[etni] Fw: So, who's gonna teach HOTS???
- From: "Ask_Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "ETNI" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 06:43:41 +0300
----- Original Message -----
From: Esther Revivo - estherrv@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: So, who's gonna teach HOTS???
Hello! One of the first American folksongs I learned (4th grade, the same
year as "The 6 Day War,") was, "She'll be comin' around the mountain when
she comes....." Well, Sept. 1st is "comin' around the mountain." I'd be
interested to have people tell me what they've decided to do about teaching
HOTS. (NO I am not in the shabaq, MI-5 or the CIA, nor am I being paid by a
m'fakeach to pass names on :)
I am midway through the on-line HOTS course. I'm having a blast! (in the
Middle Ages, that meant it is "sebaba!" :) I LOVE the course because a- I
love learning new things and 2- The course is remarkably interesting and
intellectually challenging. (Thank you Adele Raehmer for constructing the
actual course itself, and Mitzi Gefen for being such an outstanding
instructor with the patience of a saint!)
Having said that.... now that I actually SEE and FEEL what teaching HOTS
involves (THAT'S why I decided to do the course despite the Irgun's ban....
to really see what this business entails,) I am more convinced than ever
that it is bad news for everyone in our school system. I love new ideas in
the classroom; use jigsaw; invariably work in pairs and groups; teach with
movies; songs; etc. so I am far from a lazy teacher looking for an easy
life.
YES, HOTS should be taught, but not on the backs of English teachers
beginning in grade 10!!!! They should be taught in elementary school when
basic skills like reading and writing are taught, or seventh grade at the
very latest. AND they should be taught in the pupils' native tongue!!! We
are mid-way through the course, and we have an outstanding group of
educators from all over the south (and a few from Tel Aviv) participating.
WE are still getting our HOTS mixed up!! (I am not a MENSA genius, but I
sure ain't a dumb-dumb neither; I am surely more cognitively gifted than my
weak 4 pointers.)
Now, as for us, the unsung heroes...... underpaid, overworked, unappreciated
by the public at large... this business (at least for the initial 2 years
when teachers will be spending hours making up the lesson plans exactly the
way they must be done; getting used to and filing the forms; deciding which
HOTS to match to which literary piece; learning how to and checking the logs
etc.) will take HOURS every week, and anyone who says differently is either
REALLY a Mensa genius, plus a speed reader and writer or someone out of
touch with reality!! (MY OPINION based on MY capabilities! Maybe I AM a
dumbdumb.) I pity people who teach full time (or full time plus) jobs. How
the dickens a teacher will be able to do this WHILE getting their other
classes prepared to do the oral and written bagrut exams is beyond me. We
are great at what we do but magicians at Hogwarts we are not.
I had a 30 minute conversation with my principal last week preparing him for
the fact that our 99.9% percentage in passing the 4 points at our school is
going to take a nose dive in 3 years. I went through the whole concept (he
is a marvelous educator with patience like Mitzi :) and he said, "Why are
they doing this in 10th grade? It doesn't make sense." And, no we are NOT
getting the 5 hours we begged for at my school, just the measly 4 we had
last year.
Moreover, it will cause tension in the classroom: Hurry! Rush! Gotta get
this done plus listening; plus unseens (yes teaching HOTS will improve
pupils' unseen and writing skills, ) but where is the time for it all???!!
Last but not least, WHERE IS THE MONEY???? I have consistently given HOURS
without pay throughout my 31 year long teaching career on behalf of my
pupils, but THIS really is going too far!! Some monetary recompense is LONG
overdue!!!!
So, if you are NOT going to teach HOTS this year, please let me know! I am
in a real dilemma. I am leaning towards teaching them simply because I pity
my pupils who are already "sug BET" in the large scheme of things. (Once
again this is MY opinion, and the chasm between central Israel and the
periphery widens annually!) Once the Irgun gets their act together, my weak
10th graders will be seniors, and it will be too late for them, as their
parents cannot fund private tutoring as in wealthier areas of the
country.( Some have their textbooks purchased by a free loan fund run at our
Ulpana.)
La di da.... Now that I've stirred up the hornets' nest (not my intention I
assure you! I am merely a conscientious teacher in a moral quandary,) I am
copying / pasting some interesting general knowledge info for those last 5
minutes of class.... that's when I stick in something to boost my pupils'
general knowledge (which is "shoaif la'effes!")
Shavua Tov and I promise NOT TO MALSHIN (PASS ON NAMES) TO ANYONE! If you
want, you can even write ANON, just I'd appreciate knowing if you're from
Central Israel, or a development town type area like I am.
All the best-
Esther Revivo
Ulpanat Tzvia Sedot Negev
P.S. Like in the film "Star Wars," I'm getting my "shield" ready, because I
can just imagine what a beating I'm going to take on all sides either for:
a- being a "strike breaker," or b- talking so harshly against teaching HOTS
before I've completed the course or started teaching them. Well, I like to
think things through thoroughly before I undertake something, and this issue
is a "bigee" for us all as far as I am concerned!!!
INTERESTING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Alaska
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska .
Amazon
The Amazon rain forest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply.
The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more
than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh
water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater
than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the
flow of all rivers in the United States .
Antarctica
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.
Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica . This ice also
represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange
as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average
yearly total precipitation is about two inches Although covered with ice
(all but 0.4% of it, ie.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet,
with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.
Brazil
Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.
Canada
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an
Indian word meaning ' Big Village ..'
Chicago
Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.
Detroit
Woodward Avenue in Detroit , Michigan, carries the designation M-1, so named
because it was the first paved road anywhere.
Damascus , Syria
Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was
founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in
existence.
Istanbul , Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles' full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los
Angeles de Porciuncula -- & can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A..
New York City
The term 'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's
who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city. Therefore, to
play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple. There are more
Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland ; more Italians in New York
City than in Rome, Italy ; & more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv,
Israel .
Ohio
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is man made.
Pitcairn Island
The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia , at just
1.75 sq. miles/4.53 sq. km.
Rome
The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in
133 B.C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.
Siberia
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.
S.M.O.M .
The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military
Order of Malta (S.MO M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an
area of two tennis courts, & as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 less
people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law,
just as the Vatican is.
Sahara Desert
In the Sahara Desert , there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive
a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth
is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island. There has been no
rainfall there for two million years.
Spain
Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits.'
St. Paul , Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota, was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named
Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first business there.
Roads
Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A : 1%, in Canada : 75%
Texas
The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas .. It is as deep as 20
empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.
United States
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must
be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war
or other emergencies.
Waterfalls
The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet
(979 meters). They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls .
I have always said you should learn something new every day. Unfortunately,
many of us are at that age where what we learn today, we forget tomorrow.
But, give it a shot anyway.
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