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Aswan2010:

Assalumalaikum Sabbir

Wa 'alaikum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Aswan2010:

I know I saw my O level booklet from 1960 somewhere recently and noticed the same thing; far less straightforward questions, but we were Grammar School kids and expected to reach a certain level.  If I find it I will scan it, but where can I send it.

If you (or anyone else) emails these to me at sarahman@alum.mit.edu, then I will collate them insha'Allah and try to make them available on the web so that they can be accessed by anyone who would like them.

Aswan2010:

What I really want to know as I read all the comments is:  Doesn't UK have graded maths classes?  In Australia NSW we have Advanced, Intermediate and General Maths to "O" level standard and then various Units at "A" level or HSC.  In this way, those who require academic maths have a chance to be pushed and those who need basic survival maths can do that too.  I haven't taught in Australia for a few years but I have a horrible feeling it may have changed there too. 

There used to be two separate exams prior to around 1987 - the O Levels for the more advanced students and CSEs for the less advanced. They were subsegenquently merged into a single exam - the GCSE and standards have been going downhill since then.

Aswan2010:

I teach in Egypt and if you really want horrific maths come here.  All is rote and the kids are given topics well above their cognitive level in a really horendous environment - 4 kids to a desk for two and 60 - 90 in the classrooms which often are like lecture halls!  Blackboards are painted on the uneven wall! So count your blessings too British Maths teachers.

I am curious - is there just one teacher trying to teach all of these children, or several teachers? And are all the children of the same age, or are they setted according to ability?

I have often wondered, particularly in these kinds of situations, whether it might not be better to try to teach mathematics in much the same way as karate is taught in a dojo - with students segregated (even in the same large room) according to level of progression, and irrespective of age. Once a certain level has been mastered - as evidenced by the passing of a grading exam - they can progress to the next class. Furthermore, older, more advanced students can be allowed to assist the younger and/or less advanced pupils, and those who complete and have sufficiently mastered the syllabus can themselves choose to become teachers if they wish. This system would also allow students to progress at their own pace, irrespective of age.

Best wishes,

Sabbir.

Okay, I'm bored and had half an hour to spare, so I've figured out which posts were deleted and tried to ascertain why. These aren't the only deleted posts, as the references to the HMI had already been deleted.

There appears to be no rationale to the deleted posts at all. So much so that I went and checked over my diff/grep work by hand. But it appears right. I wonder if this was part of an attempt at a much bigger purge that was given up or is still ongoing ?

(The number at the front is the TESs internal ID for the given user)

123926 DM 20/12/2010 at 18:14
Picture of the book "get lost Becka"
 
123926 DM 20/12/2010 at 18:29
Picture of the book "get lost Becka" with a book "David smells" next to it, suggested reply by DM.
 
123926 DM 20/12/2010 at 19:33
No apparent reason. Weebecka rants about CVs but nothing out of the ordinary. Does name someone but is positive about them.

123926 DM 21/12/2010 at 12:38 
This is the only post naming the much assaulted HMI "Janet Johnson" (pseudonym). This is a response defending her, the original criticism(s) from weebecka had already been removed though they are quoted here.

1320777 Betamale 20/12/2010 at 18:23
Picture of the book "get lost Becka"
 
1369785 weebecka 20/12/2010 at 19:09
Repost of DM post of two books entitled "Get lost Becka" and "David Smells" with weebecka's comment "I'm Impressed"

1369785 weebecka 21/12/2010 at 11:46
Rant in response to Karvol accusing her of "lying or deliberate obfuscation"
 
1369785 weebecka 21/12/2010 at 12:04
slags off "Cumbria's Senior School improvement officer"

156107 autismuk 21/12/2010 at 19:05
Silly picture of super-facilitator-woman by me :) Reposted *n*l abuse used by weebecka  pointing out the slight hypocrisy

644543 Karvol 21/12/2010 at 12:12
No apparent reason other than quotes weebecka saying "Sorry I haven't really done mathematical disocoveries by students yet."

Surely someone can put a stop to this thread. I suggest the combatants be put in direct contact with one another in a boxing ring, without gloves.

Bye