[etni] Re: [FWD: Re: Oral Bagrut - an interesting experience]
- From: "Adele Raemer and Laurie Levy" <raemer@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <avrahamroos@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 07:12:26 +0200
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Regarding what Arvam wrote:
1. Personally, I do not think the problem lies in an umbrella topic - there
are many reasons why I would advocate an umbrella topic, especially for
anyone BUT your strongest kids, in order to help them finding sources. The
different arguments are all in the NBA courses given all around the country
(as well as online)
2. I would NOT say "no" to an umbrella topic just because I was afraid that
it would bore the tester on testing day! That is theleast of my worries!
I, also, testing in a school where there were umbrella topics, and the
problem lay elsewhere - NOT with the fact of having to hear the same topic
24 times, rather, that the kids need to go through the PROCESS (which is
exactly what Arvram describes). HERE is the main problem! This prevents the
worry that a kid has borrowed someone else's project for the test. There is
also the point that the class teacher MUST give the tester a page listing
their names and project topics, and the teacher should do this in light of
the project that the kids have worked on for AT LEAST 8 CLASS LESSONS!
(Personally, I find that it takes at least 3 weeks to do aproject properly).
After such an extended period, the teacher should certainly know what the
project is, and see the kid working through the process. This is all dealt
with in the NBA courses, as well.
3. From my personal experience, it also helps to have a research question or
essential question that the kid can focus on- both while researching the
paper, and while discussing it in the test. The kids who did NOT have such a
question had a very hard time explaining themselves - understanding what the
heck they were doing this for, in the first place. This is something you
learn about in the NBA course.
In other words, the problems you described here all have to do, IMHO, with
TEACHER TRAINING. Ok- not all.... but most of the problems the original
anonymous person ran up against seem to me to be to a great extent because
it is questionable if the teacher of that class s/he tested has participated
in one of the NBA courses. I cannot say it stongly enough: if you have NOT
participated in an NBA course, you MUST make it your business to do so! In
a few year's time (from what I understand) teachers who have NOT done so
will not be allowed to teach in the 11th and 12th grades! (And if this is
NOT so, then it SHOULD be - at least as long as the projects are an integral
part of the testing procedure.) Aside from that, from participant reaction,
all those who I have met who have particiated in the NBA courses have felt
that it was more than worth while, and that they have learnt a lot from it.
Now the problem lies with: where does a teacher who has to teach a full load
and a half in order to scrape out a living, find the time to do such a
course? I understand and appreciate that... there are online courses, and
maybe there should be intensive summer courses, but at any rate, as the
sayng goes:"Who dare to teach must never cease to learn."
Adele
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