[etni] Re: In defence of the unseen
- From: "sbshai" <sbshai@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <davidzalman@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:14:46 +0200
Good evening everyone,
David has made some valid points, but it would be good to hear that the
coordinators presented the organizers of the meetings with a few meaningful
questions. (Of course, this doesn't guarantee meaningful answers; still, we
need to say what must be said. If "accountability" is the name of the game,
we must remember that this should be the modus operandi for each team --
i.e.,
"teacher accountability" should be matched by "executive / administrative /
organizational accountability"!)
Here are a couple of questions for which most teachers, hard at work on the
ever-increasing demands on them, would like to see responsible answers:
1. How is this mantra different than every other one we've heard? (Just
substitute the word projects, modules, etc. for HOTS!) Ergo, why should we
have any more faith in this one than the others?
2. What concrete benefits have our students gained from the (so called)
innovative programs?
Can they express themselves any better in English as a direct result of all
our hard work? (We inevitably work harder than they do if we follow the
directives to the letter! The current wisdom that dictates we mustn't
damage students' delicate psyches by expecting them to produce an honest
piece of that unmentionable 4 letter word -- w-o-r-k -- means that we must
creatively find ways to make it look as though they're doing their fair
share.)
We teachers do a lot of talking: We talk in class, in the staff room, at
school meetings, to union reps, on Etni -- in short, we talk to anyone who
looks alive enough to listen!
I think many of us would like to know whether there's any forum where we can
ask important questions and get real answers. (In response to the
invitation to join the Strengthening Partnerships Forum, I asked a very
basic question many months ago but have still not received a reply!)
It's rather like ... waiting for Gadot (misspelling intentional).
Bonsoir,
Batya
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Graniewitz" <davidzalman@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, 29 December, 2010 11:02 AM
Subject: [etni] In defence of the unseen
> *In defence of the Unseen*
> After participating in the HOTS course and having been present at a number
> of meetings for coordinators in which the rationale behind the new
> programme
> has been explained (the most recent being in Jerusalem this week), it has
> become apparent to me that the same mantra-like explanation is being given
> for the need for change. This goes something like “HOTS based literature
> teaching -- good; unseens practice – bad.”
>
> Firstly, it must be stated that it was the Inspectorate’s decision to
> change
> the format of the Bagrut. We all dutifully complied, took the required NBA
> course and began teaching according to the new specifications. At first,
> there was some confusion, but eventually we got the hang of things when it
> became evident that the new exam was as much an IQ test as it was an
> English
> one. This led to a plethora of practice books being brought out by the
> various publishers as teachers realised that they would not be able to
> succeed at their job of getting their pupils through the new exam without
> sufficient practice. Practice books began to surpass course books as the
> main weapon in the teachers’ armoury, and course books even began to
> resemble practice books in some cases (e.g. the ECB “results” series.)
>
> Say what you will, it seems to have worked though, as the thousands of
> students who have already taken and passed 4 and 5 point Bagrut exams will
> testify. But is it teaching is the question, or point to the point, is it
> teaching English?
>
> Consider, if you will, the following points:
>
> 1. Pupils in Israeli schools are under tremendous pressure. They
> have
> to sit through many exams throughout the year and can study two or more
> majors at school. Their attitude to English is ambivalent. On one hand, it
> is a prestigious subject, one which they will need not just in order to
> get
> a decent Bagrut certificate, but also in their future lives. On the other,
> many of them have a good command of the language by the time they
> reach 11thgrade. Because the Bagrut exam, in its present form, is
> basically a “pop
> quiz”, they see very little connection between the lessons and the exam.
> To
> keep them in class, we have to resort to artificial methods the main one
> being the yearly grade, which we constantly use as a stick to beat them
> with
> when they step out of line. Let’s face it; the pupils learn to be
> practical.
> They come to class not because they feel obligated to do so, but because
> they feel that they will lose out on something if they don’t. Constant
> unseen practice ensures attendance as the pupils know that they will
> forfeit
> grades if they miss out on tests.
>
>
>
> 2. An unseen practice lesson is not a waste of a lesson. It is a
> learning experience on various levels.
>
> a) The pupils have to sit and apply themselves for a whole hour or
> so.
> Today, when pupils, even those who haven’t been diagnosed as ADD, find it
> hard to concentrate for more than a few consecutive minutes in a regular
> lesson, unseen practice keeps their backsides stuck to chairs for a whole
> period at least. They learn to be focused on a task. I love standing back
> and watching pupils who are normally antsy, with their heads down and
> applying themselves to completing an assignment. This is hard to do in a
> regular lesson. Simply telling them “Open your books to page 55, read the
> text and answer the questions,” even after a pre-reading activity doesn’t
> have the same effect of getting an entire class to do the work.
>
> b) I never sit back and drink coffee while my pupils are sweating
> away
> over a reading comprehension test. Apart from having to read to pupils
> with
> accommodations, I do umpteen circuits of the classroom, peering over their
> shoulders, answering questions and generally making a nuisance of myself.
> If
> I see that several pupils have missed the point a particular question, I
> stop the class and point out the problem without giving away the answer.
> In
> this way, the pupils will be better equipped to deal with similar
> questions,
> should they arise on future passages. I also find out if there are any
> particular issues that need dealing with in lessons. In addition, this is
> an
> invaluable opportunity for me to get to know the pupils I find out how
> they
> work individually.
>
> c) Dictionary skills can be learnt practically, rather than in
> theory.
> Almost every time, I am faced with a pupil who claims that a certain word
> does not appear in the dictionary. This is an opportunity for me to go
> over
> and help him/her and find out what the problem is. There is no substitute
> for “trial and error”. A mistake made once is rarely repeated.
>
> d) Let’s not forget that especially for the weaker pupils, an unseen
> practice lesson is an hour in which they are reading English. How much
> English would they be reading otherwise in a lesson without the threat of
> a
> grade hanging over them? They learn to stick with texts that are sometime
> hard and frequently boring. The more they read, the easier reading English
> becomes.
>
> e) I have found that the major problem of most pupils is confidence.
> The first time I give an unseen in class, all pandemonium breaks loose. I
> am, however, prepared for this. All I do is keep order, shut up the
> noisier
> kids and tell everyone to get on with it. I tell them that at first, the
> grade is not that important. What I am looking for is their willingness to
> complete the task at hand. Eventually they get down to it and in time they
> realise that they can cope. More often than not, my answer to a question
> is
> “Go back and read the question and/or the text.” I tell pupils that I won’t
> be there to hold their hands on the day of the Bagrut and they have to
> trust
> their own intuition. Surprisingly, this works. They go back and read the
> passage again and suddenly let out a gasp of relief when they realise that
> they have managed to work out things on their own. This is a great
> confidence builder in my opinion.
>
>
>
> Whether or not HOTs teaching will do away with the need for unseens
> practice
> remains to be seen. The problem is that I am expected to believe the
> findings of others over my own experience in a classroom, which has been
> more than backed up by the results of the pupils I have taught and the
> experience of many of my colleagues who have found the same thing. What I
> do
> object to is the insinuation that we haven’t been doing our jobs properly
> if
> we have placed some emphasis on unseens practice. I know that it ain’t
> pretty, but it does seem to be working.
>
>
>
> Have a good day,
>
> David Graniewitz
>
> Jerusalem
>
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