----- Original Message -----
From: "Esther Revivo" <estherrv@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: copying vs. writing
To clarify things, I do not promote copying from ready texts.
Wholesale plagerizing is unethical and against the law.
What I did say was that in WEAK classes (I never teach the 5 pointers,
mine are all 3/ 4 pointers) it is okay for really weak kids to copy
PARTS of the body of their work.
Unfortunately, we here in the Negev- Azata, Netivot, Sederot
areas have very poor populations who CANNOT simply
CANNOT afford the chugim, and private lessons that so many
young people elsewhere take for granted. (For many years,
Netivot had the highest birth rate per family in Israel; I am not
sure if that is still so, but the abject poverty among part of our
student population is heartbreaking. If some of my pupils
could afford private lessons, they have the motivation to
improve, but in a class of 27 or 36 they can't always get the
attention they need and deserve.) You have to deal with the
hand you are dealt when you play cards, and I believe you must be
flexible in life as well on any issue.For example, when I had really
weak Masmar/ Masmam pupils in the Makif where I taught for 20
yrs., I did NOT give homework because I KNEW they weren't
going to do it and it would just causes friction. I was thrilled when
I heard an English inspector say the same thing at a local Hishtalmut
years after I quietly made this decision. As to copying, 5 pointers
should definitely not be allowed to copy at all unless to quote a
source, but as to really weak 3 and 4 pointers.... I shall continue
to allow them to copy parts, as long as I see they " bust their
chops" translating the information, and giving credit in the
Bibliography/ Appendix as should be done in term papers.
As I said earlier, to each his own!!!!! Esther
Shelley wrote:
I am appalled at the level of education in this country, when I hear that even a 5 point student in Grade 10 cannot easily write a summary of an informational article in their own words, in their native language. Students in the United States and Canada are able to summarize fairly complex articles with ease by the time they are in Grade 6. This is a skill that must be taught as early as grade 1. Instead, the norm in this country is to have children copy robotically from the board or do rote exercises in workbooks.
No wonder our educational system ranks so poorly among those in the developed countries.
Ester wrote:Let's be honest: in University when we submitted term papers and / or did a thesis we all quoted word for word from other sources and then noted the places with a number , and source in the Appendix. Writing projects should, in my opinion, help the pupils learn how to write other serious research papers and I feel it is legitimate for weak pupils to copy small portions from "ready texts," as long as they don't download entire projects. I'm sure some teachers won't agree with this-- to each his own :)
Sharon wrote:Ester is right - I'm a teacher who doesn't agree.It is certainly legitimate to quote provided that you provide quotation marks and give credit to the source. (Do our students do that?) However, no one submits a term paper that is just a collection of quotes. Most of the writing has to be done by the student with only a few scattered quotes here and there where appropriate. Having students just write an introduction and summary, with a large part of what is in between just copied is not acceptable in my opinion and defeats the whole purpose of the project - which is to have students write.
(To read the rest of the original message, go to - //www.freelists.org/archives/etni/09-2006/msg00175.html )
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