[etni] Fw: re: Let's keep it friendly

From: "Ask Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
To: "Etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:17:55 +0200
----- Original Message ----- 
From: francine widerker - widerker@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Let's keep it friendly


I would like to thank Batya for this posting.  A little over a week ago I 
posted the following query:

"If a student studies in a school where they teach for the log and then in 
12th grade moves to a school where they teach for the test, what happens?"

In my posting on etni I allowed myself to grumble that there are too many 
unresolved issues with the program and that I am angry (which I am and many 
of us are).  To Dr. Judy Steiner I simply wrote the question without 
grumbling.

I received no answer from Dr. Judy Steiner.  From Etni I received a mixture 
of "please let me know the answer when you get one" and "what right do you 
have for being angry!  Just ask Judy herself! Etni is not the place for 
these questions."

Sadly the responses I received speak for themselves.

Francine


Batya wrote:
>Regarding a comment that appeared on the ETNI digest earlier today, I think
many people will probably agree with me that it's rather unfair to rebuke
teachers for not having the latest information when that information keeps
changing.  (This was one person's response to a teacher's comment.)  As a
case in point, while I was taking the HOTS in-service course, two or three
modifications were made to the printed material about the program.  And
since we have not yet received word about Dr. Steiner's meeting with an
Irgun representative and a senior teacher (rep.), there will most likely be
other changes -- hopefully significant ones for students and teachers alike.

>In general, there seems to be a bit of resentment on the part of some 
>people
who post on ETNI to the fact that teachers present questions and problems on
the list -- but this is partly the raison de etre for it!
To keep the tone friendly, I'd suggest simply correcting a piece of
misinformation in a matter-of-fact manner if someone is privy to an
accurate, up-to-date source, and can share it with the rest of us.

>In view of  just the restructuring of lesson plans that the new literature
program requires of us, I am reminded of how much time and patience we must
invest in our students when we ask them for something they're unfamiliar
with -- so I believe it's only fair to take in stride even the outdated
and/or redundant questions posed by teachers who are concerned that their
work should not be in vain!

>In response to a comment in Tamar's message, I must emphasize the obvious
point that she is speaking from her perspective -- and though there are
surely those who agree with it, many teachers who have taken the course and
tried the HOTS program to one degree or another cannnot be so enthusiastic.
The only bright spot on the horizon is that changes have been and probably
will continue to be made to the original design.  (If, in fact, the program
were so pedagogically sound, there would be no mass protest by so many of
our colleagues or a need to amend it at all!)

>Similarly, Louise's comment about the usefulness of the projects is hardly 
>a
view that is shared across the board.  I know I am not speaking for myself
when I say that all the time spent on the projects -- both by students and
teachers -- could have been better spent on other endeavors to improve
language proficiency.
Fortunately, the new literature bridging task represents a definite
improvement to the standard project.


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[etni] Fw: re: Let's keep it friendly

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