.
for a year and understands the stress of leaving and the comments about rigidity.
She thanked me for trusting her. It wasn't a matter of trusting her; she was
the person available to vent to. I probably would have done it with anyone, but
she is a teacher I have actually spoken to a few times. She said she will talk
to the people who schedule about not doing this in the future, which may just
mean that she'll tell them to put foreign teachers' exams in week 18, which
would have been OK. I tried to emphasize that the need for flexibility also
applies to Chinese teachers, not only to foreign teachers. I’m sure some of
them also have special circumstances sometimes.
When I finished talking
with her and returned to the room, it looked like many of the students were finished.
Hannah said some were finished but it was too early to leave. Tuesday the
monitoring cameras caught us leaving after half an hour and said it was too
short. So Wednesday students finished and sat for half an hour so the time
would look appropriate. I guess the camera could catch them sitting with their
heads down or sitting looking ahead but not working on the exam. At least they
were in the room. Also, the attendance paper they have to sign wasn't
delivered; so Hannah had to go to get it when it wasn't there after 45 minutes.
A good way to ensure that students didn't leave too soon.
The students at that
exam included my special office hours’ friends. They came to hug me before
leaving, which brought on more tears--on both sides. We will miss each other.
They will be the ones I wonder about over the years.
Wednesday
evening Maggie and Jenny came to cook dinner for me. Maggie wanted to do
something special for me and brought Jenny along because Jenny is a better
cook. I hadn’t seen Jenny since last year; so it was good to see her again.
They arrived right after I finished one set of exams; so it was a great break
between sets. I enjoyed the time with them.
Thursday
morning I slept well for the second time since the exam news was delivered. It
felt wonderful to have that day to myself; so I was glad to have pushed myself
to finish the exams in two days. Mostly I cleaned the apartment, finished
reading a book to leave in the office, and packed. It was nice to be able to
relax and enjoy the apartment for a day before leaving. Kasey, Hannah, and I
went to dinner together.
Friday
morning Hannah and I went to the bank to send money to my U.S. account again,
since most of my money had been deposited. Of course it took longer than we had
planned. So we had lunch together. When I stopped in the office to invite Yang
to join us, she clung to me and cried, partly because she was overstressed and
partly because she will really miss me, as we have become good friends and I
have been a support person for her.
Hannah
walked back to the apartment with me and helped carry my bags to the office
where a car would meet me to take me to Chengdu. Dale met us on the way and
joined us. He had sent a message saying he’d hung a gift—a Chinese neck pillow—on
my door, which was a big surprise. His note thanked me for my international
teaching and resilience. (He seems to need to personally thank people for
whatever they do.) So Hannah, Yang, and Dale saw me off. I was so tired that I
slept in the car most of the trip. When I arrived at the hostel, I slept for
another hour. Catching up and recovering.
Friday
evening I met Xiayu for dinner, and we went to a Japanese sushi restaurant.
It’s a small, relaxing place with delicious food. It was nice to have a final
meal and chat together. We had originally scheduled Monday; so I was especially
glad he was able to change to Friday when I/we could be relaxed together.
So
I am officially finished with the university and ready to move on. I will miss
my special friends. One aspect of leaving that is difficult is that I know I
won’t see most of these people again and that most of them will not keep in
touch. But we will be in each others’ hearts.
The
university has some kind of official evaluation in September; so people are
being required to work extra. Some for two weeks, but Yang thinks she may have
to work for the whole vacation with no additional pay.
I
learned that the government has a program in which it is encouraging students
to join the army after two years and return to school after they finish their
military service. The incentive is that their education will be paid for.
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