of late, its both interesting and amusing to note the downturn in energy and interest in various classes with the semester winding down to an end. with the holidays in sight and as the days free themselves up, priorities shift hence the focus and mood. but i'm no authority on the definitive mood of the student population so whatever dude...
anyways, as the days run down much like the legs of a big alky red, its worthy to reflect upon these last days (ie not to be confused with ridley scott's attempt at humour. believe he does action-storytelling best). apologies for my digression. over the last four sessions, we're on the topic of assessment. assessment by whom and for whom apart from the hows and whats of assessment are issues that we're dwelling on. much like assessing the merits of a single grape compared to a varietal or as some would say: blends vs. single malts.
from a macro-perspective, how good a varietal or the single grape is, actually depends on the occasion as much as the pairing of the wine and food. similarly, it begets the question, when do you wanna partake of the single malt or blend: over dinner vs an apertif or as a nightcap? looking at assessment after microteaching isn't quite the pairing we expect, nyet?
amidst all the sawing up and rejigging, perhaps, the comprehensiveness and completeness of critical and constructive friends/comments during the micro-teaching component could be enhanced if assessment was done before not after. that would boost the double-loop learning curve (if we get there) apart from the learning experience of us geographical teachers to be. afterall, the teaching activities were some form of assessment, weren't they or weren't they not?
so if given a choice between a brokenwood cricket pitch circa 2001 (cab sav, merlot & shiraz), i'll opt for a saltram mamre brook circa 2002, shiraz (barossa). afterall, 140 years of traditional wine-making in the Barossa Valley can't possibly be wrong? 
