I finally did it! I've managed to get Grade 8s to accurately (or close enough) plot graphs with proper axes! According to people in other schools this is something Grade 11 struggle to do so, if they have managed to learn it, and do remember it, I've made a huge difference.
I've also come to the realisation that the teachers are not as bad as I first thought. Although they seem not to care that much about the lower Grades, they are perfectly willing to give up their own time to teach extra lessons to Grades 11 and 12, focusing on the topics with which they struggle.
Two of my Grade 8 classes also managed to finish learning ratios including increasing and decreasing in a given ratio. Even the little kid who sits at the front and struggles with everything managed to do it.
I'm currently debating how mean I should be when setting my Grade 8 graphing test. I'm planning on making the questions quite nice, but to discourage cheating, I am contemplating writing multiple tests so they pupils cannot just copy off their neighbours, but instead will either have to walk around to get the answer (which I will be able to see) or will end up copying the wrong answers and making it obvious. Hopefully, this will result in the marks accurately reflecting where the pupils are, rather than where their neighbours are! The only flaw in my plan is that it will probably lower the class average and make me look like a poor teacher.
Better be off now - heading to an African buffet with live jazz later, hopefully Mary and Patrick (the people behind Warwick in Africa) are going to join us, as well as a few of the people from Witwatersrand!
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