[etni] Fw: misc. thoughts
- From: "Ask_Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "ETNI" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 06:45:34 +0300
----- Original Message -----
From: Esther Revivo - estherrv@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: misc. thoughts
First of, THANK YOU DAVID LLOYD and the entire ETNI STAFF for this marvelous
forum which allows us to swap "trades of craft," ask for advice as well as
let off steam!!
Jennifer Byk wrote:
" ... the pupils I teach - not all weak, by any means, have trouble
negotiating the internet, the language is often too hard, and they haven't,
of course , been taught the necessary skills in Hebrew."
I only recently moved to the Irgun so have been doing projects. You may call
me a "friar" (meaning idiot, not the kind subordinate to the Pope :) but in
the long run, I find it saves about 3 weeks of project time when I give my
pupils (weak four pointers with a smattering of those between 3 and 4) a few
websites that I have chosen for them after they tell me which topic they'd
like to write on. (I'll gladly pass on the list of websites I collected last
year and this year to those interested.) Within 8 minutes I'll usually find
3 suitable sites outside of dear ole "Wicky." It saves a heck of a lot of
time we don't have to spare in class. (I try to steer my very weakest girls
to a health related topic like anorexia/ drug or alcohol abuse as
teenshealth.org has great articles in Eng. meant for teens which most of our
girls can handle.)
Jennifer also wrote, "It is often claimed that the Bagrut tests
intelligence, not English."
Well, the second year after the NBA was first introduced, I was at an
in-service course in Beer Sheva when Judy Steiner answered questions from
the audience. Someone claimed just what Jennifer mentioned. The response was
something like,
"You are partially correct." She went on to point out how in the "old"
bagrut exams, one needn't have fully understood the text nor question in
order to answer questions correctly. (We old timers remember this- how
pupils would look for a "key" word that appeared in the question and the
text, and copied information they really didn't understand.) So I am glad
the "dumbed down" tests of yesteryear are gone, because pupils headed for
college will need to use their brain while reading academic articles!
The thing I most disagree with from Jennifer's post is, "I'm afraid speaking
skills have to take care of themselves."
No way Jose! Many of our pupils will have to deal with English speakers on
the job and / or in their private lives in future. They MUST be able to
communicate albeit with mistakes! Once again I mention having received a 96
on my NY State regents exam after 8 years of Spanish study yet being unable
to barely string 2 sentences together!!! We spoke NO Spanish in the
classroom; only wrote and did listening comprehension. That is NOT how I
want my pupils to end up!
However, I emphatically agree with her words, "We can't take upon ourselves
to teach all those things which are not being taught in Hebrew. We have 4
hours a week." I almost fainted last week when I heard more cuts are slated
to take effect in the realm of Education. What will it take to convince
those dunderheads in power that there is nothing more we can pare
down???!!!!
Have a good week and good luck with final preparations for Moed Aleph-
Esther Revivo
Ulpanat Tzvia Sedot Negev
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