I've built up a bit of a reputation in My Gymnasium's English department for being a curious ETA who wants to know how things work. I've helped a few teachers with their Abitur corrections (and I just tried to type 'corrections' with a 'k'); I've looked at a number of 7th grade tests; I've looked at 10th graders' essays; I've gone on field trips; and I visited an Abitur presentation. Therefore, no one was terribly surprised when I gave up one of my unterrichtsfrei days and asked to sit in on some MSA mündliche Prüfungen.
I only planned on watching two or three groups (each group had three student pairs), but I ended up staying the entire day. Even though I've worked with all four 10th grade classes, I'm closer to two of them. Since I didn't want to add to students' stress, I decided to sit in only on those classes. (Students in another class become silent blobs when I'm around, and I wasn't sure how students in the other class view me.)
How it worked: all of the students in a particular group were herded into a waiting room. Since there are four 10th grade classes, there were four pairs of teachers in one wing of the school. At 8:00, teachers retrieved their first victims students. Each test was supposed to last about 15 minutes, and then the teachers could deliberate about their notes for a few minutes before getting the next pair. After every three tests, teachers were supposed to get a short break (10 minutes between most; I think there was a 30 minute break between the 2nd and 3rd groups). Of course, we ended up running behind, so we never really got a break. The deliberations could be cut-and-dry, or they could take 10+ minutes for some difficult situations. Each cluster of three pairs also had a different topic and different pictures to describe.
In one of the rooms, the main teacher-- the Prüfer-- sat by herself directly across from the students. The other teacher-- the Protokollant-- sat behind the Prüfer, took notes during the presentations, and filled out the paperwork. In the other room, the Prüfer and the Protokollant sat next to each other at a small table, directly across from the students, and I sat on one of the other sides.
For the most part, there were no surprises. Going into the exam, I knew who the stronger students and the weaker students were; I knew which groups worked together well and which groups were uncommunicative. However, there were a few groups that just blew me away. It was clear that they had practiced outside of class. I was also shocked at how charismatic and animated some of the students were, but I guess it makes sense that some of their personalities are muted at the beginning of the school day.
If there is one thing that I'm going to remember about the teachers at My Gymnasium, it'll be how much they care for the students. The MSA has the potential to be a very high stress exam because students have to pass it to move on to the Oberstufe; however, the teachers tried to make the environment as friendly as possible. Of course, that didn't prevent them/us from chuckling over some very interesting sentences after the students left the room.
Some examples include:
"She's the man in the picture." (Prüfer: "Oh?")
"In the foreground, I can see... In the background, I can see... In the middleground, I can see..."
"Do you can did...?" (holla, helping verbs!)
and, according to one of the teachers (auf Deutsch): "I may be 45, but I'm not incontinent." (I have no idea what the context was; all I remember is hearing that and cracking up.)
I quite like the "middleground" one since it's really applicable to my situation in Berlin. I'm not a full teacher or a Referendarin, but I'm also not a student. When I answer the door in the Lehrerzimmer, students often ask me if I'm a teacher. ("Ehmm..." is my typical response.) It also applied to my seat in one of the rooms: I wasn't in the foreground (the Prüfer) or in the background (the wall); I was, well, in the middleground. I <3 you, 10th graders.
***
Let me stop here and comment on the Gymnasium system in general. In Berlin, incoming 5th graders (Schnellläuferklassen or Schnelllernerklassen) or incoming 7th graders (the 'regular' students) have one semester (the Probehalbjahr, and dang it, I tried to type 'half' twice) to prove that they belong at the Gymnasium level. If they don't pass the first semester, they leave their Gymnasium. (I can't remember if they're allowed to fail one class.) At the end of each semester, teachers meet to discuss students' progress and to decide whether students should be promoted to the next grade. After the Probehalbjahr, students generally can't be thrown out after one bad semester; they "just" have to repeat the grade. It's not uncommon to repeat grades (in a given non-Schnellläufer class at My Gymnasium, at least one student has been held back).
The MSA is taken at the end of 10th grade, and it's the stepping stone to the Gymnasiale Oberstufe. To enter the Oberstufe, students must pass all sections of the MSA (I think?) and their 10th grade year. To graduate from a Gymnasium, you have to pass the Abitur with an average grade of a 4,0. I was shocked when I heard how many students in a given entering class end up passing the Abitur, although I guess it makes sense with the number of students that enter Berlin's Gymnasien. In Germany, I read that only between 25-35% of the student population ends up at a Gymnasium; I'm almost positive it's higher in Berlin. I was told that only about 1/2 - 2/3 of the students who enter My Gymnasium complete the Abitur-- but, to be fair, that doesn't account for students who switch schools on their own terms or move away. That's also supposedly a typical percentage for Gymnasien in Berlin, even the most highly rated Gymnasien.
Also, in Bezug auf the MSA, I love the fact that students have to be competent in writing, reading, and speaking. I've only had one speaking test in my entire German speaking life, and it was for a pass/fail conversation class. It's probably not great that other students lose two days of class for oral exams (for the Abitur and for the MSA), but I love the high expectations for speaking. Students also get individual grades for their written and spoken English, which are combined (the weighting varies, depending on the grade) into a final English grade.
I only planned on watching two or three groups (each group had three student pairs), but I ended up staying the entire day. Even though I've worked with all four 10th grade classes, I'm closer to two of them. Since I didn't want to add to students' stress, I decided to sit in only on those classes. (Students in another class become silent blobs when I'm around, and I wasn't sure how students in the other class view me.)
How it worked: all of the students in a particular group were herded into a waiting room. Since there are four 10th grade classes, there were four pairs of teachers in one wing of the school. At 8:00, teachers retrieved their first victims students. Each test was supposed to last about 15 minutes, and then the teachers could deliberate about their notes for a few minutes before getting the next pair. After every three tests, teachers were supposed to get a short break (10 minutes between most; I think there was a 30 minute break between the 2nd and 3rd groups). Of course, we ended up running behind, so we never really got a break. The deliberations could be cut-and-dry, or they could take 10+ minutes for some difficult situations. Each cluster of three pairs also had a different topic and different pictures to describe.
In one of the rooms, the main teacher-- the Prüfer-- sat by herself directly across from the students. The other teacher-- the Protokollant-- sat behind the Prüfer, took notes during the presentations, and filled out the paperwork. In the other room, the Prüfer and the Protokollant sat next to each other at a small table, directly across from the students, and I sat on one of the other sides.
For the most part, there were no surprises. Going into the exam, I knew who the stronger students and the weaker students were; I knew which groups worked together well and which groups were uncommunicative. However, there were a few groups that just blew me away. It was clear that they had practiced outside of class. I was also shocked at how charismatic and animated some of the students were, but I guess it makes sense that some of their personalities are muted at the beginning of the school day.
If there is one thing that I'm going to remember about the teachers at My Gymnasium, it'll be how much they care for the students. The MSA has the potential to be a very high stress exam because students have to pass it to move on to the Oberstufe; however, the teachers tried to make the environment as friendly as possible. Of course, that didn't prevent them/us from chuckling over some very interesting sentences after the students left the room.
Some examples include:
"She's the man in the picture." (Prüfer: "Oh?")
"In the foreground, I can see... In the background, I can see... In the middleground, I can see..."
"Do you can did...?" (holla, helping verbs!)
and, according to one of the teachers (auf Deutsch): "I may be 45, but I'm not incontinent." (I have no idea what the context was; all I remember is hearing that and cracking up.)
I quite like the "middleground" one since it's really applicable to my situation in Berlin. I'm not a full teacher or a Referendarin, but I'm also not a student. When I answer the door in the Lehrerzimmer, students often ask me if I'm a teacher. ("Ehmm..." is my typical response.) It also applied to my seat in one of the rooms: I wasn't in the foreground (the Prüfer) or in the background (the wall); I was, well, in the middleground. I <3 you, 10th graders.
***
Let me stop here and comment on the Gymnasium system in general. In Berlin, incoming 5th graders (Schnellläuferklassen or Schnelllernerklassen) or incoming 7th graders (the 'regular' students) have one semester (the Probehalbjahr, and dang it, I tried to type 'half' twice) to prove that they belong at the Gymnasium level. If they don't pass the first semester, they leave their Gymnasium. (I can't remember if they're allowed to fail one class.) At the end of each semester, teachers meet to discuss students' progress and to decide whether students should be promoted to the next grade. After the Probehalbjahr, students generally can't be thrown out after one bad semester; they "just" have to repeat the grade. It's not uncommon to repeat grades (in a given non-Schnellläufer class at My Gymnasium, at least one student has been held back).
The MSA is taken at the end of 10th grade, and it's the stepping stone to the Gymnasiale Oberstufe. To enter the Oberstufe, students must pass all sections of the MSA (I think?) and their 10th grade year. To graduate from a Gymnasium, you have to pass the Abitur with an average grade of a 4,0. I was shocked when I heard how many students in a given entering class end up passing the Abitur, although I guess it makes sense with the number of students that enter Berlin's Gymnasien. In Germany, I read that only between 25-35% of the student population ends up at a Gymnasium; I'm almost positive it's higher in Berlin. I was told that only about 1/2 - 2/3 of the students who enter My Gymnasium complete the Abitur-- but, to be fair, that doesn't account for students who switch schools on their own terms or move away. That's also supposedly a typical percentage for Gymnasien in Berlin, even the most highly rated Gymnasien.
Also, in Bezug auf the MSA, I love the fact that students have to be competent in writing, reading, and speaking. I've only had one speaking test in my entire German speaking life, and it was for a pass/fail conversation class. It's probably not great that other students lose two days of class for oral exams (for the Abitur and for the MSA), but I love the high expectations for speaking. Students also get individual grades for their written and spoken English, which are combined (the weighting varies, depending on the grade) into a final English grade.
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