My dear friend,
How are you getting on? It’s amazing to receive your letter when I went online in my office this afternoon.
As regard to the touchy topic--- cyber-love we have discussed at one time, I
stick to my view and meanwhile respect yours. I don’t aim at persuading others
into taking my side, but just demonstrate my personal thoughts. Compared with so many flowery and imaginary tales, I prefer to believe in facts. Perhaps it has
some relation to my personality, which is both composed and childlike.
Ok, let’s get started.
As a means to test students’ mastery of some knowledge, is by no means to blame. To reach the basic target, people usually choose it or some other methods
in diverse situations.
From my point of view, we can’t do without it in schools, and it is unrealistic to abandon it totally. The following reasons are behind it. Because of the
existence of exam, teachers are able to regulate their teaching schedules as well as the lectures’ depth and breadth timely and properly, directing learners to
match in a progressive way. Because of its existence, students are able to recognize how much and well they have absorbed and digested what they learned from their teachers and textbooks. Because of its existence, it is possible that exam
can serve as a criterion to select the most qualified person for some purposes,
such as being postgraduates, a top post in a company, and the like.
In spite of so many advantages it has brought to us, there is no denying that it is only one possible approach to test one’s capability. And there are some
other available ones, such as the performance in daily activities, the reaction
to troubles, the relationship with his or her peers, colleagues, etc. I would say the comprehensive way is the best way.
I have gone though the experiences of turning to a teacher form a student, so I ‘m clearly aware of the fact that now quite a few students tend to see exam
as “a pain in the neck”.
My advice to them is “ never take exam too seriously. It’s a means not an end
(or a goal).” If one studies well, he or she is likely to be examed to show his
proficiency and confidence. Have you had such a feeling? Sure I did before. I
wasn’t scared at all in my intensive reading exam after exerting my much effort on it and I was eager to answer all questions in the paper , confident of getting them right. Besides, a smart exam is more popular with the students than the
memory-training one , isn’t it?
As a teacher, what I can do now is try to employ various effective means to
evaluate my students’ achievements, certainly including exam with high- quality
exam papers.
All in all, at different stages of life, one must suffer and enjoy corresponding things. As a student now, you cannot get out of a series of exams, whether
you like it or not. Anyway, it can help you to mature and move forward in the way of life. I wish you good luck in your study.
Sincerely,
Athena