Over the Wall of Silence

18 Over the Wall of Silence

T HE P ROGRESS S HEET The secret weapon that you can use to help run these instant tests is nothing more than a piece of paper or cardboard of around A4 size. A form is photocopied and given to each student as an official record of their attendance and test scores for the entire course. The sheet has spaces for the student’s name, faculty and year level, along with a table showing the date of the class, and columns for teacher to record attendance and test scores. This is done preferably with an official stamp or hanko, which gives the Progress Sheet the feel of a ‘passport’ to the class. Stamps and forms have a particular importance in Japanese society, and in the case of the Progress Sheet, give some serious weight to the pro cess. If you don’t have a hanko or stamp, you can always quickly sign your name. But stamps are quicker -and you can find them at the 100-yen shop. We find that self-inking stamps of the teacher’s name are most effective, but these need to be ordered and are a little more expensive. For any teacher in Japan though, we believe a good hanko is a worthwhile investment. Having a document like this in front of each student may seem like a minor detail, but it has an enormous effect on the flow of the class. It makes it possible for the teacher to give a test ‘on the fly’. Moving around the room, the teacher can choose, test and grade a student in a matter of moments. “Kentaro, what did you do on the weekend?” “I worked on Saturday and I went to the movies on Sun day.” Bang. Test done. Sheet stamped. You move on to the next student. Rinse and repeat. In this way, you and your students will soon find a rhythm, and there is very little wasted time and effort.