[etni] Re: and now the advantages of bagrut marking

I have a (maybe stupid) question. When marking the F and G essays ,
you can't write anything on the test itself, right? What I do when I
correct my students' writing is read the essay, mark spelling,
grammar, vocab mistakes, and in the end look at how many mistakes
there are of each type, and decide how many points to give for each
section.

How do you do this without writing anything on the test itself?

  sara g


On 11/15/08, Sandra Yosef-Hassidim <hassidim@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> My latest comments on bagrut marking-esp F and G level-might have given the 
> impression that it is a "mission impossible". That really is not true. As we 
> are all interested in getting people to join, I would like to give potential 
> markers a balanced picture of what it includes and why it is important to 
> become involved in the marking process, from a professional point of view as 
> well as for your own personal benefit.
> First of all, when you become a professional marker, you start to understand 
> the underlying reasons in students' mistakes. You develop a special eye for 
> what is commonly called "a tricky question" and after marking hundreds of 
> those, it becomes clear WHY students fail the problematic questions, because 
> you learn to identify the patterns. As a result, it becomes easier for you as 
> a teacher, to teach your own students techniques which will prevent them from 
> making similar mistakes. So in fact, you become much more effective in your 
> teaching methods. When you know you have the right tools for them, you also 
> become more confident and the kids can sense that. They feel that you know 
> what you are talking about, that you are talking from experience. This is 
> especially true when it comes to teaching them how to write a proper essay. 
> Before I started marking, I felt  insecure about it. I used the text books 
> and taught them according to the instructions in
>  the teachers guide, but in fact, I had no idea how to really go about it. 
> How can one get a yudbet student to improve his vocabulary or language 
> skills? His knowledge of the language is an accumulation of years of language 
> exposure . What difference can you make at this point? After marking bagrut 
> essays, it suddenly makes sense. You realize that there are some concrete 
> ways you can teach them, even in later stages of the year. We all know that 
> in the essay part bagrut markers deduct points for language mistakes, but not 
> everyone knows that markers are also instructed to give credit to and 
> compensate for the use of advanced vocabulary or advanced language 
> structures. Many teachers don't know that students should be encouraged to 
> use advanced language-even when it includes mistakes- instead of teaching 
> them to "play it safe" with faultless but simple structures. Many teachers do 
> not know that a great deal of points are deducted when students write a
>  bit "off the topic" or when they write 100 instead of 120 words. After I 
> started working as a F and G marker, I completely changed my whole working 
> method when it comes to teaching essay writing.
>
> Second, it is important that English staffs include a number of bargut 
> markers who can teach the other staff members how to mark school tests 
> professionally-the way it is done at the Bagrut. That is actually the only 
> way one can ensure that students get prepared for the real thing and year 
> grades will reflect bagrut grades.
>
> Besides the professional benefits, we can't ignore the financial ones. Bagrut 
> marking is a substantial addition to your salary. And it is earned in a 
> relatively short period. Although the work is tough, it is done at home and 
> you can do it in the hours that suit you best. You get to know many other 
> English teachers  from all over the country. I have been doing it for a 
> couple of years and after the latest improvement in conditions, I must say it 
> has become easier to combine with work at school.
>
> I honestly think that every teacher should try it at least once. After 
> getting your teaching certificate, and gaining work experience in front of 
> the class, it is like the "finishing touch".
> Sandra Yosef-Hassidim
>
>
>
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sara g in israel
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saragabai@xxxxxxxxx
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