[etni] Re: The struggle for our future
- From: "Maxine Bennet" <bmaxine@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <golomb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 11:36:51 +0200
**** ETNI on the web http://www.etni.org.il http://www.etni.org ****
With all due respect, I disagree with a number of points you've made in your
letter.
The NBA terminology is elaborate but behind the terminology of words like
domains and benchmarks lies
a specific methodology and rationale that when understood and implemented
will improve the levels of English
in our classrooms. The whole idea of performance-based teaching and
assessment is a good one and I've already
begun to see the positive effects of this in my classes and in classes where
I've tested the oral Bagrut.
I admit that it has taken me time to understand the approach and I'm not
sure I understand it all completely but there
are two aspects in particular that have been very helpful and successful.
One is projects, and the other is assessment through
rubrics and assessment lists.
The projects in my 10th and 11th grade classes have been very successful in
that the students enjoyed their work and were
proud of their presentations. I also felt that most of the students were
very involved with their topics. In the 11th grade
class we did a literature- based project, based on Elie Wiesel's book
"NIGHT" and their projects extended into the topic
of World War II. This topic coincided with their history class and they
were literally studying history in English!
At the beginning stages of introducing the projects, the class and I were
able to discuss and decide what would be
required in the project and we wrote it down and assigned points to each
part. They all knew from the beginning what they needed to do
in order to get 100. It was clear to them and easy for me to grade.
I have tested students in 2 schools on their oral Bagrut and have been
impressed by how proud each student is to describe and discuss his/her
work. The most difficult part has been to limit the project presentation to
the short amount of time we have with each student!
I know there are still problems to be dealt with but I have been to many
meetings over the last few years, where representatives
of the ministry DID speak to teachers and ask for input that would be part
of the policy.
I don't think we should blame anyone - the teachers or the policy makers-
I think we should identify the problems- send in our input-
and give the ministry some time to adapt.
All the best to everyone for a restful holiday!
Maxine Bennett
----- Original Message -----
From: "Golomb" <golomb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "etni" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 8:55 AM
Subject: [etni] The struggle for our future
> **** ETNI on the web http://www.etni.org.il http://www.etni.org ****
>
> The latest spate of letters has re-iterated and confirmed what I have been
> claiming and fighting for. The policy of the ministry as far as English
> is concerned is nothing short of disastrous.
> As most of Etni regular know, I have been battling to get things to change
> and to persuade the inspectorate that teachers should be part of the
> policy making.
> The NBA is overloaded with elaborate terminology which, I am not ashamed
> to say, I still don't fully comprehend. I still prefer saying reading
> comprehension and not access to information from written texts. I also
> think that the two terms don't have exactly the same meaning.
>
> The letters confirm my firm belief that students are not improving their
> English. In fact, since I also teach junior high school, teachers will
> support me when I say that there has been a drastic decline in the levels.
> Something is drastically wrong.
> It's easy to blame the teachers. I place the majority of blame on the
> policy makers.
>
> Any industry is as good as its CEO. Is my message clear?
>
> Nina
>
>
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