Reports

Well, I've completed my first batch of Australian Report Cards ... at least I THINK I've completed them. They still must be checked by my principal before I am in the clear, but I am sure the hardest part is over. I have been reflecting in the process and I thought I would share some differences while they are fresh in my mind.

Firstly, I have written 29 reports, whereas with the primary cap at home, I would have had no more than 20 and over the last couple of years, my classes have been 16 or 17. The marking as well as reporting for this many students is quite time consuming.

Secondly, there are several differences I have noticed in the actual reports. They have a "general comment" which is similar to our learning skills but the criteria are much different in some areas. I have had to give my students a "mark" on Politeness: I must say that the children I teach are always VERY polite but it made me think about what kind of a mark I would give to many of my Canadian students. If an Australian parent sees that their child does poorly, I guess it is a pretty concrete skill they can improve on. I can't wait to see how Jacob does in politeness :)

I found the grading on the reports to be pretty onerous. For each subject area and strand, you not only give the students a grade, but you must also give them an overall grade as well as an effort mark. For example, in math, I gave a grade for each of numeration, geometry, measurement, problem solving and patterning (the strands), then I had to give an overall Math grade, and lastly I had to give a mark for effort. Each subject area is structured in this manner so it is a bit time consuming.

The last difference I noted was the small comment area. I always have difficulty at report card time putting all of the things I want to say into that little box. Here I was limited to 210 characters (including spaces) for English and Math and 180 characters for the other subject areas. Just try typing out 3 complete sentences and see if you can fit it into 180 characters and say anything meaningful! If a student has a long name, your really sunk!

(The above small paragraph was 451 characters including spaces and 83 words: more than double the space I am allowed on reports!)

The bottom line is that I think less marks and more space for comments would be more beneficial to all. I guess that is why we have parent interviews - so we can say all the important things we want to say in person. I am looking forward to meeting with the parents of my year 3's in a couple of weeks.

T.