[etni] Lit Module online course
- From: judih haggai <gudweinh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2009 09:46:06 +0000
Hi colleagues,
I'm reading the comments pro and con the HOTS/Lit module and would like to
register my thoughts.
I took the online HOTS course this year with Instructor Mitzi Geffen and
enjoyed it, learned from it and would recommend it to all teachers.
I studied in a group with Chezi Fine and reading his answer to the bridging
text and context question, which he posted here at ETNI, I enjoyed his broad
humour
as well as considerable knowledge of the subject. Likewise, I benefited from
all the varying personalities in our course. There seemed to be a cynicism
balanced with humour
that tends to characterize many English teachers.
Our workload was intense, but very doable and stimulating. This, I discovered,
was quite unlike the experience of other teachers who
took a face-to-face course and found the course less enriching than I did.
Our final task was to prepare a portfolio including our teaching context (what,
where, with whom, etc), two unit planners
one for a story and one for a poem, and a final reflection of the course and
our own learning. These unit planners were practised throughout the course
and we were encouraged to save them to try in our classes. (A co-operative,
intelligent offshoot of online learning)
All along the way, forums were active, and opinions were most certainly
expressed for and against teaching HOTS within Literature,
our experience in general while teaching and the ever-present situation of
recompense for added workhours.
Our instructor encouraged us to write these opinions to Judy Steiner to give
her our feedback.
In short, the course was real-time relevant. Being the first to learn online,
we also were piloting and, as such, part of development.
We asked questions and were given answers the moment they existed. Online is
definitely an efficient way to communicate, and Highlearn worked well 95% of
the time (a happy surprise).
As far as the logistics of extra workloads for teachers and students, I'd like
to see the Literature Module taught in a two or two and a half year framework.
This would alleviate the pressure of time constraints and allow for breaking
schedule if a certain literary work or activity required additional time.
The sample Exam we saw seems appropriate. The log seems more interesting in
terms of real-time assessment. I'd like to be able to try both forms of
assessment in alternate years, based on our student body and our Staff's
inclination at the time. We've been assured that within a staff, teachers can
choose either exam or log - it needn't be a staff-wide decision.
I am in favour of the Literature Module, and interested in several things, in
particular. First, I want to see our students show a carry-over of HOTS into
other aspects of their lives. I've been told that it happens. I'm fascinated in
how teachers will adapt to the new system of teaching this Bagrut Module.
Finally, and most importantly, I believe in the efficacy of teaching HOTS and
I'd recommend that all teachers take the course and make their feedback heard.
Judih Weinstein Haggai
Ma'ale Habsor/soon to be Nofei Habsor
> From: "hezi5@014" <hezi5@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Ivory Towers
>
> Hi,
> I have just completed the on-line course on the incorporation of HOTS in the
> Literature program.
> In the program, we were asked to answer a sample exam question on a poem
> chosen for the Literature program: Arlington's Richard Cory. Below, I am
> posting my answer to the exam question for your perusal:
> Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) is an American poet best known for his
> poems about the characters of Tilbury Town, a small, bleak Maine town like
> the one where Robinson grew up. His characters suffer the ?cruelties of life
> ?? (Shalvi, A. (Ed.). 1982, EMT Reader. University Publishing Projects:
> Israel)
> How does this information add to your understanding of Richard Cory? Give
> examples from the poem.
> My answer to the Exam Question on Richard Cory
> The information provided to me above was very helpful in deepening my
> understanding of the poem.
> As an average Israeli student, I am well aware from the dates provided above
> (and the date of the poem) that we are talking about the late Victorian
> early Edwardian era and that this period corresponds with the height of the
> Industrial Revolution.
> Since I am a product of the excellent Israeli education system, I am also
> aware that during the Industrial Revolution social classes were starkly
> defined and difficult to escape. The information about Tilbury being a small
> bleak town in Main, immediately conjured up in my mind vivid images of the
> tortured lives of industrial workers there. (I don't have to tell you that I
> can easily find Maine on the map.)
> Since I am aware from my broad general knowledge that living in a small
> American town at that time involves a smothering sense of solidarity of the
> downtrodden, I now understand why the speaker keeps using the first person
> plural, "we", throughout the poem.
> I know that Americans have no Royalty but that, paradoxically, they have
> their kings and these capitalistic tycoons are perhaps even richer and more
> powerful than 'ordinary' kings.
> This knowledge enabled me to understand why Arlington describes Richard Cory
> in regal terms: for example, Richard Cory is a gentleman from sole to crown,
> or that he was imperially slim or that he glittered when he walked.
> (I hope I don't have to tell you that I know that very many kings in
> Anglo-Saxon history went by the name of Richard.)
> And finally, I would like to thank my English teacher my geography teacher
> and my history teacher and compliment the examiner/s for his/her/their
> excellent exam question which is excellent proof that he or they don?t
> reside in the proverbial ivory tower.
>
> Chezi Fine
>
_________________________________________________________________
More than messages?check out the rest of the Windows Live?.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowslive/
-----------------------------------------------
** 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] Lit Module online course - judih haggai