Advice on Giving Final Tests

Hello everyone,

Below is an email I received from a new teacher, and some of the advice I give is specific to Garfield High School.

Hello! Since this is my first semester here, I'm not sure how this works.
Do we get a schedule of when we give our final exam? My kids keep asking me
when our final is and I have no idea what to tell them. We get a two-hour
block, right? When do we get the schedule? Thanks!

This is the way the final schedule works:

Each final is given in a two-hour block. Usually, the finals are grouped two per day, with periods 2 and 4, 3 and 5, and 1 and 6 on consecutive days. There has been some variation recently, so I'm not sure if they're going to follow that format exactly.

C track finals begin on Tuesday, April 24. If they follow form, you will have period 2 final during the two hour block that normally constitutes periods 1 and 2. Then the period 4 final will be during periods 3 and 4. In the afternoon, periods 3 and 5 will meet.

On Wednesday, April 25, C 'track will have a minimum day. Period 3 final will be before nutrition; period 5 will be after nutrition. You will have the afternoon to grade the finals.

Thursday the 26 will be the same as Wednesday, except you will give the finals for periods 1 and 6. (During your conference period 1, you will have two hours to grade finals and prepare final grades.)

The schedule that I saw was a draft. The principles will stay the same, but the days of the class finals may change, and there is sometimes variation in the minimum days.

You will need to decide if your finals will be comprehensive or will only cover recent material. Will they be a large percentage of the grade or just the same as a large regular test? They may be objective (easier to grade) or performance/project based.

I varied my finals by the subject. In English, I gave a 100 question objective test that took about an hour to finish. I graded it during the last hour of the class, then told the students what their final grades were. (I graded extra credit or makeup work while they took the test.) In my film criticism class, they were required to write four essays of 300 words each, covering subjects that they chose from throughout the semester. I graded these very fast and very generously (it was an elective), and got them back within two days (film was 2nd period). My journalism class put out the final issue. My drama classes had to do monologues in the first semester and audition pieces in the second, all done without commentary during a two-hour performance. I was able to grade them and tell them their final grade by the end of class. My play production classes had previously done the final (the play), so we had the cast party (with administration approval). My AP English classes did a project or a presentation that was due on the day of the final. I was able to give them the grade the same day if their project wasn't a large essay (10 pages). For the lengthy essays, I took a day to grade them. My film production classes had a finished film due, which was viewed and graded the same day.

Keep in mind that the turn-around time between when they take the test and when you turn is grades is very brief, especially for the last final (one day). You will not have time to catch up on any ungraded assignments. You will have to really book it to get everything in.

Keep in mind the following:

Objective tests (bubble or write multiple choice answers, true/false, matching): Easy to grade, hard to write.

Essay tests: Easy to write, hard to grade.

Projects: Easy to prepare for teacher; difficulty grading varies.

Performances: Easy to prepare for teacher; easy to grade.

Jeff Combe