[etni] Response to Maxine's Question
- From: James Backer <drjamesbacker@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 03:19:10 -0800 (PST)
Greetings, all!
I would like to thank Maxine for her question. I was wondering if people really
knew where I was coming from and whether I should take more ETNI space to
explain.
I started teaching EFL in Israel back in the days when there was a separate
afternoon Bagrut session to answer essay questions on English Literature. (I
suggest reading some of those essays to see how far we have subsequently
dumbed-down the level of English teaching/learning.)
Since that time, regardless of the changes of the form of the English Bagrut, I
have continued to love teaching Literature, particularly poetry. I have seen
classes voluntarily learn and recite Jabberwocky, just because it was a cool
thing to do. I have seen students brought to tears over the fate of Bess and
her Highwayman lover. With the advent of the personal computer, I merged poetry
with technology in ways not possible in previous classes. I have had kids
voluntarily search YouTube for various poems and then stand around the computer
discussing the literary and technical quality of the multi-media presentations.
In addition, I have ended up, with great notoriety, on the pages of the
national press when I used certain HOTS procedures with Richard Corey. (Many
thanks to Avi Tzur when he wrote to my principal that I had done nothing
wrong.) I have had more than one former student email me to say that they saw
me in Robert Williams’s character in
“The Dead Poets’ Society.”
I have taught sections of Romeo & Juliet, comparing video clips of Zeffirelli,
DiCaprio, and West Side Story. A number of times, my classes have composed
their own version of the Romeo & Juliet plot, in local settings (a la West Side
Story). Once, a class presented its masterpiece to the entire 10th grade.
Another class demanded to go out to see then-new DiCaprio version at a local
theater together. When I chaperoned three students in London, they were willing
to see only Romeo & Juliet when we went down to Leicester Square.
Unlike some of the teachers on ETNI, I actually like many of the older pieces.
(That’s not to say I wouldn’t teach newer pieces as well.) In particular, I
love teaching AMS. Although it is old hat for us, it is a new and moving
experience for the kids. Like an actor in a long running Broadway hit, it is a
professional challenge to offer the play to fresh eyes and ears each time we
teach it. As for using HOTS with AMS, I finish working on it with an essay
exam: Compare and Contrast AMS with Samuel II Chapter 11-12. I give out Hebrew
and Russian copies of the original David and Bat Sheva story and then tell the
kids to think first, then write. The results have been stunning.
In short, I’m all for teaching English (and a bit of English-language culture)
through Literature. My school has always taught Literature, even when it was
not actually tested on the Bagrut. The same is true for projects. We have been
doing various types of projects for ever. In addition, we have been using HOTS,
whether it be in Literature, projects, creative writing, intensive and
extensive reading, or unseens. This is just an obviously good way to teach
English in an interesting, meaningful, and efficient way. This is the way we do
it in our school and there are a lot of teachers who do it better than I do,
but are inhibited about spilling their guts on ETNI.
My general problem comes when the MOE, in an attempt to encourage some other
schools not to be Bagrut-factories, shackles us with very specific formats for
Literature and projects. I dread having to create a chart in which certain
poems will be taught via certain HOTS, etc. etc. This chart must be created and
maintained to make sure that all the kids, regardless of changing classes,
cover all the required HOTS. This will obviously be true for the exam mode, but
it will most probably be true for the log mode as well. This is parallel to my
consternation over being told that projects must take the form of academic
mini-research papers. These mandated formats have strangled my creativity as a
teacher and I have heard the same from many others.
My specific problem is the testing of meta-cognitive awareness in an
examination that is supposed to be testing the students’ competencies in
ENGLISH. There’s nothing wrong with using HOTS while teaching/learning, but it
is absolutely insane to put meta-cognitive questions in the exam. The time we
will need to get the kids ready to answer meta-cognitive questions eats away at
the precious time we have to teach Literature for pleasure (while
teaching/learning English), or all the other things we want to do, or have to
do in class.
And yes, I also have a problem with being told to work a lot more for no
compensation. I was happy to hear that the pilot teachers are getting some
extra pay for the log, but I would really like to hear the MOE’s policies about
the future. After all, by “convincing” us to do the log, the MOE is saving a
mountain of money when D and F are not given (or given minimally). How about
letting the teachers who generate those savings get a bit for their extra work?
Sorry for the long post, but Maxine’s question opened the floodgate.
Jimmy
Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:36:44 +0200
From: maxinetz <maxinetz@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [etni] Re: About "wait and see"
Dear Jimmy,
I would like to know just one thing: are you in favor of including
Literature on the English Bagrut? If so, how would YOU do it?
Regards,
Maxine Tsvaigrach
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