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ESL forum >
Message board > Moderation
Moderation
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zailda
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Moderation
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Moderators are to vote the reported wss and check if the reporting is correct. It �s not a fun job but most of us do it because we feel it �s the best for the site. We spend some hours every week (I �m not a diligent moderator and imagine how many hours some of us spend there) trying to do our job, and sometimes it �s a trick task to find out how to vote, thinking about fairness and consistence, always having ethics in mind.
We are unfairly accused of being judges, being unfair and making mistakes. Sometimes we do, and it �s part of the process. But most of times the moderators � work is very good in preventing the site of turning into another site as millions of others. This site is very special and we want it to continue this way. Every vote is a vote for the site and not against any members.
The new contributors have to follow the rules as the old ones do, the rules are clear enough for me and for the majority of the moderators. Besides voting we also give advice and PM some new members who upload inappropriate work.
Since everyone here is able to read and understand English and the rules appear clearly (and with examples, wisely provided by Victor), I don �t understand why a few moderators insist on telling us it �s unfair to vote for deleting wss we think are not uploaded according to the rules.
In my opinion every moderator has the right of voting according to what s/he feels is the more appropriate for the circumstance and others have the right to think differently, so they vote according to what they think. The majority of votes will decide the reported ws destiny, and if for any reason a mistake is made, Victor can correct it.
But I think is unacceptable that someone judges my work, trying to tell me what I should vote or not, or criticizing the way I (and other members) think. Giving our opinion is part of our job, but criticizing isn �t.
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27 Jun 2009
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manonski (f)
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I believe you are referring to bilingual printables and the comments that are written among moderators.
When we upload a printable, it says that "Your contributions must be in English Language." It �s true it does not say "completely unilingual". Personally I vote for removal of bilingual printables, no matter whose they are because of the red line. I don �t believe that bilingual sheets have their place on this site.
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27 Jun 2009
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zailda
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I agree with you, manonski and vote for the removal. This is an ESL site, so we have to upload here wss for the second language and not the first. If everyone is allowed to upload bilingual wss, this site will turn into a mess with Portuguese, Spanish, Greek... We speak many languages as our mother tongue, the only language we have in common is English and this is the language we �re here to share.
For me it �s clear enough. If I put a poster on the classroom wall "You must speak English here" my ss understand clearly that they have to avoid Portuguese and they don �t speak Portuguese in class. When I uploaded first time and read the instruction "Your contribution must be in English Language" I realized that I would only find English resources here and that I wouldn �t have to delete half a ws before using it. I don �t think that a list with translation into another language has a place here, since I guess everyone has a dictionary at home.
Most of us spend lots of time creating wss to fit the site rules and the unfair thing would be to let people get away with uploading wss that don �t fit the rules, and not to vote for the removal of them.
I want to clarify that I �m not the only moderator with this opinion. When asked about it, Victor said that when there isn �t a rule about something, moderators have to vote according to common sense. It �s not the case, since the rule exists and appears for everyone before every upload pushing button.
Thanks for the support.
Have a nice weekend
Zailda Coirano
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27 Jun 2009
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GIOVANNI
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I also share the same opinion. If everyone was to submit worksheets in their own language it would be chaotic. This site is an English Language site and I believe it should be left that way. |
27 Jun 2009
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Anna P
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Zailda, you are absolutely correct. Your words are wise and rational, so unlike the antagonistic tone used by some members as they defend their point of view. I believe that "every vote is a vote for the site and not against any members" should become the moderator �s motto. We should all keep it in mind as we analyse each case.
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27 Jun 2009
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manonski (f)
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However, it seems to be unclear that it means "unilingual" (or not). For the sake of putting an end to all these arguments maybe it should be cleared up and written down.
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27 Jun 2009
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zailda
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Anna P, you �re absolutely right. And we can �t see whose ws is it when voting. Sometimes this fact leads to errors, like today when vanda �s ws was reported as a copy of her own work but the ws was hers in fact, and not uploaded by other member.
Moderators can �t even see the member behind the ws, so we vote only the ws and not the person. We don �t want to make anyone lose their points unfairly - but I want to emphasize that this is not a matter of points. The members as individuals and the points they get or lose with a ws are not being judged at the reporting page. In fact, nothing is there to be judged, we only comment with our opinion and other moderator may take our comment as a guide - or not.
I was accused today of being "more realistic than the king" but I always had this habit: if I have to do it, I �ll do it the right way, and the best as I can. Perfectionist? Maybe. But I �m not lenient with me either, so I take this seriously and try to be as minuscious as it �s possible. Is it to be more realistic than the king? I don �t know, or maybe the king must be more realistic next time.
Have a nice weekend.
Zailda Coirano
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27 Jun 2009
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johanne23232
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I want to reinforce your opinions, Manon and Zailda.....I am not a moderator (I �ve been on sabbatical this year and therefore I haven �t been creating much new work) but I appreciate and admire the work of the moderators who help keep this site so wonderful.
I totally support the removal of bilingual worksheets! I have frequently downloaded wss only to discover that they are filled with translations in a foreign language........and the time and effort required to readapt the work to my own needs is never worth the effort. Imagine if I were to start uploading worksheets with Hebrew translations, or French...(my mothertongue). !!!
I have suggested in the past that IF Victor deemed it a good idea to have such bilingual work on ESL Printables, then there should be a special category set up for it (perhaps in a different section of the site altogether), where such work would be clearly labeled ("SPANISH", "PORTUGUESE" etc....)
That would , however, mean a lot more work for Victor and the moderators.......and in my opinion totally unnecessary.
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27 Jun 2009
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eng789
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I think people can leave room on the wss for adding translation. Then everyone can use them and the kids become more active learners because they aren �t being spoon fed everything.
Obviously there is absolutely no reason for a ws to be completely in L1 and there seems to be a lot of them coming up.
Have a great weekend everyone.
hugs |
27 Jun 2009
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David Lisgo
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Thank you Zailda for bringing back this difficult topic to the forum.
Even though I had the necessary points, I had no intention of becoming a moderator. It was only after I reported my first worksheet and found myself in the firing line that I decided to take up my privileges and responsibilities as a moderator, because I thought it no use complaining from the sidelines and that if I wanted to improve this site then the rightful way was through exercising my voting rights and being an active moderator. I have doubtless made some mistakes and some stupid comments, but I �m learning and will hopefully get better at what I do.
To the crux of the matter: "Your contributions must be in English Language." (We see this every time before uploading a document.) I don �t think it appears in the rules which we agree to when first joining ESLPrintables, so I would like to see this omission taken care of.
For me "Your contributions must be in English language.", means exactly what it says. It doesn �t mean "Your contributions must be in mainly the English language." as many people seem to think. I say many people because a lot of worksheets are reported because they are written in English and another language. As other people have pointed out, it would be very difficult to moderate bilingual or multilingual worksheets. I couldn �t navigate my way around web sites in languages other than English, so it would be very difficult to confirm whether or not a certain worksheet has been stolen.
"But I think is unacceptable that someone judges my work, trying to tell me what I should vote or not, or criticizing the way I (and other members) think. Giving our opinion is part of our job, but criticizing isn �t." (Zailda)
The nicest of people can become forceful and judgemental when we disagree with something they strongly believe in. I know it �s hard not to take things personally, and I myself don �t take kindly to being pushed, but we have to listen to what others are saying, make our considered decisions and vote accordingly. Sometimes I just want to press the "agree" or "disagree" button and get out of it, but often I have this irresistible urge to say my own piece. I believe I benefit greatly from the dialogues which take place in the "reported contributions" section.
I think it would be wonderful if someone were able to set up a similar web site to ESLPrintables for English-Spanish worksheets or English-Portuguese worksheets or English-Arabic worksheets etc etc. Perhaps such web sites already exist and if they do then recommend them from time to time. But changing ESLPrintables to accommodate all these bilingual materials could greatly increase, without necessarily adding to the quality, the amount of worksheets being uploaded. It would also make it far more difficult for downloaders to choose suitable materials for their own classrooms and students.
Regards,
David
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27 Jun 2009
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mena22
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Thanks Zailda for your post. Last night I thought of writing about this issue, but I was too tired.
The thing is that just like you I don �t like being wrongly accused of "exaggerating and abusing [my] rights as a moderator" and I also vote according to the rules, simply because I believe, as I have stated so many times before, that this way we are treating everybody in the same way. If this is being "more realistic than the King", then I absolutely agree with you... "the king must be more realistic next time."
Like you said, the rule exists. When we upload a worksheet we can read - Your contributions must be in English Language. So, why has the reported contributions page become a battle field again ? It seems that some people believe that victor �s rule is being misinterpreted - it must be in English language, they agree, but nothing is said about adding another language if we find it convenient or pedagogically correct, as it has been said.
The way I see it, the rule is clear. "Must" is a strong verb, so we really have to upload our work in English. I don �t find it appropriate to upload a worksheet in which every English sentence is translated in another language. I �m sorry, but this is an ESL site.
The only situation that in my opinion could be accepted is to add a billingual version at the end of the worksheet, which could be easily deleted, without requiring any other ajustments.
I would really like to hear more opinions on this.
Have a nice weekend.
mena
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27 Jun 2009
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