[etni] Re: confused - HOTS -yet again
- From: sara g <saragabai@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: shapiroaviva@xxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:54:03 +0300
aviva -
we are NOT talking about LD kids, or weak 5 pointers. (at least, i'm
not). not even kids who are true weak 4 pts. you are talking about F.
I am not!
i am thinking of the kids who are true 3 point students. (maybe
undiagnosed LD, or just very weak students). our school, like many
others i have heard of, is not allowed to have "3 pt" classes. we have
"weak 4 pt - 4bet", and some of the kids, in the 12th grade, only
finish 3 pt. but some of them do do a weak 4 pt bagrut, as follows:
we struggle with them to do A, B, C. the ones who get a more or less
decent grade on C then add a section to their 3 pt project so they
can do the 4 pt oral (at least, we did in the past, before the current
sanctions of not doing projects.) they study a little more literature.
We work hard on the D writing - teaching them a lot of templates. they
usually get a barely passing grade on D and often fail E. but in the
final average, they do have a 4 pt bagrut! (maybe with a final grade
of 60 or 58. but it is a 4 pt bagrut. )
all of this is done in the 12th grade. they must finish the 3 pts
first (usually they do C in 12th grade winter, D in winter or summer
and E in summer), as a safety net. sometimes they only do D or E in
moed bet, and have tigburim until then. so when and how are these
kids going to do a D log or exam?
do they really know english on a 4 pt level? i'm not sure. are we
setting up the ones who can not do even this kind of 4 pt bagrut for
disappointment? yes - because they are told they are a 4 pt class and
if they work hard enough they will do 4 pts. but that's not true for
all of them. the problem is that the principals and a lot of other
people in the MOE (not in the english inspectorate) want as many kids
as possible to have 4 pts.
at some schools a kid with 70 in E, 60 in F and 50 in G is considered
a weak 5 pt student. if he got 85 in the oral his final grade is 65. i
have a feeling you are thinking of these kids when you say "weak
students."
are the english teachers happy with this situation? of course not. but
we are not always the ones with the final say in how kids are put into
english groups.
i hope this is a little clearer now.
sara g
On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 11:36 AM, aviva shapiro <shapiroaviva@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Dear all,
> I don't know why I am writing this but maybe it's because I am confused .
> When teachers write about the HOTS -Literature program the following :
> '"WHICH
> WILL CAUSE OUR WEAK PUPILS TO FAIL " I am quite shocked.. How do they know
> their weaker pupils will fail ?? Who says ?? From my experience
> implementing the program ( two classes that handed in logs).. the weaker
> pupils ( children with learning disabilities such as children who need to be
> read to , or need to record their answers).. or as some call them Mabar
> kids, actually did better !! I was able to support them and be there with
> them and they could revise their work and improve it and their English. One
> boy , very learning disabled who dislikes school altogether, was extremely
> pleased to hand in his log and very proud of himself. His final grade was
> an 87 which replaced his module F grade. I know he would have not have done
> so well on the ''old'''module F. In my first class ( the pilot class) my
> student who was a Mabar student and had ''Hakraot Shalon" thanked me for
> helping her succeed. Albeit these pupils were 5 pointers, they were NOT
> strong 5 pointers and I truly believe that 4 pointers and weak 4 pointers
> will also greatly benefit from this program and not fail.
>
> So again.. I ask and really would like to know how you can predict or say
> the this program will cause weak pupils to fail !! On the contrary it will
> allow them NOT to fail .
>
> I speak from experience with the program and I feel strongly that teachers
> need to be open to how well this program can actually support and aid their
> weaker students.
>
> Wishing you all well and a bit of rest.
> Aviva
>
>
> "It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the
> minds of students with facts…it is to teach them to think.”
> Robert M. Hutchins
>
> Aviva Shapiro- 052-4501830
>
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--
sara g in israel
sarag@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
saragabai@xxxxxxxxx
Visit us at The E Zone
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