[etni] Re: Fwd: re: Literature
- From: Hdar Yashar <hdarh5@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:33:55 +0200
Thank you Jennifer for your insight. Unfortunately, I believe that what
you describe is not a "fault" of the program but of the teachers. There's
a distinct difference between a good teacher and great teacher. And with
or without this program, literature is either taught well and with passion
or not. Clearly, your students do not have great teachers.
Most of my school year is devoted to exactly what Mitzi talks about in her
email -- teaching English THROUGH literature. I give my students 4 weeks
before the bagrut to prep them for the test, but they are not learning
English from it.
I teach through literature and I have seen students with a 46% avg. in my
class go to an 85% avg. It really just depends on the teacher.
Sadly, the student you mentioned has an awful teacher. And sadly, those
exist out there, as well.
-H
On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 7:49 AM, ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Mitzi Geffen <mitzi100@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Literature
>
> Interesting. What about all of the rich vocabulary in the literature
> pieces? What about all of the different possibilities for writing a
> teacher can choose for the different components? In my experience,
> every aspect of English can be taught through literature in the
> context of engaging and thought provoking texts.
> This is certainly a matter of different perspectives!
> Mitzi
>
> Mitzi
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 8:02 AM, ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Jenifer Byk <byk@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: Literature
> >
> > Since I am only a private teacher, I have hesitated to leap into the
> > discussion of the literature programme, but last Sunday, after
> > teaching a student who had just written his module G exam (Magen
> > grade 93), I felt that I had to say something.
> >
> > You, the teachers on this list, are all dedicated and involved,
> > whether you are for or against the programme. However, out there in
> > Non-Etni Land there are many many teachers who are either floundering
> > as they try to implement the programme or just dont care.
> >
> > So what happened on Sunday. Since my student had finished module G
> > and only has F to complete, he wanted to discuss All My Sons. I
> > asked him how far they had got in class, and he said they were at the
> > beginning of act two. I asked what they had discussed in class, and he
> > said that they hadnt discussed anything. It transpired that the
> > teacher played a recording. They spent the lesson listening to it.
> > Since most of the students in the class laughed a lot, he was under
> > the impression that it was a comedy! Since he had not read the play
> > (he was under the impression that it would be too difficult for him
> > to read by himself, despite being a student with an average grade of
> > around 95 in all subjects and 100 on E), there was not a lot I could
> > do in an hour, other than outline the plot and mention something of
> > the symbolism. When I read the end of Act Two, he was shocked. Oh!
> > Its a serious play!
> >
> > Last year he had a different teacher, who taught the rest of the
> > literature. They did a quiz on each piece, and no written exam.
> >
> > This is not an isolated case. This student isnt from my immediate
> > area. In my area, I am aware of four different 10th grade 5 point
> > classes where the teachers are not dealing with the literature in any
> > way that the Ministry had in mind.
> >
> > The reason this is such a problem is that an enormous amount of time
> > is being spent on this programme, leaving the teachers little time to
> > devote to helping their students improve the two areas of language
> > learning that are so vital in todays world vocabulary and writing.
> > I know that many of you will disagree with me on this, but I see the
> > results close up. Most of my students are outstanding and very hard
> > working. It pains me to see that their hard work is not producing the
> > desired results.
> >
> > Jennifer
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