Maturita Exams

Its funny how life tends to stay busy even after the things that keep you busy come to an end. Teachers all across the Czech Republic (American teachers included) are quite busy these days preparing for a series of exams in mid-May that strike fear into the hearts of all graduating seniors. I thought I might use this blog installment to tell you about the Maturita exams.

The Maturita exams have existed in the Czech Republic for decades easily, if not longer. These exams may even trace back to the great Czech educational reformer, Jan Amos Komensky. I’m too lazy to do the research on that one, so lets just say “a long time.” The Maturitas are certainly the most significant event in a student’s pre-university career. So much so, that most of my oldest adult students can still tell you what subjects were covered in their Maturita as well as the specific questions asked.

So here’s how it works. At the beginning of the year, all of the students in their final year of Gymnazium (like a high school, but limited to only those students who manage to do well on an exam at the age of 11 or 15) are given a list of the possible topics to be covered on the Maturita in 4 subjects. All students must test in Czech Language, one foreign language, and two other subjects of their own choosing. The majority of students test in English to fill their foreign language requirement, though German, French, Russian, and Spanish are also possibilities.

The topics on the English Maturita exam include:

• USA: Geography, People, History, Nat. Economy, Gov. and Admin.
• Great Britain: Geography, People, History, Nat. Economy, Gov. and Admin.
• English Speaking Countries: Geography, People, History, Nat. Economy, Gov.
• Czech Republic: Geography, People, History, Nat. Economy, Gov. and Admin.
• Big British Cities
• Big American Cities
• Prague
• My Town and its Surroundings
• Educational Systems
• British Literature
• American Literature
• Social World Problems
• Me and My Family
• A Life Story
• Science and Technology
• Health, Sickness, Disease
• Sport and Games
• Food and Meals
• Housing, My Room
• Holiday, Traveling
• Culture and Entertainment
• Shopping, Fashion, Clothes
• My Daily Program and Hobbies
• Festivals and Customs
• Weather, Climate, Environmental Protection

As you can see, topics range from ridiculously broad, time-intensive topics such as “The USA” to obscure, narrow and overly-simple topics like “Housing and My Room.” In my opinion, the best topics on the list are “Social World Problems,” “Festivals and Customs,” and the handful of other topics that fall in the middle of the spectrum, and allow for a fair amount of flexibility in conversation.

The week of the exam, students arrive in groups of three or four at time specified a month or so in advance. One at a time, they choose a topic randomly from a hat, and are given 15 minutes to prepare on their own. At the end of that 15 minutes, the students sits before a panel of 2-5 teachers and presents the topic for 15 minutes. In the English exams, the presentation is inter-mixed with questions from the teachers regarding vocabulary, factual information, and oftentimes simple leading questions to help the student fill his or her 15 minutes. The last 2 or 3 minutes of the test are spent going over 20 grammar questions. Subjects like math require the student to solve complex problems and then defend their methods and answers.

45 minutes later, they do it again in a different subject... until all 4 subjects have been completed.

At the end of the day, the students again stand before their examiners, the school principal, their class teacher, and a national representative from the Ministry of Education and are given their scores. A “1” is the highest possible score. A “5” means that the student may not apply for university the following month, and must re-take the Maturita exam in September.

Needless to say, my colleagues and I have been quite busy reviewing, re-reviewing, and conducting practice Maturitas in recent weeks. This will certainly continue until the first week of May. The second week of May, students have no classes and are expected to study all week. The remarkable thing is, they really do it. Any extended break in American schools means trips to warmer places. Here, students stay home all week and actually study.

In the midst of all of this, I’ve also spent a great deal of time at Maturitni Plesi… they’re like Senior Proms but with parents, teachers, ballroom dancing, and lots of alcohol. You’ll find a few pictures below.

Anyhow, I hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson in Czech Education… and that you’re doing well in your respective corners of the world. Shoot me a note sometime.

…and for those of you who have shot me a note recently… I’ll reply soon, I promise.

Stephen, Zach, Mike, and Zdenek at the most recent ples. Stephen is an ESI teacher in Pribram, Czech Republic. Zach is my roomie. Zdenek is the head English teacher at my school... he's the one who had the back operation last summer, and consequently missed 5 months of school.

The 4.A class. The trucks in the middle are full of money that the students collect at the begninning of the ples. By "collect," I mean that people throw money at them when they process into the room. The money will be used to pay for a class party after the Maturita exam is over.

Post-ples pub time. These are some of the students I've grown closest to over the last two years. You may recognize a few of them from other photos.

Mike, Richard, and Jiri... These guys will both be graduating this year. Their ples was in the beginning of March.

Joel, Mike and Aaron in Kutna Hora. You may remember Kutna Hora from a blog post last year. Feel free to hit the archive for that one... you should find it in February or March '05.

The CA (Central Administrator) Team at a little train stop in Kutna Hora. ("Little" refers to both the stop and the train... just a one-car deal)

Snow.

I've decided to write this post as a Haiku.
In my head, it sounds like a really funny idea.

So it snowed last night.
The snow goes up to my knees.
Makes my toes real cold.

But do not be fooled.
We are not pleased with this snow.
March should be sunny.

Yesterday was warm.
Eighteen inches of snow came.
Today is not warm.

So I'll sit and grade.
I should have done it sooner.
Procrastination.

Zach and me outside our flat on March 12. The day before this picture was taken there was no snow. For real... none.

Kralupy in the snow. My school is on the far right.

I should be grading right now...

Hi.

No big news to report, I’m sorry to say. Zdenek, the head English teacher is back, so full-tilt teaching has finally come to an end. The big Super Bowl XL party went well, though I have to admit, all in attendance (myself included) found it to be a pretty boring game. Regardless, eight people showed up to watch the game, eat Oreos and Newman’s own Buttered Popcorn and laugh at this year’s most expensive advertisements. Special thanks go to Dan Miljanich for providing the best copy of the game on DVD.

On a completely different note, a few of you asked for more Berlin photos, specifically of the new Holocaust Memorial. Those are posted below.

Before I go, I’ll hit you with my current stimuli:

Reading
To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck
Listening
X&Y by Coldplay
Some Hearts by Carrie Underwood (no comments, please.)
The Koln Concert by Keith Jarrett
Watching
Dobrou noc a hodně štěstí (Good Night, and Good Luck)

The Holocaust Memorial. 2700 cement blocks ranging in height from 1 foot to 10 feet. The idea was to make visitors feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable. Certainly one of the most striking memorials I've seen.

From inside the memorial. Pretty remarkable.

Another Brandenburg Gate photo. If this were a Campus Crusade marketing campaign, this picture would be followed with "This is Where I Live..." But it's not, so this isn't.