School...in general

I haven't updated in a while and I'm very sorry for that. I have been very busy with my 3 day long Christmas celebrations which I will tell you about in the next post which will be coming soon...hopefully tomorrow??

Well I thought that I would explain to you some of the Italian school system is run a little bit because its a little bit confusing for even me and I have been living in it for the past 4 months. But a disclaimer to all of you who are reading this that go to school in the USA right now be ready to be VERY grateful you go to school in the USA. once you have experienced how it is in other country's you realize just how good we have it in the states and our "boring" is really AMAZING compared to other places.

Well I guess the most logical place to start is in the way the kids here receive their grades. As all of you know in the USA we use a point system that eventually leads up to an A B C D or F (hopefully not an F but not really the point of this blog lol) but in Italy they do things different then we do in the USA. (well they do most things differently but again that is for another post) In Italy they use a system that numbers your grades from 1-10. They do not use the point system in deciding the grades either. When they take a test (which is the only thing they actually get grades on because the teachers do not check there homework EVER. they go over it in class but they never take any grades on any of it. I don't think in the whole time that I have been in Italy I have seen a teacher go around and check to see if homework was done) the teacher gives them the grade that they think the student earned. It is not based on points like it is in the USA. Personally I think that the point system is alot better then this system as do the other students because if you have a teacher that really does not like you it is very easy for them to fail you.

So the 1-10 system here's basically how it breaks down. 10 is impossible to get. in the four months that i have been in Italian schools i have not seen one student (not even the best ones) receive a 10 on anything. I have seen kids get perfect papers on a math test (meaning NOTHING wrong) and they still do not get 10's. Teachers just never give them out even if the paper is perfect. so lets move on to 9. Well a 9 is another grade that is hardly ever given out i mean hardly EVER. I have seen one student get a 9 on a test and that was from a really really nice teacher. so ok 8. 8 is what the really really good students get on their tests. and I mean you have to study hard and have basically no mistakes to get an 8 yeah its hard. and it makes me miss the point system. so there 7 which would technically be equal to a C here in the states is something they are EXTREMELY happy to get. if they get a 7 they know they did a good job. i don't know about any of you but a C on a test for me i would not be extremely happy with my self (although i was here when i got a 7 on my first test :D) the 6 is the last grade you can get before it goes into the fail range. so technically its actual a D but people are still happy when they get 6's so I'm convinced it doesn't really a D lol... 1-5 are all fails.

In Italy if you fail 3 or less classes (with a score 1-5) you can study the material over the summer and take a test in the fall before school starts to recuperate the grade that you got during the school year. This is completely normal for kids in Italy. It is normal to fail a class and to even repeat the year because school is so difficult. If you fail more then 2 classes then you have to repeat the year which is something that happens more in Italy then in the USA.

Then they have something that is similar to our parent teacher meetings here in Italy. 2 times a year all of the teachers stay late (but only to 6 o'clock so the parents all have to take off work because the teachers all get up and leave after 6 pm) there are 2 teachers per room and there is a sign up sheet outside of the classroom and the parents have to write their names on the list and wait for their turn. and let me tell you lines do not exist in Italy so this concept is very difficult for them to accept. when the name of your parent comes up you (if the child goes which is not necessary) and your parent go in to the room and the teacher and your parents talk and they give you your grade for that class.. basically it is alot like it works in the USA but its set up way less organized lol.

I should also say that for any one that thinks the USA schools are going through a budget crisis right now they really need to come see schools here in Italy. all of my classrooms in the USA have tv's and projectors and I'm lucky if my classroom in Italy has a chalk board. The schools here in Italy do not even have enough money to buy toilet paper for the school (the kids bring there own) or to buy chalk. I really used to think that we had a big budget crisis in the USA but honestly my school in the states has about 10 times as much stuff then my school here in Italy has. my school here has one room of working computers, it doesn't have a library and when you need a TV you have to go to the room that has a TV. I must say I wont take the things that my school in the states does have for granted again.

so the reason that i decided to post this is because earlier i had posted about the strikes and i just thought that i would give you a little but of knowledge on how the Italian school system runs a little bit.. now I have had Christmas and i promise that I will update you on that VERY soon lets just say you have some exciting stories about roasting baby pigs head and me eating something really WEIRD!!! that I bet none of you would have thought i would have tried..New Year's Eve is tomorrow and I'm super excited for the party.. I'll update pictures as soon as possible.. love you all