Why do I sign a check up?

20.12.2009

Why do I sign a check up?

1. What is a checkup?
   
   

A checkup is a testing of the student’s knowledge of a certain part of a PACE. It shows the student how well he or she learnt the material of a PACE.

2. How to get ready for a checkup?
   
   

Students should have a clear idea that they need to treat the check ups seriously, as the check ups are the steps of preparation for the Self test and for the test itself and that the PACEs are not only attractive illustrated books but source of information, needed for their life.

1. The 1^st page.
   
   

We open the PACE, and the first thing we see is the set of goals, which informs us what exactly we are going to do in this particular PACE. That’s why we should be aware that the student has read this page, and signing it we show ourselves and other teachers who might come to help to the Learning Center.

2. The definitions.
   
   

Then definitions, the words which are used further in the texts, come. They might become an active vocabulary and they must be learnt before reading the texts. First of all, the students do all necessary procedures; underlining the proper variants, writing the words, combining the sentences using these words. If necessary the dictionary should be used, both English – English or English – Native dictionary. Here we can even apply to parents for help, so that they could explain the meaning of the given vocabulary to their kids, using their native language.

Next step after the vocabulary pages are scored is that the student should say definitions to the teacher. Signing the page we confirm that all the words have been learned by the student. Only then the student may start reading all the texts, where most of the unknown words are now familiar to him.

3. All previous pages should be circled and scored.
   
   

Next what we should check before starting to ask for a checkup is that all the pages are scored and circled. Of course, the student should understand that by circling the numbers, he shows that all the demanded procedures are completed properly.      
  

4. Texts.
   
   

The texts in all PACEs below 1037 must be read aloud to the teacher that means they should be also signed. What I do in my LC, I ask the students to high light the most important sentences in the text, so that getting ready for the Self test, and they could easily look through the material and refresh their knowledge.

3. Then we checked that the student completed all the demanded procedures.
   
   

 

-          Read the 1^st page;

-          Learnt and said definitions;

-          Read the texts;

-          Filled in all the blanks;

-          Scored everything;

-          Circled all the pages;

-          Corrected the mistakes, if there were any.

 

The teacher can look through the pages to check if there are any mistakes (as sometimes students can cheat or just not be attentive in scoring).

So now when we are sure that everything is done properly, we start asking for a checkup. And here we must be creative. But two rules we must followed very strictly:

-          Never sign up a check up without asking;

-          Never ask the student just fill in the blanks.

In the first case, if we sign without asking it is almost like signing the document without reading, we signed and later got to know that we signed something we were not supposed to sign. So if the student fails the test it will be the teacher’s fault, since he/she signed not being sure if the student is ready or not.

In the second case, even if the student knows which words to fill in the blanks, it doesn’t mean he knows the material of the PACE. So he can even get 100 per cent for the test, but he still hasn’t got any knowledge on this topic.

What I do is just take the PACE and start asking on the texts. My first question is always: “What have you learned in this PACE about?” and here I expect to hear the most part of information. Doing this we make the student speak first of all, practice monologue speech, practice his language skills, use the active vocabulary, which the student gained in the PACE and finally show that he really has a clear understanding of the material. Then I start asking additional questions which were not covered yet. I also ask some of the key words though the definitions were answered already; ask to use them in the sentences of their own and to describe the pictures given in the PACE. Only then if he is ready we sign the check up.

So while asking for checkups we should use the opportunity of School of Tomorrow program that gives us the opportunities to be creative, to find the new ways, to make the students be interested in their study.

Julie Tkhorivskaya, IST Supervisor

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