[etni] Re: The "shnati" grade...
- From: "Linda" <lsk120@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <judiavi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "ETNI" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:01:36 +0200
Hi Judy,
I suggested getting rid of the magen grade and I still do! I mentioned that we
could just give them a grade for their report cards, like we did/do for the
lower grades in high school and also for the 12th grades' semester one grade!
So, your suggestion about giving them a grade at the end of the year is just
what I was talking about.
I still see problems with even giving it lesser weight.. What can I say? Some
past experiences and scenarios I've witnessed, in addition to colleagues'
stories, have affected me and soured me to this whole idea.
I wholy agree with rewarding those who work and giving my industrious,
responsible students grades that reflect that. However, we have seen the
results of that, of problems due to "gaps" in the actual exam and the "yearly
grade"! Giving higher grades to students whose reading
comprehension/composition skills are weak has also caused me problems in the
past (in 10th and 11th grades)! How do you explain to the
student/parent/administration that a particular student is weak in five points
and would succeed/be happier in a 4 point class, when they got 80 on their
report card in English! Will we ever find the golden path?
The great majority of us are extremely hard working, dedicated and always
looking for better ways. Therefore, when so many of us are dissatisfied and
frustrated by the system, the "higher ups" should wake up and listen.
Let's hope this discussion is an impetus for change!
Sincerely,
Linda Kuras Mizrahi
----- Original Message -----
From: Judi Granit
To: ETNI
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 2:22 PM
Subject: [etni] The "shnati" grade...
How right you are Esther.....until we totally get rid of the idea of the
"magen" which is only linked to expectations of what our kids will get on their
bagrut and we are not penalized for giving in grades that differ from the
bagrut scores then the idea of the year grade "shnati" is going to remain a bad
joke.
Adele, how right you are, that we do need some kind of end of year grade that
will reflect our pupils' work; to encourage motivation and include the
literature/extensive reading programs/projects.
So what is the solution? I think it is so blaringly obvious. I believe we
SHOULD be required to give in ONE year grade (no matter how many modules the
kid is doing) that truly reflects the pupil's work in the year and NOT
necessarily be connected to his performance on the bagrut modules.
Rather than ignore Linda's idea of getting rid of it altogether I would
compromise by suggesting that it should have its "weight" changed and be
responsible for 15-25%of the pupil's total grade rather than the 50% it has
today.
We then might have the theoretical scenarios:
Native speaker who is brilliant at unseens but does nothing all year
+/- (75-85)Borderline pupil poor at unseens but works his/her butt off all
year +/- (65-75)
I would be interested to hear what other teachers out there think?
Judi G.
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