[etni] HOTS (I apologize if it is coming out of your ears but the Bagrut is over now)

From: Rita Braunstein <ritabr@xxxxxxx>
To: Ask Etni <ask@xxxxxxxx>, etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:48:22 +0200

I have been reading the pros and cons of the HOTS program and would now like to 
add my own two cents (yes, I am originally from America.  Not only that, I was 
born in da Bronx).
I have loved and learned literature since I was a child.  It was easy for me to 
choose a major in university and I took courses in Old English, Middle English, 
Renaissance English, etc., etc.
I had two different types of lecturers, all distinguished professors who had 
their own love affair with the language and their particular period of English 
literature. The first type would have us go home, read the piece of literature 
and then we would discuss it.  Oh, we would be reading a Shakespearean tragedy 
and someone would quote Freud or Chomsky.  Then we would be required to write a 
paper and get a final grade.  Then there was the second type of professor who 
sent us home to learn the piece of literature and then would say, "Okay, this 
is what the poem/story means." Being a true nerd, I copied down every word that 
was said.  Later on, to get a final grade we could opt to take a written exam, 
open book and notebook of course, and I would get an excellent grade.
When I began teaching myself, which pieces of literature do you think I 
remembered and could teach better to my students?  And when years later I met 
these former students, they told me that they still remembered the poem or play 
and felt very intellectual when they could make comments on it in discussions 
that arose!
Oh yes, we do ask our students to predict and understand the sequence of 
events.  We always have.  But why does anyone think that if they write these 
logs and the newly offered project they will benefit more?  I don't understand.
Rita Braunstein
--------------------------------------
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your 
goal."  
Henry Ford

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[etni] HOTS (I apologize if it is coming out of your ears but the Bagrut is over now)

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