[etni] Re: The unfairness of logs
- From: Rivka Lewenstein <rlewen@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "avlynne@xxxxxxxxxxxx" <avlynne@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 05:00:57 -0700 (PDT)
Avlynne,
I think there are a few reasons:
1) I hate to say it, but there are probably a lot of exam teachers who are
cutting corners (and I am saying this based on conversations I've had with
teachers, not just my own assumptions) because they know that no one will check
up on them. I don't know what percentage of teachers that is, but I have a
feeling that it's quite significant. So kol hakavod to you for doing it the
right way, but
2) Because the logs are the full Bagrut grade, I think that a lot of teachers
have a heightened sense of responsibility for their students - with the exam,
teachers can just shrug off students who aren't working, give them a low school
(Magen) grade, and let them take their chances with the exam. With the log,
teachers are the ones actually giving a grade, so they tend to work harder just
to make sure everyone's actually doing what they should be. In a Jerusalem log
teachers' meeting, Judie Siegel told of a teacher friend who actually drove to
a student's house to pick up a post-reading task that the student had completed
(late) for a poetry unit!!! (And just to be clear, she told us all to NEVER do
that, or anything remotely similar.) So, no, I don't run after my students all
day for their work, but I definitely do work harder and feel more pressure
about making sure they do what they need to do than I would if I were teaching
for the exam.
3) In my opinion, the fact that teachers know that the Ministry will be doing
random sampling also makes them grade more carefully / double check themselves,
because hey, no one wants to look bad to the inspectorate.
4) Last but not least, I believe that many of the teachers doing the log are
preparing their own units / doing more than is required by the program, because
the creative possibilities of the log tend to attract more creative teachers.
That, too, is a lot of work.
Now let me make it very clear. I am NOT saying that the exam is a cop-out, or
that all the creative teachers do logs and exam teachers are lacking in
creativity. Nor am I saying that people choose the exam in order to cheat the
system. But I do think that it is easier to cheat the system when doing the
exam.
David, perhaps we could have an ETNI poll of exam teachers to find out how many
are teaching and grading exactly according to Ministry specifications? My
feeling is that it won't accurately reflect what happening out there, since the
teachers on ETNI are usually more active and knowledgeable than those who've
never heard of ETNI, but it could still be interesting to get a glimpse of
what's going on out there.
All the best,
Rivka
Avlynne wrote:
I teach in two schools and I have taught the log option and the exam so I can
compare. What I do not understand is why so many people think that
doing the exam is so much easier and so much less work. The 2 options
have the same components - both options have to have all 7 of them -
there has to be a grade for the summative assessment and the 30% graded
task, worksheets etc have to be done for basic understanding, analysis,
interpretation, bridging has to be done and a reflection etc so, IF it is
done to specifications as it should be, the exam certainly is not
less work than the log. The only difference that I have seen is that
once the unit is done and the grades written in the grade book, the
teacher does not have to worry about whether the student loses the work
or keeps it safe to hand in at the end and rubrics do not have to be put in the
files. Granted, there is the final checking of logs but if the
work has been done properly all the way through, it is an overview c
heck and the teachers are paid for this. So why is the exam considered to be so
much less work and even a "cop out"?Â
Avlynne
Avlynne Fisher
054 4916 351
Look for the miracles!
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