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ESL forum >
> If Sante wrote back
If Sante wrote back
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Agacica
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If Sante wrote back
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Dear Fellow Users,
Today I was notified that my WS has been removed.
The reason for it was: "It �s not an ESL resource".
For those who have seen it as well as those who reported it I �d like to make a remark:
I can hardly understand how my WS cannot be a ESL resource as, not only to me, but to many other users who found it very useful in class, it is a valuable piece!
It fits the requrements of WSs that can be uploaded. It contains an exercise after all.
I found the material on an access free forum page no one claims copyright to (the content of it not the page itself - I mean), I altered and edited it to make it classroom useful for my students. Therefore, I don �t understand why it has been removed.
I guess the reason for it is the whole fuss made about it. But come on, it seems that too many fellow users still believe in Good Old Santa, that �s why they reported it. As I mentioned NO ONE claims copyright to the text used by me.
I repeat, it has been ALTERED and EDITED dear friends!
Besides, no one forces you to download it and use it if you don �t want or simply don �t like it!
You can check the page, here �s the adress it �ve taken the materials from:
It �s eBaum �s World Forum:
http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/showthread.php?t=174724
The question of whether my WS is rude or not, appropriate or not should be a teacher �s choice based on his experience, group age and level or even course type.
I �ve done the WS with a group of upper-intermediate adult students who LOVED it and found it highly entertaining!!!
There are worksheets with texts pasted from wikipedia, rewritten from coursebooks without any editorial alterations or pictures downloaded from the net that have copyrights on them. There are even WSs that acompany films with erotic sceens in them, why doesn �t anyone make something about it.
That �s why I believe the decission of removing my WS was unfair and if someone doesn �t like pictures with Santa smoking a ciggy, he or she can simply NOT download it and NOT show it to his/her students.
WSs should not be removed because some people are jus oversensitive!!!
Best regards
Agacica
P.S. If you �d like to know what all this is about I �d be more than glad to send you the worksheet in question.
Merry Christmas
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21 Dec 2009
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donapeter
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edit post: I din´t read all the worksheet apparently !!!
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21 Dec 2009
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-eva
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dear Agacica,
I �m so sorry to read this, since I was one of the people who downloaded your ws; I found it suitable for my adult classes, and I �m using it today. I know they �ll love it, and I definitely think it �s not just as esl resource, but a really good one. Definitely the idea of turning those forum posts into something funny and original for the classroom is entirely yours.
I can only say thanks once more and... well done!!
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21 Dec 2009
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manonski (f)
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Hi!
While I agree that it �s a teacher �s decision to chose if they want to use it or not depending on the age of the students, I have to tell you that even at 16-17, I would never use the worksheet as it was uploaded. I loved the idea of Santa replying to letters but the language was too much for me. It has nothing to do against you, it was against a printable. Slang words, I can teach, vulgarities, I �ll never go there. I am an educator and the puck has to stop somewhere for me and I draw the line there. If that makes me oversensitive, I �ll gladly take the label and I �ll be proud to take it.
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21 Dec 2009
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zoemorosini
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Dear Agacica:
You said:
"The
question of whether my WS is rude or not, appropriate or not should be
a (person �s) choice...That �s why I believe the decision of removing
my WS was unfair and if someone doesn �t like pictures with (...), he
or she can simply NOT download it..."
Contrary
to some people �s beliefs, this is NOT a democratic site. VICTOR is
the one who �ll ultimately decide what stays and what goes. Luckily
for us, he listens to what most of us have to say.
Your arguments above are often used to defend lots of different kinds of offensive material in many different media. It
doesn �t make it acceptable here. IF most of the members think
something is inappropriate, and IF Victor agrees, it will be removed.
I agree with this system.
In
my humble opinion, one must be very careful when including questionable
content in something given to underage students. Parents might
question a teacher�s qualifications and common sense, and they would be
right to. I could be wrong, but I believe the vast majority of members
here teach students under 18.
If
one is unhappy, one can start her own site and put whatever she wants
there for people to download as they please. Victor might even allow
you to put a link on eslprintables!
Respectfully, zoemorosini
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21 Dec 2009
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zailda
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@Silke, I agree with you and manonski that we should have another rule concerning to obscenities, or not specially about it, but an "inappropriate" button would be welcomed, if the member explains exactly why he considers it inappropriate. If the majority agrees, it �ll be removed.
It wouldn �t be necessary if people used common sense not only in the reporting page, but before uploading material here as well. The site is to share your contributions, but if you feel one of yours may hurt or push someone because of concepts (religion, sex, politics, etc) inserted implicitly or explicitly on it, and if you are dealing with a controversial subject that may raise a heat discussion, it �s wiser to keep it for yourself.
If you want to share this kind of material, just post a note on the site forum explaining what your ws consists of and the members who don �t consider it inappropriate for use in class can ask and receive through their emails. Of course you won �t gain any points for it but this small detail in theory wouldn �t make any difference, would it?
By now I suggest people consider the consequences of their acts and remember that besides the sharing, keeping the peace among members is also our priority.
And as zoe has wisely remarked: this is not a democracy, it �s a community owned by Victor and he gave members and moderators the power to decide what fits and what doesn �t, using a feature everyone has (or should use at least once) - common sense.
Have a nice day.
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21 Dec 2009
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ELOJOLIE274
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Hello,
I didn �t download your ws because I had no use for it (I teach 12 to 15 years old) but i �m sorry to hear that it was deleted.
As I said before, it seemed appropriate for adults and therefore it didn �t shock me. It �s up to us to download what we need (and check what we download) and if nobody had needed it, nobody would have downloaded it... and as many people wrote comments, it seems that many people liked it... (I really can �t believe so many people downloaded it without ready it first... and then sent comments... and finally realized they were offended!!!)
I hope you will still keep sending printables, I looked at your work and you seem to have plenty of inspiration and skill to create nice ws!!!
Happy holidays, whether or not we believe in Santa 
Elodie
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21 Dec 2009
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zailda
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We have 30 free downloads a day and if we read the whole ws in the preview page before downloading it �ll be time-consuming. In my opinion people take it for granted that when a ws has a considerable number of downloads, it is really good; if they go there and read a bunch of enthusiastic comments, they assume it is, so they download and leave a comment before reading.
I �m not talking specifically about this ws quality or value, as I confessed yesterday, I was puzzled by this one. But I agree with zoe that the majority can decide if a ws is appropriate or not.
And I want to remember that we also have some students as members here, and would it be appropriate if they had access to this kind of material? If their parents asked: "where did you get this?" and the answer were: "ESL Printables", what kind of site would their parents think ESL is?
We are here to share and keep peace, but also to preserve ESL Printables public image.
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21 Dec 2009
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alien boy
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As a site, with rules, I believe the worksheet may have been valid if the exercise included actually justified the language/topic in question. (I�m sure I made this observation in my post in the other thread). So it really depends on the additional work this member put into the upload as to whether it was an ESL Resource or not. Not having seen it, I can�t properly judge with a definite opinion. Nor am I a moderator, so I don�t get to vote anyway!
As far as membership of this site goes, it is for teachers & not students (& this subject has been covered several times in discussion, as well as being part of the description of this site as
the website where English Language teachers exchange resources
However, I must also say (& Victor has stated his thoughts on this in the past) that the moderator voting is a democratic system. If they vote something should stay or go, that�s a judgement that he trusts & members should abide by the decision. It�s not perfect, but neither is any system!
With regard to the origin of the �jokes�... they can be found on a lot of sites (just google a couple of lines & you�ll see what I mean).
Again, without seeing the �exercise� I can�t form an opinion as to the �ESL Resourceness� of this particular item. The content makes it dubious... but more information is required.
Regards
AB
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21 Dec 2009
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zailda
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Alen Boy, the site is for teachers but I �ve seen some profiles whose member describes himself as a student. We even have (or had) a 12-year-old student who became a moderator but her wss were deleted as copies. To have a profile here you only have to register, no proof you are a teacher is required.
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21 Dec 2009
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alien boy
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I �m aware of that Zailda & have taken part in a couple of discussions related to that.
but...
as stated this is a site for teachers. As a teacher I believe that controversial topics are also part of teaching if the students are at an appropriate level of maturity, have the language capacity/fluency & the interest &/or professional/academic involvement in an area. Resources should be clearly marked as being possibly offensive/problematic for teachers but they should still be available. Not everyone here teaches children or teens. I teach several adults from quite a range of backgrounds, so we cover some quite controversial things at times. It is up to the teacher who uploads an item to ensure that their treatment of a topic is such that it is not libelous, racist or extremist in nature but presents a balanced & well reasoned examination of the topic in question... after all, what is teaching about? Getting your students to think, not just parrot information!
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21 Dec 2009
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