[etni] Fw: suggested pay for log
- From: "Ask_Etni" <ask@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "ETNI" <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:10:32 +0300
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sharon Tzur" <sharontzu5@xxxxxxx>
Subject: suggested pay for log
Despite being a good half a day behind in Bagrut marking, I just had to
write this letter - it's the only way to keep the ideas from floating around
in my head!
If the pay for the log is to be bagrut-marking pay at a rate of 5 papers for
hour, that is ridiculously low. Can anyone seriously compare the effort of
checking a log with some 4-6 pieces of work for each piece taught - meaning
some 40 to 60 items - to checking one essay and one unseen?
Mitzi mentions that it's not that much work to check the final log if you
check the pieces as you go. However, I think that the pay should relate to
the TOTAL amount of effort put in by the teacher - not how much time is
spent going over the "final" log. (I must admit I didn't understand what
Mitzi wrote about only checking 2 items per lit piece. If that is the case,
what happens to all the other items that the students submitted? Are they
ignored? Are they assessed on their own but not counted as part of the log
grade? If they don't count as part of the final log grade, what motivates
the student to do them? Or do we just check selectively and ignore some of
their work?)
True, we are saved the effort of checking 3 or 4 F unseen exams, and a few
exams in composition (and I also check some compositions given for homework,
but I don't grade them, which saves a lot of time.) It's also true that we
are currently evaluating literature, but most of us are probably using
assessment tools which are far less time consuming than logs. For example, I
sometimes give a grade based on participation in class of I include 2 or 3
poems in one exam. Moreover, exams always save the teacher effort because
you can be selective; since the students don't know what you will ask in
advance, they have to be prepared, but you don't have to ask more than a few
questions. The exam can be constructed in a way that makes it easy to check,
etc.
However, all of the above is not the MAIN point I want to make. The MAIN
point I want to make (the following Caps are for emphasis - I am not
shouting...) is THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE COMPARING THE EFFORT DEMANDED BY THE
NEW LIT PROGRAM TO OUR OWN EFFORTS IN THE PAST - WE SHOULD BE COMPARING THE
EFFORT DEMANDED TO THAT OF OTHER HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS!! IN THE PAST, WE ALSO
SUFFERED FROM A WORKLOAD HEAVIER THAN THAT OF OTHER TEACHERS.
Let me elaborate. Why shouldn't we compare ourselves to Math teachers. We
both have the same modular system - and the same g'mulim. However, Math
teachers are not required to do any alternative assessment - they do not
have a "shadow" program with demands that must be met and put into the
school grade although they do not appear on the exam. They simply have to
teach and to test the students with bagrut type exams.
This is basically true of our colleagues in all other subjects. They give
grades based almost exclusively on exams. (If they are very conscientious,
they might on rare occasions collect homework to check.) The first group of
teachers who are now joining us and are now required to do alternative
assessment are the Civics teachers. They will receive for their effort 0.4
hours a week for working on their projects AND bagrut pay for checking the
project at the rate of TWO papers per hour - (not FIVE!) I don't know what
the scope of their project is. Is it that much greater than the effort
required of us for our projects? For our logs?
I'd also like to point out that I'm confused as to the role of the log for
those who choose the exam option. Judy made it clear that the teaching is to
be the same, whether we do the log or the exam. That made me think that even
those who do the exam must do the log - or at least a number of its
elements. That would lead me to understand that the school grade for those
who choose the exam option shouldn't be based only on mock exams but on
ongoing work that the students have done. (If we don't count what the kids
do all along and base ourselves only on mock exams, the students will have
no reason to do the tasks we demand.) And yet my racezet asked and was told
that if we do the test, we do not have to do the log. So I'm quite confused.
Naturally, if we do have to do alternative assessment as we go along (which
would seem to be the case if we are supposed to be teaching the material the
same way), then once again, we are being asked to do work which other
teachers don't have to do.
I also think that it is not only the assessment that needs to be taken into
account. The effort required in terms of planning and preparation should
also be taken into account. The new program is far more demanding in that
area as well.
Sharon Tzur
-----------------------------------------------
** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org
or - http://www.etni.org.il **
** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx **
** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **
-----------------------------------------------
Other related posts:
- » [etni] Fw: suggested pay for log - Ask_Etni