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Message board > Growing number of worksheets... Do you go though all of them?
Growing number of worksheets... Do you go though all of them?
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moravc
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Growing number of worksheets... Do you go though all of them?
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Dear friends,
I joined ESP a few months ago and there were about 400 new worksheets every day... Now it is about 700-800 new worksheets... I try hard to read the descriptions, but I usually don �t go though all of them... Do you have the same problem?
What do you do when you are out for a few days? Do you read all 7,000 descriptions of the previous contributions? Or do you download only the "top downloaded" ones?
It �s really nice to see that ESP is popular and famous and the number of members is growing rapidly... but... what about the quality of the worksheets?
Many good BW worksheets are overlooked every day...
Should we inform the authors to delete the unsuccessful ws and try to make the first page more colourful and upload their valuable worksheet again? The newbies might get upset, when their first ws is forgotten... Can �t we do anything about it?
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20 Nov 2009
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Pinky Makus
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I know what you mean. I think I download less and less. My "hunger" for worksheets and flashcards is not what it used to be. I have been a member for over a year now. I don �t know if that has anything to do with it.
Pinky
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20 Nov 2009
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Zora
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I can honestly say that I get so overwhelmed and dizzy looking at all the possible downloads that are up for free daily that I have stopped going through them. I usually just go to the search engine, type in what I need and look at the new activities first... but no, like Pinky I have sort of stopped surfing through the daily downloads.
I have actually asked people whose work I admire to just message me when they put something new up.
I know that perhaps this isn �t fair to the new members but I actually feel so overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of worksheets to choose from that I get tired, often frustrated even and just say "forget it".... It �s just easier to go for what I really need than search through all these worksheets...
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20 Nov 2009
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mena22
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I agree you you all! It �s so time consuming and the fact is that most of the time it isn �t worth it. Sorry. I try to scroll everyday �s contributions on a regular basis, however, I must confess that I get tired and just stop to have a look at a catchy worksheet. I know, that is not fair, but that �s what I do when I �m busy. When I have time to relax, well, I make my 30 daily downloads and I try to motivate those who have fewer points. But I do wish people had a little bit of pride and thought twice before uploading their work. Or better saying, before making resources for their students...
Have a good night.
mena |
20 Nov 2009
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zailda
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IMHO quantity doesn �t imply quality and the more the number of uploads grow, the more we have loads of wss to vote on the reporting page...
It �s great to notice that the site is growing, but the number of fakes and doubled identities is also increasing day by day.
As a moderator I usually go through all the wss for the following day looking for copies and non-esl resources and - unfortunatelly - I find tons of stolen & copied material every day.
The number of copies and wss against the rules makes the simple act of finding something valuable turn into a nightmare. It would be great if before uploading the first ws (if the newbies really care about the number of points and the others recognizing their work as valuable) they took some minutes to read and understand completely the rules.
It would also release the forum for teaching-related subjects, because they clutter the forum with questions they could easily get the answers for if they merely read the rules before sign "I agree" to register as a member here. After all, "helping" sounds different from "baby-sitting" for me.
But as a member I don �t worry that much about "today �s contributions" since I �m not interested in the saving of points matter. I am some members �s "customer" because I simply love their wss - and so do my ss - so when I need something I look for it among theirs first. And of course I search for the whole site.
I realized that ESL doesn �t fit my computer, so I leave the wss stored here and download what I �m in need of at that moment. But when I see something really interesting I download immediately.
On Sundays, when I have a little bit more time than during the week I normally spend about 3 hours digging through the contributions. It �s amazing to see how some members � skills develop fast and I �m proud of being part of this site.
And the most downloaded of the day normally represent the majority �s taste and it �s a strong clue that it �s good, but it �s also a good idea to give the "less downloaded" a try, I particularly find real treasures at the last pages of the wss of the day.
When I �m out for a few days I just start from where I stopped, so I have to spend more hours a day in front of the computer. I couldn �t sleep if I supected there was a splendid ws uploaded here, perfect for my students and exactly on what I �m teaching and I didn �t find it only because I was too lazy to do "my homework" here.
Have a nice weekend (in fact our weekend starts tomorrow because it �s holiday on Friday)
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20 Nov 2009
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moravc
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Thanks for your comments! I feel like you :-)
I don �t care about points either, but I try to scroll the "recent contributions" page every day, because I can see ALL the new worksheets on page page only...
It �s much easier to read the names and descriptions there...
When I try to read contributions of several days, I get tired and I probably overlook some masterpieces...
My problem is: there is no search possibility to see ALL worksheets of the given date ON ONE PAGE only...
If there was a chance to see all the "old" worksheets on one page only, I would not need to go through 60 or 70 PAGES of "old" contributions of the given date...
Can you imagine to be out for 10 days and then click 700 times to see all 7,000 worksheets of the previous 10 days??
It �s really time consuming and we can overlook many valuable wss...
I think now it is almost impossible for a quality bw worksheet to get extra points after the first free day...
Does your old worksheets with few points get ever downloaded?
I have loads of points, so I don´t care about points any more, but the newbies might feel ... lonely? overlooked?
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20 Nov 2009
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moravc
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I really think there should be a list of easy rules for newbies to follow...
"Dos and Don´ts"
how to make the worksheet popular, what to include, which pics to use, how to resize, how to group textboxes / pics, how to include fonts, make first page colourful, second page bw outlined - no background - printer friendly... How to write an eye-catching name... What to do when ws overlooked - delete - redesign - upload again...
etc...
How about automatic sending a PM to all newbies with some recommendations?
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20 Nov 2009
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zailda
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@moravc, there are clear rules to be read every time you upload a ws, there are tons of tutorials and threads on the forum. I risk to be wrong when I say there are enough written, but the problem is that people are too lazy to read, they prefer to ask, or (even worse) do what they want, and them come to the forum to complain.
I saw many old contributions with 900 or more downloads and I guess they wouldn �t have a chance in today �s page. Every day there are more contributions, more skillful teachers, more valuable material and new ideas and layouts. It �s competition, anyway. And who said competition isn �t good? Competition will give the newbies the courage to improve theis skills if they want to share, and will make them run away if they want to take only.
it �s kind of "natural selection". Only the strong survive, that �s it.
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20 Nov 2009
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moravc
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"Natural selection" :-) Cool :-D
Ok, I agree with you that newbies often don�t read the rules or tutorials... But maybe they cannot find them :-) I still remember how I was puzzled and overwhelmed the first few days here :-D This site seemed to be a Disneyland full of candies for me :-DD
Ok... I leave this idea of PMs...
But what do you, friends, think about the idea of having ALL contributions of the given date on ONE single webpage??
Wouldn �t it improve the searching process???
The present searching method by date provide us a bunch of pages with 10 worksheets only... That means we should go through 72 PAGEs to have a glimpse of all worksheets uploaded on the given date...
Do you find it handy? Do you prefer to search the wss with the most points only???
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20 Nov 2009
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PhilipR
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Number of uploaded worksheets skyrockets, but quality doesn �t necessarily go up methinks, on the contrary. In order to cut down on worksheets being uploaded, I think moderators should be allowed to report poor quality worksheets - some are nearly empty, others are copied, stolen or not entirely in English. I don �t think it makes sense to let anyone upload one sheet with for example the numbers 1 to 20 and call this an activity. I realize people need time to learn, but they should practise first and then upload their best work. Not upload just about anything. I �d hate to see this site run out of server space again because half of the members have started uploading rubbish (for want of a better word) in order to get some points.
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20 Nov 2009
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zailda
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I completely agree with you , PhilipR. Some members just type a big sized alphabet and upload it as a poster. Others just type some sentences and upload as "classroom language poster", or copy a B&W picture, put a list of colors and upload as a "useful resource for young learners". Are their young learners as dumb as they want them to look?
If a new member looks carefully at the kind of wss that are uploaded here daily, he will feel ashamed of uploading this kind of "worksheets". For me, the person who uploads anything displays some important information about himself:
1) Lack of respect for the others.
2) He takes for granted that we are all stupid.
3) He thinks our ss are stupid.
4) He doesn �t have any talent and doesn �t want to improve his skills.
5) He �s hungry for points.
6) He doesn �t have a dictionary, since he ignores the meaning of "sharing".
And also some questions:
1) Is he a good teacher?
2) Is he a teacher?
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20 Nov 2009
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