Bari, I agree with you, but while I certainly support lowering the quotas i.e. raising the salaries, of Bagrut markers, I'm not sure it would make a difference in the number of notebooks you'd have to mark within three/four days. Since we'd remain the same number of examiners, and since the Ministry would like us to finish marking before the end of the summer (??) , we'd still have 216 notebooks to mark within three/four days. That is, at least in the short run, until more English teachers join the ranks of examiners, enticed by the higher pay! See you on Tuesday, Maxine Tsvaigrach -----Original Message----- From: etni-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:etni-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bari Nirenberg Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 9:08 PM To: ETNI Subject: [etni] Re: Fw: re: WITH YOU!!!!! I don't see any reason for us to give in in this case. Bagrut marking isn't anyone's primary source of income. Yes, it does bring in a nice sum, but I manage to put food in my family's mouth for the rest of the year without marking Bagrut exams. Personally, I'm sick and tired of doing what I consider a mediocre job of marking simply because there are so many exams to mark. I work seven days a week marking (yes, I mark all day on Shabbat and my religious friends make up for that missed time by marking at all hours of the day and night -- even at 3 a.m.) and I still feel very pressured to get it all done, which I always do, but at a price. I start every single marking period totally stressed out thinking about the 432 compositions that I'm expected to mark a week (unseens are generally easier, though not always). I don't have time to cook or clean my house (as a fellow marker discovered when she needed to use my bathroom one day before we headed up to the Marvad). My kids have learned to stay far away from me, as I'm not pleasant to be around. Why on earth would anyone want their students' (or children's) exams marked under conditions like these? I'm glad we're finally taking what I hope is a united stand. We spend years preparing our students to take these exams and they deserve to have them marked under appropriate conditions. Bari On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 10:31 PM, Ask_Etni <ask@xxxxxxxx> wrote: > > ----- Original Message ----- From: Linda - lsk120@xxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: Re: WITH YOU!!!!! > > I had written to my friends/fellow markers responding to the "Urgent > Letter", but realized I should have also voiced my feelings on ETNI, to > show support. > No dissention here, either! We had better stick together and not make a fool > out of ourselves like we did....(finish the sentence)! IF we give in, we'll > have only ourselves to blame. > > Linda Kuras Mizrahi > > > Judy wrote: >> >> Thanks to all of you who wrote in response to the Urgent Message regarding > > marking Bagrut exams this summer - which is imminent. Not one single voice > of dissention has been heard. >> >> Please keep on writing, and come prepared on Tuesday! > > > > ----------------------------------------------- > ** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org or - http://www.etni.org.il ** > ** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx ** > ** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** > ----------------------------------------------- > > ----------------------------------------------- ** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org or - http://www.etni.org.il ** ** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx ** ** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** ----------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org or - http://www.etni.org.il ** ** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx ** ** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** -----------------------------------------------