How do we usually evaluate the results of our work? We attribute success to ourselves, and failures to external circumstances. There is a whole section in psychology called causal attribution. It explains the typical behavior of people. The national multi-subject test caused a lot of emotions this year. Emotions are different: from “I deserved this high grade” to “I was ready for 200, but the tests were incorrect / the computer froze for 30 minutes and everything went awry / in this tense atmosphere, I could not concentrate and remember elementary things.”
All these problems are indeed real. But which of them can be considered objective, and which subjective, let’s figure it out. We bring to your attention the thoughts of a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature at one of the prestigious lyceums in the city of Dnipro. She has 30 years of teaching experience and high success rates for students at the ZNO and NMT, including 200-point results.
Why students fail NMT
Let’s do the math: an average of three hours a week are allocated to the Ukrainian language in educational institutions. We multiply them by 35 academic weeks per year. It turns out 105 hours. In seven years, we have, respectively, 735 hours of the Ukrainian language. Question: Can a tutor who sees a child a maximum of twice a week for 9 months make up all the material with them? No.
It is necessary for parents to realize that if a child has neglected a subject during seven years of study, then it is impossible to hope that in one year he will overcome all the gaps even with the best tutor.
The Ukrainian language is not only about rules
It should not be forgotten that learning a language is not only knowledge of the rules, but also the child’s general erudition. If the child does not know that the Far East is a territory, he will never write this phrase correctly. This applies to any name, the same river Prut, the existence of which you need to know in order to spell it correctly. Let us recall the All-Ukrainian radio dictation of national unity “Roads of Ukraine”. Most of the participants made mistakes precisely in geographical names and specific Ukrainian words.
Knowledge of the language is acquired by mastering biology, geography, and literature. And since children do not read books in the original, they do not know the words. Pupils have lost the habit of reading a text from beginning to end, so they do not have developed imaginative thinking.
About the most problematic topics of the Ukrainian language
Phraseology is the Achilles heel of students. Phraseologisms are extremely numerous. They must be taught. Words of foreign origin are also problematic. Today’s children do not feel the specific Ukrainian vocabulary, do not distinguish Ukrainian words from foreign words, because they actually live among them.
They do not read critical literature and textbooks. For example, let’s take Lesya Ukrainka’s “Triptych”. This name is explained in the tutorial. If the children do not know the interpretation of this word, they have not processed the paragraph.
Better not four, but two + two
In my opinion, it is unfair that children write four subjects at once. This means that they are taught on one or two subjects, and there is not enough time and energy for others. It is optimal to divide the NMT into two days and write, for example, two humanities tests on the first day, and two technical tests or science tests on the second.
Correct psychological adjustment is important
NMT is a story about the one with the strongest nerves winning. I believe that children need psychological preparation in this case. Every school has a psychologist. He can conduct trainings with students on concentration of attention, stress relief, concentration on tasks. Today’s children do not have the practical experience of taking exams that their parents had starting in the fifth grade. Let’s add war and anxiety here. Because of this, children get stressed. School psychologists should take care of psychological training, then they will be of real benefit.
Tips for parents
Parents should realize that there are no bad tutors, each of them gives their best. But studying with a tutor is mutual work. The child must conscientiously complete the task. And parents should not be ashamed, they should monitor the process from their side, call the tutor, be interested in how the child copes with the tasks. If the student does not work, there will be no result.
What should be changed
I believe that May should be given over to consultations on those subjects that students must take. The celebration of the last bell, the rehearsal of the waltz, the implementation of the script – it’s all wonderful. But this is time separated from studies.
I would also like to hear the opinion of the compilers of the NMT regarding the evaluation of test answers. According to the majority of teachers, the evaluation system needs to be adjusted. For two mistakes, a child can lose from 5 to 9 points. And for 14 mistakes – 40 points are deducted. The logic remains unclear.
