[etni] Re: LOTS and HOTS in Beer Sheva

Dear All,
I wasn't at this conference, but the kind of behaviour that Bari described
is only too common and it certainly is time that we educators think about
this issue.
Coming in late, leaving early and cellphones ringing are all examples of
rude behaviour in Israeli society. But this doesn't mean that we have to
stoop to this level. I know of too many hishtalmuyot where this behaviour is
the norm for some of the teachers, and yet they complain if their gmul is
threatened. I study at a college where students wander in and out of
lessons, appearing when they feel like, popping out to buy a coffee or
answer the phone in the middle. I find this behaviour very embarrassing,
especially from teachers who should know and appreciate how much work goes
into the preparation of a lesson. If I thought this was a local issue I
wouldn't raise it here, but obviously it is nationwide.
I was recently at a concert where a certain Minister was there in her
professional capacity (I'm not mentioning names but Yul be able to work it
out for yourselves). She spent the evening sending text messages on her
phone. I know things start at the top, but surely those of us lower down can
do better than this.
Interestingly, I don't recall this kind of behaviour at ETAI conferences. As
a participant and a presenter I find the audiences in sessions polite and
attentive. Let's keep this up!

As Bari says, we demand certain standards from our pupils and we should do
no less ourselves.

Amanda

aka Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby


On 28/05/2008, Bari Nirenberg <bnirenberg@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Thanks to Debbie Lifshitz and Adele Raemer for a well-prepared and
> interesting presentation in Beer Sheva today.  I'm not sure how many
> new things I learned (I still need time to let it sink in), but I
> enjoyed listening to both of them and especially to Adele's reading of
> the dog and cat diaries.
>
> Unfortunately, I have to comment on the behavior of many of the
> teachers present.  The conference was scheduled from 15:45 to 19:00 --
> that was on the original announcement that I saw so long ago that I
> didn't even remember actually making a note of the conference,
> although I had.  I'm sure that there were a few people who had to
> leave early for very important reasons (like the women who had a
> meeting at their school), but I find it hard to believe that all of
> the people who got up and left while Adele was talking had pressing
> matters to attend to.  Note that the conference actually ended at
> 18:30 -- half an hour before it was scheduled to end.  This is not the
> first time I've seen this type of behavior (a mass exit before the end
> of a hishtalmut or ceremony or whatever) and personally, I think it's
> an insult to the presenters.
>
> Before we demand certain "rights" and complain about our working
> conditions, maybe we should take some time to examine our own
> professionalism and behavior.  It's not often that we're asked to
> attend a three hour conference and as long as the hours are published
> well in advance, I think that just about everyone can manage to
> arrange their schedule in such a way that they won't have to get up in
> the middle and leave.  Isn't this what we demand of our students?  How
> many of us would tolerate students getting up and walking out in the
> middle of a lesson?
>
> I could go on and on about this (and about the cell phones that rang
> repeatedly during the lecture -- why is it so hard to remember to turn
> off your phone or at least put it on "silent"?  Don't we ask our
> students to do the same?), but I won't, because I think I've made my
> point.  Adele, I hope that you weren't insulted -- you were great and
> everyone who left early missed out.
>
> Bari
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