[etni] Fw: working with 7th grade heterogeneous classes (E.S/non readers and everything in between)

----- Original Message ----- From: "R. Borenstein" <rachelleb@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: working with 7th grade heterogeneous classes (E.S/non readers and everything in between)


First of all, I'd like to thank all of those who sent me ideas for
my English speakers in 7th grade. They have been very helpful
and the parents are happy that I have now assigned books to
their kids instead of swamping them with endless pages.
It should also save me a lot of time.

I'd like to clarify that the request for Challenges had one of
those great words tacked on that we teach our students to use
in compositions - "Additionally". I actually  use "Communicating
in English" for my eighth grade E.S. students since the vocabulary
and authentic literature are appropriate. My ninth graders use
Challenges, and I pick and choose the articles. I agree that level
of maturity is involved in choosing texts. The students using this
book (as well as being taught that even though they're used to
saying "I already did my homework" should get used to using
present perfect) are also reading Dan Brown so I feel they can
handle the material.

One issue that must be dealt with is the fact that in 7th grade,
according to the ministry (and I double checked if this is still the
case with Judy Steiner at the beginning of the school year), the
class must be heterogeneous and the non-readers should be
identified and given separate hours after a two month period (1994).
Since I began teaching English in the system ten years ago,
I've found 7th grade to be one of the harder classes to teach
compared to the streams that we have from eighth grade and
onwards. I can have up to 37 students in a class which include:
5 E.S., 4+ students who are non readers, and the rest of the
students that fall somewhere along this wide spectrum (not to
mention all of the students with special needs). Due to budget
constraints, the school carries out the edict to have a
heterogenous class but there's no money to give the hours
necessary to the non-readers. Ironically, the parents who see
the biggest problem are the parents of English speakers who
want their children to advance and not be held back (and as
a parent, I understand completely).
A few days ago, I called the parent of one of my non-readers
to ask what her daughter had done over the past four years
and what her teachers had said. The bottom line  was that
both parents and teachers had buried their heads in the sand
and ignored the problem. Now we're working together to
rectify the situation. This scenario repeats itself year after year.

I think that among the many issues to be dealt with, the policy
of 7th grade should be changed. With large class sizes in
elementary school, it's hard to reach everyone. Once the
students reach junior high, though, a teacher can't begin
re-teaching ABC when we need to progress and the curriculum
dictates we must. But the ones who don't understand and the
ones who know everything are the most vocal and the others
start to lose interest.
There are no gmulim for those not preparing for the bagrut but
that doesn't mean there's any less work involved.
Am I the only one out there who feels there must be a change?
I'd like this to be addressed on the list, not just personal messages.
Have a good week,
Rachelle

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