Mom Is Teaching

Ok, enough with the prolonging and introducing you to what I am going to talk about next.  The time is now…. it will probably take several posts but I’m ready to read the rest of my book, The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, and take some action, but as I said before, I want it to be fresh in my mind.

One thing that caught my attention and a few people mentioned in comments is the beauty of a small school.  I attended a really small elementary and junior high school.  Normally there were between 15 and 18 students in my class, I loved it.  There was one class of each grade and at one point, a couple of grades were combined to maximize teachers. 

I would love my children to have that opportunity, however, even right here where I grew up, small schools like that simply can’t make it.  And, so they close and other schools get the overflow even when their building and equipment aren’t prepared to handle. 

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There’s a quote in the book, TCAH, that reads almost like a quote I received from a friend who is a reading coach.  This is it, and this should be the end of it…but it isn’t…

“Homework is designed to reinforce the concepts taught in school, not manipulate people’s schedules.”

Enter problem:  teachers lose track of that train of thought and people’s schedules are messed up and kids free time is wasted, sorry to be so blunt, but it is the truth.

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This is the part that every parent needs to commit to memory (you know, like homework, haha, I crack  myself up),

“As LeTendre wrote in his 2007 report, A Nation Spins Its Wheels:  The Role of Homework and National Homework Policies in National Student Achievement Levels in Math and Science, “when schools are effective, students gain little from doing more homework.”"

Therefore, it would be safe to say, maybe someone somewhere (especially in the realm of education in my world), that possibly some schools feel that what they do during the day is inadequate and thus homework becomes necessary to finish what they should have handled during the day.

End of sentence.  End of thought.  End of it.  Period.

And…I know, I said end of it but …..another thought goes like this, “do teachers actually grade all that work?”  Of course not, so why keep assigning it? 

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I have repeated this next sentence over and over and obviously other folks out there feel the same,

“Few people over forty can even remember their parents asking them if they had homework, let alone supervising their assignments.  And, doing work for your child - a common practice today - was unheard of.  Partly, this was because homework was seen as the child’s job and the amounts were so manageable that it could stay that way.”

I honestly felt that my parents viewed school work in that very manner.  And I hear parents all the time talking about doing their child’s homework for them.  I want to eat their head off, I mean gently tell them what a mistake their are making.

So, in case you got lost in all the mumbo jumbo from waaaay back when I first started reading The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish (which was sometime around…oh September 3rd), the approach I chose was to read the first half of the book Fried Brains and Frayed Tempers, and comment here on different parts of the book that I found interesting or that I had something I thought might add to the thoughts already out there. 

At the time, I was going to get those posts written fairly quickly and then I was going to read the second half of the book, Ending Homework Hell.  And, of course, I will have much to say there as well.  But, I got sidetracked because I was also reading 2 other books and trying to maintain seven or is it eight blogs.

Anyway, as I sit in my living room listening to the sounds around me, one kid snoring in one direction, an adult snoring in the other and crickets going crazy outside along with an occasional hot rod headed in one direction or another, I try to concentrate.  I’m ready to get moving, just so far behind from this week’s lack of work on my part.

The Mono thing coupled with a change in anti-depressant kept me down all week.  I slept approximately 18 to 20 hours a day 3 days about 15 the other days since Sunday.  I am better today but tomorrow brings a lot of work as we try to finish our deck.  We are planning to finish laminating the living area floor (we only did half of it way back when, long story) but we are going to pain the room first.  So, anyway, it won’t be long before I’m ready to read the second half and then….

then….I’m going to be seeking advice on how to make my moves and to make them in the right direction.  Bear with me here, it’s been a long sickly summer and I’m ready to make strides toward somewhere else.

Keep reading, it’s coming…..

Many of you know how I feel about homework and if you don’t, you can read about it here.  And, since the subject came up this week with a meltdown from Walker regarding his homework, most of you read the letter I sent to school as well.  I explained what the assistant principal had to say in the matter and now, I want you to know our newly adopted philosophy on homework in our house.  So, here goes…like it, dislike it, whatever, here it is…

*side note*  I want to interrupt here and say this, I am terrified of alienating the teachers at my son’s schools just as much as I am the administrators.  However, I’m not scared enough to let them ruin my son’s childhood.  Respect is a huge issue and as long as they respect my manner of handling “homework”, I will do my best to respect their way of handling “instructional time” during the school day.

So, here’s a copy of an email I sent to someone simply stating how we will approach homework from this point forward.

“At first,  he would come home excited about reviewing his work and showing me what he had learned.  That night and the next night were disasters but then last night he wanted to show me again. 

I don’t mind  homework at all as long as my kid is saying, just because he wants to and not because someone has told me it is “homework”. 

It isn’t really homework in my opinion if he approaches it like that.  So, that’s our general rule from here on out, we talk to him about what the teacher “thinks” he needs to review and then we do the parts that he wants and is excited about. 

Nothing more - if he wants to read, or do sounds or have me read to him, that’s what we are doing.  I just spoke to the Assistant Principal yesterday and she wasn’t thrilled with my approach but …all I can say is …too bad, he is my kid, I think he is way ahead of most and I’m ok with our plan for now. 

If the time comes that we have to change things or make further arrangements with the school, then we will do that when the time comes.  Right now my 3 year old is also very interested in it and he sits and listens too, but no one tells him that he has to and I’m happy about that, they want to learn, they aren’t forced to cram stuff in their head just for memory sake.”

I think that the part in bold “they want to learn’” is absolutely the most important part and I truly believe that all the homework that folks are throwing out there is exactly the reason why our children are turned off in the first place.  So, as long as we are having fun learning, I’m happy with that. 

Discuss please.

I’m working hard at getting Strudel the gift certificate for Amazon.comm out but Amazon is not cooperating.  Earlier I thought it was my problem and so I kept trying different payment methods over and over.  it wouldn’t take them for the life of me.  So, I figured, what the heck, I’ll buy something and see if it takes my cards for that. 

Lo and behold, yes, I bought a couple of books and just like magic, their ability to take my payment was working.  So, I went back to pay for the gift certificate and…guess what..no I’m not kidding, the darn thing didn’t work.  So, now I’m in limbo with the email people and blah blah blah.  I am so sorry Strudel.  Next time I’ll just buy the darn thing and email the winner the code.  So messed up, ack.

What did I buy though, I know I heard someone ask.  I bought two books, one which I’m sure won’t interest you in the least, just a little instructional book on WordPress and it was pretty silly of me to do because a new one comes out in a couple of months.  But, since I know nothing, I figure I should start with what’s available.  The new stuff I can learn and catch on to as other start using it.

The other book is entitled, Sleep is for the Week.  This book was written by a host of blogger’s that I have read for several years.  Right now they (or some of them, the ones not to have babies very soon anyway) are making their rounds, signing books and meeting and greeting people.  Rita Arens gets the main credit for the book (at least if you look it up, there were so many contributors in the book though, I doubt Rita would take any of the glory) and Stacy Morrison (very much the same for Stacy) for the foreword, but it includes stories from the likes of Amalah, Finslippy, Fussy, Woulda Coulda Shoulda, Mom 101 and more.

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On a real quick note, since I am receiving emails from folks wondering how well my little “note” to school was received…..

Walker’s teacher was out yesterday with a sick baby of her own.  She came in this morning long enough to get the kids some assignments for the substitute.  While she was there, she read my note, (I couldn’t believe it was left untouched yesterday, but she wasn’t there, so that explains it) and then since she was trying to hurry, she asked the Assistant Principal to give me a call about it.

Wait, this was suppose to be the quick version.  So, anyway, I’ll tell the whole story later, for now, just know that the Assistant Principal did call this morning….I’ll elaborate later…

I sure hope I’ve been missed.  No one seems to be commenting much anymore, so I think I shall start back to some thoughts on The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish.  I’ll explain later what’s been happening and how I’m planning to move forward.

First of all, the letter I sent to Walker’s teacher regarding his emotional fall-out over reading that little 4 page, one -sentence per page book.  His teacher was out the morning I wrote the note.  She did come in yesterday long enough to get some work together but had to leave because she has a sick baby at home of her own. 

My note was important enough to her though that she asked the Assistant Principal (AD) to call me.  The AD happens to also work with the reading program in the school, so I was pleased that she took the time to call me. 

Basically she explained that Walker had indeed been using those words and reading that booklet during class at school.  We discussed his site words and the whole concept of sending homework home with a five year old.  She wasn’t pleased with the following statement,

“I am not a big proponent of homework and especially in a child five-years-old.”

She didn’t respond when I repeated it a couple of times, she merely let me know that he was being exposed to the words daily and I was more than welcome to come sit in with him one day.

Because I know this lady, and I trust her judgements thus far.  I’ve known her for quite some time and she has known me all of my life, so there is some repertoire there.  I just hope it is enough to get us through this homework debacle.

I haven’t heard from Walker’s teacher today.  I probably will only get a note in his backpack.  Then, we shall really see what is going on.  Remember, I really like this teacher and I expect nothing but good things from her still.  I won’t bite her until I have reason to, but last night, last night was horrible and I won’t continue with that mess.

Here are a few link that I received from a reader that I thought you  might enjoy:

Family,  Homework, Answers - No Homework Note

Family, Homework, Answers - No Homework, Another Note

Family, Homework, Answers - Homework- Other Things to Do

Family, Homework, Answers - Sleep and Homework

In reference to those three links, I had already written my letter when I received those emails.  Here’s what I tried to accomplish with my letter:

Take the blame off of her by saying, “If you covered this in class and he wasn’t paying attention, please let me know.”

Suggesting that this might be over his head, “He does sound the word but has not managed to string the sounds together and refuses to even try when we return to that page.”

What I did as a decision making parent and I do not wish to be chastised for it anymore than I am blaming this on you if my son has not been paying attention in class came out like this, “Therefore, we quit even trying last night.”

Finally I took my solid stance by point blank saying, “I am not a big proponent of homework and especially in a child five-years-old. I will do as much as I can with letters and sounds, however, anything further; which is stressing my child seems inappropriate.”

Another point that I hope she understands but doesn’t necessarily believe that I am telling her how to do  her job, which I could totally tell her if I needed to, I just think she is way better than that from what I’ve already seen.  I  just didn’t see this coming, she really has shown herself to be on the side of the kid, to be an advocate for children.  But, here’s my thoughts, “New concepts and words need to be learned at school and reinforced at home.”

Again, how expect his education to be carried out, in no uncertain terms, “parents we play a big role in our students education, however, at this point, his learning needs to be confined to his classroom and reviewing is the only thing we should be expected to handle at home.”

Once again I gave her the opportunity to say, “Hey, you kid is acting a fool and I can’t do anything with him and that’s why he acts that way with you, by saying, “If he has not explained the situation to me correctly and you did have a lesson on words such as “turtle”, “tent”, “turkey” and “table” then by all means let me know so that I can figure out what the problem is here at home.”

And, as you can see, I left it open for her to call me if she thought I was out of line or I was misinformed by my son.  Post on that coming up next…reader (parent-reader) beware.

Please let me know what you think:

September 24, 2008

Mrs. Smith

Walker and I tried to do this reading last night. The four-page booklet entitled “Tam” contains a few words that appear to be new to Walker. If you covered this in class and he wasn’t paying attention, please let me know. However, at this time, he absolutely stands firm that he doesn’t know some of the words in he book.

All of our attempts of reading this story resulted in tears as he refused to try to sound out words. Even if I told him the word and we continue on, once we started the story over, he doesn’t know the world when he returns to that page. One of the words happens to be “turkey”.

He does sound the word but has not managed to string the sounds together and refuses to even try when we return to that page. By this time, he is crying and shaking because he cannot do the reading assignment. Each and every time he is asked to sound the world out on his own, he returns to tears. Therefore, we quit even trying last night.

I am not a big proponent of homework and especially in a child five-years-old. I will do as much as I can with letters and sounds, however, anything further; which is stressing my child seems inappropriate.

I’m sorry that I am explaining this situation in this manner instead of face to face, but at the present moment, I cannot come inside and speak with you today.

Please understand that it is my opinion that new words need be learned at school prior to those words coming home for us to practice. It is a constant battle for us, as I assume it is with most students, for a parent to teach their child new words. New concepts and words need to be learned at school and reinforced at home.

Walker eventually got to the point of crying hysterically and saying that he did into know the word even when sounding it out that we quit reading the story. I know that as parents we play a big role in our students education, however, at this point, his learning needs to be confined to his classroom and reviewing is the only thing we should be expected to handle at home.

If he has not explained the situation to me correctly and you did have a lesson on words such as “turtle”, “tent”, “turkey” and “table” then by all means let me know so that I can figure out what the problem is here at home. He basically refused to even attempt these worlds by simply stating that “he didn’t know them yet.” And, any explanations or prodding to sound the word out was met with hysterical tears.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding this matter, so please, take a minute today and let me know what your expectations are. If you would like for me to come inside this afternoon at pick-up, please give me a call and we can discuss this further. I can be reached at XXX/XXX.XXXX

Sincerely,

Jerri Ann

Discuss.

If you remember, Dr. Sanford Aranoff left a comment back on my post entitled “Homework and Comments”.  He left a book recommendation that I looked up on Amazon but the description didn’t lend itself to the topic of “homework” in particular so I passed on buying and reading it.  I did contact Dr. Aranoff and explain as much.  I received the following comment on that old post, I’m putting it here because the post is so old it might be missed otherwise.

“There are several parts of Teaching and Helping Students” dealing with homework. Here are some quotes:
Feelings are very important in mathematics and science. When I go to a seminar, I often hear statements like “I do not feel good about this,” or ”I feel good about this.” You too should examine your feelings during class and when doing homework. I am really so confused about what this means, so I’m not commenting otherwise”.

There are entire sections devoted to homework. E.g., classroom management has a section on homework. Here are some quotes: (Whoa, classroom management and homework are not synonyms…classroom management does not equal homework, sorry)

It is important to give homework, because then they have to review the material.  (Review the material does not equal homework, review the material equals study time.)

Homework is practice in applying the math concepts and learning how to think clearly about the math. It must also be exercises in how to do math, namely, to write neatly, to clearly state the assumptions and reasoning, and to check the work. (Math exercise includes writing neatly? (I fully believe that if a child does not know how to do the math, he/she won’t know how to do it after doing 50 math problems at home at night or even 5.  And, if they don’t know how to do it, then it needs to be covered at school.  With that, if the child/person knows how to do the exercise, then they know how and 5 or 50 problems doesn’t make a lot of difference.  Class time is best for exercising so that someone (namely a teacher) is there to assist.)

Homework can be viewed as public work. We like to keep tests private, out of respect for the students, but this is not the case for homework. The goal is the effort, the correct understanding of the mathematics, and the proper approach. The activities of one student, successes and failures, can be shown as examples to enhance the learning of all.  (No, you are not using my child’s failures to teach someone, sorry.)

It is good if students collaborate (as long as they simply do not copy from each other) doing homework. It is good if they teach each other. This should be encouraged. Collaboration is not acceptable on tests, of course, most of the time, although there may be exceptions. (You say, and I quote, “it is good if they (as in students) teach each other”….whoa, it is the teacher’s responsibility to teach…not the students…who is trained to teach here????? Whoa is all I’m gonna say, just WHOA!)

The homework review in the class can be utilized as encouragement for working together, by discussing aloud with the students nearby work that was very good or contained errors.” 

My dissection of this reply is in red and so I am still not convinced that he and I are working on the same page. 

What do you think?

Ok, I’ve been pretty verbal this week, I’m thinking I should close my trap but I can’t wait to read your comments.

The following is the same contest questions answered by my cousin who doesn’t do herself justice in some of these questions.  Her answers are in blue and my comments are in red.  Some of my comments come from prodding her for more information.

1.  Where were you educated?

Public Schools… All small town schools where you know or know of everyone you are going to school with.

2.  Regardless of where, who did the majority

of the teaching?

Elementary and High School majority were sports team coaches and various teachers there for a paycheck, and if they stumbled upon teaching you something, that was a plus(not all , but most)…

Unfortunately this is way to common, the sports team coaches section.

Community College- various teachers, very highly skilled and interested in what they were teaching…

Community College specifically to get a license in PT, very interested in not only the paycheck but the quality of teaching and knowledge she may be passing on to others.

3.  Were you a good student?

I would think so.. held a part-time job in HS while taking advanced courses, volunteer work, president of multiple student-organizations… in college, members of many student organizations while working full-time in management in local retail store

She was a very good student, she was class president all four years of high school.  Didn’t go out on Friday and Saturday nights because she stayed home to study until her Senior year.

4.  Was one type of school chosen over another

for a particular reason?

HS= location and my father went to school there, I was able to ride the bus both to and from school so that my mother and father were both able to work instead of taking me to and from school…

This is exactly the answer that 99% of the children in my area would give to this question.

college= Community College for basics was just location to my home and job and fully paid scholarship

Again, this is the answer from most of the students in this college, a big majority are on scholarship or are there because they live within driving distance.  My cousin had offers from four year schools all over the place but because of her desire to be a physical therapist, she chose the other route.

Community College to get PT license - offered ability to achieve my degree quickly and still work at my current job in the afternoons. I had also heard it was a great school and that the programs and their instructors were excellent.

5.  Will you educate your children in the same

way?

Isn’t that what all small-town parents do? More than likely, my children will be educated in a public school closest to whatever location I settled down in.. although right now, no local schools, due to lack of security measures and increase in drug use on school property, fit  my standards for my kids to attend… due to convenience though, they will probably be public-school educated.

Notice she thinks this question is silly, how else do people get an education is what she said to me.  People in our area simply do not homeschool unless their is a problem and then you never know too much about it.

Also she has been in our local high schools in the last 3 years and she deems them unsafe for her children but safe enough for herself.  Again, if she saw security and drugs as an issue 3 years ago, can you imagine what it is like now?  And, in small town America at that?

6.  Do you think it was appropriate for you?

I think public school was appropriate for me. I was a quiet child for the most part, and needed interaction with other children to “come out of my shell”. I also don’t think the things that other children (the ‘troublemakers’) “got into” were an obstacle for me- I was never tempted, like some children.. I was also ‘naturally’ smart=more or less, I worked harder to get those things that I didn’t understand than other children did.

7.  How much time (on average) each day

(including Saturday and Sunday) did you put

into school work?

Hard to say.. my mother always made me, as a young child, sit down before I could do anything else and study or do my homework. As I grew older, that habit stuck and I always tended to get everything done before I had ‘fun time’ or anything like that. at times, like the night before a test, or if * had a lot of homework.. I might work from 3:30 until 10 or 11 at night.. with a break for food.. none on sat and worked a few hours to review for tests on Sunday.

I happen to know from her mother that she studied til 11 or 12 every night and then usually four or five hours on Saturday and then a couple of hours on Sunday.  Someone wanna argue that this kid lost her childhood?

That was my schedule until I went to community college where I got my license in Physical Therapy and then everything changed and I worked weekdays and then came home and worked on school stuff until I went to bed at around 12.. and then got up at 5:00 every morning. on weekends, I studied all weekend.

How many 20 year olds do you know with this kind of discipline?

8.  What kind of student were you?  Good,

Average, Above Average, Failing  

Above Average.. 4.0 until PT School and then it dropped to about a 3.95 gpa.

9.  Did you graduate high school? yes

10.  Did you go to college or are you in college

now?

graduated

11.  Do you think your high school education

prepared or is preparing you for college?

I believe that my math courses prepared me for college, and Eng. lit too.. but other than that, I don’t think high school really prepared me for anything. maybe my teachers weren’t dedicated enough to really ‘prepare’ me.

if high school didn’t prepare her for anything…what was it for?

12.  Did you take part in extra-curricular

activities?

My extra-curricular activities were singing with gospel group on weekends and working.. and spending time with friends on weekends in HS.. then college, I had no time for anything but studying in PT School 

13.  Generally speaking, did you enjoy school?

I enjoyed school a lot.. I was a good student and loved learning. I also enjoyed making friends and using it as a social meeting.

14.  What would you change about your

education?

I would change my high school teachers dedication in teaching-.. as far as elementary school and junior high go, I think I would leave it the same.

15.  Regardless of who did your teaching, were

your parents adequately educated to

teach/tutor you?  If yes, why do you think

this?  If not, why not?

I believe that my father was adequately educated to tutor me at home until about…. 6th grade. My father is very smart and always helped me by looking over my homework or helping me with problems I didn’t understand. After 6th grade, we started harder math courses and then my father’s hands were tied.. they were not taught above algebra courses. my mother, on the other hand, would always push the homework stuff to my dad because she felt she couldn’t help me. The only thing she would help with was studying ’study guide’ questions for an upcoming test.

I think this would be the answer for most of the people in my part of the world as well.  Sad, but true.

So, obviously while we here in cyber-land see our pasts differently, this interview came from someone who was in high school just a few years ago.  She makes it plain that studying and doing homework took hours and hours of her life.  Now, someone tell me we don’t have a problem?

1.  Where were you educated? I was educated in the public school system.  However, I must add that I attended the best academic high school in our area for that time period.  I can’t say that this school has maintained these standards though.  However, I had the opportunity to take college-prep classes in grades 9 - 12 which were basically taught on a little higher level as well as the option of taking AP Calculus.  I did take the calculus class but I did not take the exam because I knew I wasn’t prepared for it.

2.  Regardless of where, who did the majority

of the teaching?  I agree with most everyone here that the teachers at the school did the majority of my teaching academics but that my parents were responsible for the manners and morals portion.  However, I was fortunate enough to go to a very small school (normally in the range of 100 kids in 9 grades and about 18 in my grade) and because of this, lots of manners, morals and acceptable behaviors were taught and learned just by the nature of the numbers.

3.  Were you a good student? I was a very good student.  I finished extremely high in my high school class and in elementary school I was always the top of my class.  I never had behavior issues either except the one I’ve already mentioned where I was kissing under the mistletoe in seventh grade.  I didn’t talk in class when the teacher said “no talking”, I didn’t do anything except exactly what the teacher told me to do.  I always did my homework and turned it in on time or early.  I walked the straight and narrow (there’s a joke coming about that later, keep reading)

4.  Was one type of school chosen over another

for a particular reason? The only choice we had was public schools so obviously that’s where I went.  My father was a public school teacher and at the time he would have never considered any other type of education to be an option.  I do think if he were now and could afford for me to attend the only private school available in our area, he would try to go that route.  At the time I went to public school in this area, the schools were decent.  Alabama was still at the bottom of the totem pole as far as other states compared but for our area, public schools were the best options. And, as for high school?  I had three options, no zoning rules or anything here at that time (even now they aren’t enforced).  I chose the high school that sported the best academic reputation.

5.  Will you educate your children in the same

way?  Thus far my children are/will be educated in the public system.  We are fortunate that we live in an area with one of the top elementary schools in the state.  Although many things go on in this school that I don’t agree with (see all my homework posts), for now, it is the best option.  The only private school option is extremely expensive and almost 40 miles one way.  I am open to homeschooling if I find that it is necessary.  I already have my eyes set on a couple of teachers in the grades above my son’s and if for any reason we end up in the room with a certain couple of teachers and I can’t get him moved, we will homeschool without even thinking twice.  When you spend a lot of time in the school building, teachers start to accept you and let their guard down and you see behavior from teachers that you might not see other wise.  I hate to get specific here because I don’t know who is reading, so let me just leave it at that, mmmmkay?

6.  Do you think it was appropriate for you?  It was the only choice and it was very appropriate.  I was a socialite, I loved school, I was begging to learn and in my world that was where you went to learn…and a great benefit of that was socializing.

7.  How much time (on average) each day

(including Saturday and Sunday) did you put

into school work? I would say on average, in the four years, I probably averaged less then 2 hours per night and no more than 2 hours per weekend. I can’t wait until you read my cousin’s answer to this, you will probably be in shock.

8.  What kind of student were you?  Good,

Average, Above Average, Failing  I was definitely an above average student. I finished in top 10% of my class.  But, also consider that my graduating class had over 120 kids in ninth grade but only graduated 87.  Do with that what you want.  I do want to add that as a college student, I was barely average.  I hated it, I was out of my element and I absolutely abhorred it.  Graduate school was much better but mainly because I could do it online.  I hate lectures, hate them.  I’ve always hated them.  My high school teachers didn’t teach “lecture” style and when I got to community college, I already knew that I couldn’t stand it.  It was only better once I got to graduate school and could do my work at my own pace.

9.  Did you graduate high school?  Yes, top 10% of my class.

10.  Did you go to college or are you in college

now?  Yes, I graduated, but I won’t be going back I don’t think, ever.  I have a B.S. in Education and a Masters in Counseling.  I’m done!

11.  Do you think your high school education

prepared or is preparing you for college?  For the most part, it did prepare me for community college.  But, after that, no.  I’ve mentioned this before but for the newbies, I was always a teacher’s pet.  My father was a teacher and well-known.  Teachers gave me the benefit of the doubt with most everything even when I didn’t need or deserve it. Nothing could have prepared me for undergraduate. I hated it and I can’t think of any way that it could have changed to make it better.  I didn’t have that teacher’s pet quality and that might have made some difference but I don’t think so.

12.  Did you take part in extra-curricular

activities?  Yes, you name it, if they let me in, I got in it.  Band, volleyball, softball, Beta Club activities, etc

13.  Generally speaking, did you enjoy school? I loved high school, I’ve already mentioned that.  I hated undergraduate and I love graduate….maybe it was just the time in my life that made those areas what they were and not the education necessarily.

14.  What would you change about your

education? I can’t think of anything that I would have changed about high school.  I really did enjoy it.  Maybe if I had gone to an undergrad school where I lived on campus and had the opportunity to live on campus and socialize, I might have enjoyed it more. 

15.  Regardless of who did your teaching, were

your parents adequately educated to

teach/tutor you?  If yes, why do you think

this?  If not, why not?  I agree whole-heartedly with those who said, “yes but they didn’t have the temperament”.  My mom would have struggled in the higher grades but for the most part, both of them were capable of educating me at home if that had been an option.

The joke about me walking the straight and narrow path???? My mom has been quoted on many occasions as saying, “she was a great kid until she turned 22 and it’s been down hill since then”.  I really was a good kid, but as an adult, whew, I’ve apparently strained everyone’s last nerve.

I’m going to summarize a few of the questions/answers for you.  I’m sure most of you read them but since it was several days ago, I’m going to give you some comparisons.

Obviously, just as I figured, the people who read here are the educated ones, therefore, the answers are a bit skewed and certainly not technical by any means.  But, there are some thoughts to ponder.

As for where people were educated, everyone said public school except one person who answered religious school and one who was schooled half in public school and half at home.  So, obviously when this many people get together and the majority was educated in public schools but the majority also says that they will not educate their own children that way and have chosen to homeschool….we have a serious problem, would you say?

Basically everyone agreed that they were educated by public school teachers but most believed that their parents were capable of handling it.  Several did mention though that their parents didn’t have the temperament even if they had the ability.  I can say that my father was a public school teacher but he did not have the temperament to educate me, his only child.  And, most agreed that their parents did a good job with life skills.  And, many, like myself indicated that although their parents had the ability, they felt like it was a child’s job to go to school and do their own work thus they left them to do just that.

I was most surprised by the people who felt they were a good student but not necessarily for obvious reasons.  For instance, Mary N says, “Grade wise- yes, mostly A’s. Behavior-wise, that’a different story”.

And, just as I suspected, most everyone was educated in a certain manner simply because there were no other options.  I know we’ve come a long way since I graduated.  I’ve mentioned many times before that when I was in school, the only homeschooled students were the ones who were sick or expelled.  But, the majority here says that they are already homeschooling or will homeschool instead of using the public forum.

Everyone graduated high school and most went to college.  And, even a large majority of us finished college.  That’s why I say the little poll is pretty skewed but, that’s ok, we know what we know that we know, right?

I am very surprised to read that basically everyone feels as if they were not prepared for college by their high school.  Some indicated that yes it did but just the basics, some said yes but just not well enough and one person did indicate that the community college system helped a great deal.  I think that would be the case with many people who go to community college.

And, again, surprisingly, most of you didn’t even enjoy high school, that amazes me!  Simply Amazes Me!

Here are just a few thoughts on what we would change:

• that teachers would engage students more
• that it was too rigid,
• that the school offered more options
• that homeschooling would have been an option
• that he/she would have been given the freedom to explore
• that he/she would have been given the ability to explore own interests
• that he/she would have preferred a smaller school

I have 2 more survey’s coming your way, neither are eligible for the contest obviously, but I do think that each relays a lot of information.  Those two sets of answers come from me and from my cousin that I’ve mentioned here before.  I think you will be shocked but as I’ve also mentioned many times before, public school in Alabama is so different than in most parts of the U.S., never mind other places in the world.

So, look for those……

This next scrawl of mine assumes that you guys have either not read the book (The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett Nancy Kalish), are reading the book now or are waiting to win the book in the contest. 

There were places in the book where she took answers from various teachers, parents, students and innocent bystanders and quote them.  It is obvious that they feel much the same I do about these quotes but they were much nicer than I’m going to be.  And, for those of you are thinking about homeschooling but haven’t yet decided, you are teetering on the fence, waiting on something to convince you that one way is better than that the others, this is a section that may send you running to the school to retrieve your children. 

Like I said, the quotes come from the book, but the co-authors were kind in their shock over these answers.  Some relate, some don’t, but either way, they are all shocking in much the same way.

The discussion here is how a teacher comes up with homework assignments.  We’ve already discussed that there is no class in college that teaches you this.  I’m not even going to label the quotes with the person who made the statements, just my true feelings.

1.  “I see how much time it takes the slowest child and the quickest workers, divide that in half, and then assign work that should take from one to two hours.

Pardon me here but what the hell kind of method is that?  That’s how you decide which kid has to sweep and which one has to wash dishes, not how an entire class of kids are affected. ……grrrrrrrrrrrr

2.  I base it on how long it takes my own daughter (who is in the same grad as I teach) to complete her assignmetns in a focused and uninterrupted manner.

And, does this teacher actually believe that these children are being sent home to a focused and uninterrupted place.  In any way possible?  This is nuts, her daughter could be a genius or border line mentally retarded, she doesn’t say but either way, what kind of gauge is that?

3.  I just plain guess.

I would like to say that this is the method that most of my teachers through the years used.

I’m going to leave this one at this point because I had the beauty of small schools where the teachers worked together, they took into consideration church nights and extra-curricular activities and worked our homework around that.  That doesn’t mean it was any better than anything else, it just means that they used the “I just plain guess” method and they tried to take a few of the communities issue into considerations.

Discuss.

I’m not going to pretend that I have any clue what-so-ever how a homeschooling parent would teach that previous lesson.  But, I suspect that the method I mentioned might work really great in that matter.  If I were thrown into homeschooling tomorrow, that’s what I would do.  I would go through the map with the child, discussing a little about each state that we might already know or that we can look up and learn.  That way, the child has a better idea of what a state represents other than just a spot on a map.

And, the parent could help the child go through the labeling process with the student reminding them of the small pieces of information that he/she had just learned about each state.  I see this as beneficial because let’s suppose your child lives in Gainesville Florida.  You are homeschooling and you are to this unit.  You 8- year-old has been begging to go snow skiing.  But when you try to explain to him/her that you can’t actually go snow skiing where you live and it is quite a long way to travel in order to do so. 

As you were labeling your map, you could show your child where grandma and grampa live in Nashville Tennessee and also remind them how long it took the last time you drove to see them.  Remind them of the various bathroom stops and the number of miles traveled, etc.  Then, you could jump to Colorado and show them that in order to snow ski they would need to visit a place such as Denver Colorado.  Look what your child has learned and learned the location of:  state of Florida and capital, state of Tennessee and capital and state of Colorado and capital.  The student is so much more likely to remember this because it relates to something the child is already interested in. 

In a classroom setting the teacher could do this as well, the problem being the number of students and the ability to know their students and their likes and dislikes.

In that example, I would be able to teach my child many states and capitals just be using the knowledge they already have and adding to it.  The knowledge is so much more likely to be retained. 

Fast forward 20 years and this young adult still hasn’t been snow skiing but he has won a free airline round trip to anywhere.  He/she knows exactly where he/she wants to go:  Denver Colorado.  And, because you had the opportunity to teach seasons and such, he/she can plan their trip accordingly since he/she learned at a very young age that driving from his/her home in Gainesville Florida to Denver Colorado would probably ruin his trip.

Lesson learned.  No homework.  Child can then be left with blank maps to work through and a labeled map to check his progress.  Learning so much more than simply regurgitating knowledge back onto a piece of paper. 

Discuss.

I hate to be so serious here all the time, but as I have read the first half of The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish and can’t help but get excited.  And, not necessarily excited like I’m going to a big bash somewhere.

Basically what I am reading now in her book involves projects for middle school children that are sent home.  Some of the ones I see are so complex that the teacher knows when she hands the assignment out that the child simply cannot do it alone. 

There is a particular assignment that I am going to discuss.  I know it is going to get lengthy and I’ll try to keep it short.  But, I have 3 different family views on this project and in my opinion, none of them were completed correctly.  Had this assignment been given to me in the fifth grade (which is when it is being assigned at my son’s school), I would have been in serious trouble.  My parents did not do my homework for me.  Nor did they check to see if it was correct.  And, in most cases they rarely even knew if I had homework.  Here’s the assignment in the best way I know how to explain it.

The assignment is to build an plant or animal cell using a cake or cookies, candies, fruits or any necessary edible food that would make the project more attractive.  The cell had to be 3D cake or cookie.

1.  The first time I was made aware of this project I was teaching at the school where my son attends.  I was teaching for a teacher who was on maternity leave.  It wasn’t a grade or subject related to this project.   I had a cousin in that grade.  The assignment was handed out and at that present time, the mother had left the step-father and was living at her own mothers with only the resources she had from cleaning houses each week. 

The child did not know how to bake a cake, or a cookie.  The child didn’t have enough understanding of how to do the project but she did know she was going to need at least 3 bags of candy (different varieties) and one large pastry besides the cake or cookie.    The total cost for this family who basically had no resources for such projects was over $25.  I happened to have some gummy candy that was old (left from some holiday) so she didn’t even have to buy one of the candies, I gave her those.  This $25 plus a trip to the store (30 miles one way) put this parent in a bind.  Then, the parent cooked the cookie or cake, I can’t remember which one and left the child to her own devices. 

The child did the cookie/cake the best she knew how.  She knew that I would have helped her but by the time they were home that night, my family was in bed.  The weather was bad the next day and she did not go to school (school was eventually dismissed at like 8:30 anyway).  Naturally by the time she made it to school with her project, it was a bit hard and disgusting in the eating department and it didn’t hold a candle to those projects done by the other students.  (Great, now we have an underprivileged kid who is being pushed even further outside of her class because of this one damned assignment).

I was pissed.  Her mother was even more pissed.  Her mother was even pissed because I went to the teacher and explained that the family didn’t have unlimited resources for that kind of project and would she please keep that in mind as she graded the project.  She got a B

2.  Two years later, I own the daycare and one of the girls who works for me has a son in the seventh grade.  (As it turned out,this project was done twice, once in the fifth grade and supposedly with a cookie and again in the seventh grade with a cake).  When the teacher requested to leave work 30 minutes early that day she explained that SHE had to do an animal or plant cell in 3D that night using a cookie and multiple kinds of candy.  Notice she said “she” had to do it.  That was enough to put me on my soapbox.  I fussed at her and 2 other of my teachers for putting up with this behavior.  Her answer to me was this, well the teacher insist that this project be fresh enough for them kids to eat during snack.  And, with all the other homework they had to do, it was impossible for them to do that on the exact night before and get all their other work done.  So, she took it upon herself to get this project done.  She spent $35 on cookie dough, candy, nuts and other accessories, including something to send the darn thing to school in before she ever arrived home to do her son’s project. 

I didn’t see this particular project but this is the woman who painted the Mickey Mouse in my daycare so her talent is endless.  There was no doubt in my mind that this kids project was awesome, yea it, he received an A+

3.  Fast forward to last week, a different son in the seventh grade had the cake project, with the candy and it had to be fresh plus all of his other homework had to be done.  She told us all about how she constructed this cell while her son worked on his other homework.  Even my son’s kindergarten teacher was in shock.  She said that once again, she had sent close to $40 on this one project.  Just as it was time for school to get out, she went and got the project and brought it back for us to see.  Something I’ve omitted in the previous two examples is that the darn thing had to be labeled and the teachers were specific that it was labeled with toothpicks and miniature flags.

When she brought this cake cell back into the kindergarten room, it looked better than the cake we had just served for grandparents day.  She had baked a cake, cutting the edges to make it jagged like a cell.  (She started with a square pan).  She frosted it, she used one of those great big snowball cream cakes and cut it in half for the nucleus and then used about 8 different kinds of candy to finish the project off.  Get this, B+

Here’s the kicker, the same person did the last 2 projects, she got an A+ for one and B+ for the other…hmm does it sound like the grading system was fair?

Give me a break.  You know what this project would have been good for?  A homeschool assignment.  Mom and the child could shop together, learn about money, buying the cheapest ingredients that would do the job, getting it home, time management for getting the project complete (like letting the cake cool) and then decorating it together, letting the student lead but allowing the parent the opportunity to guide.

But as a project like it has been conducted in this public school?  Give me a break.  Why would you have teachers even assign it two years apart.  If you can look at it once and see the kid didn’t do it then, why think they might do it a second time?

Tsk Tsk.

Discus..

I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about abolition of homework all together.  This is most definitely the premises behind the book The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish that I’ve discussed in great detail.   I’m going to go out on a limb here and shoot out an opinion that’s somewhat different.

As long as the definition of homework means that a child is sent home with “work” to do that could be done in class and is not necessarily to reinforce learning, then it is considered non-sense to me and shouldn’t be used.  However, as a college grad, there is one skill that I feel is more than is vital…learning to study.

I spent my high school years with teachers sending homework home with us and declaring it a way to “learn to study” when in indeed, it was just busy work, it didn’t reinforce any skill because most of it I did while I was talking on the phone.  Learning to study is a skill that is different for almost everyone.  Everyone learns differently and everyone learns to retain knowledge differently.

I actually knew friends who would go home, on their own and write their vocabulary words over and over to reinforce them.  They would write sentences with their words because they knew we would have to do that on the test.  They learned from this.  Me, that’s the exact kind of work I did while chatting up someone on the phone thus…I learned nothing from it.

So, if a teacher is willing to spend instructional time teaching a student various methods of learning, then the actual homework that is given reads like this, “study for vocabulary test”.  And, as many of students I’ve talked to say, “I skip those assignments all together”, but the truth of the matter is, these students are also earning extremely high grades, so somewhere down the line, they are spending time studying.

I’m going to give you an example of what I would say is a teacher helping a child learn to study.  You can give me your thoughts on this method in the comments as I’m anxious to see what you have to say, even Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. 

Ok, my example goes like this: 

Instructional Time has been spent discussing the states and capitals of the U.S. and where they are located.  There is a huge map on the wall and the students have access to see it during the day when they have free time.  An empty map is given to the children during class and they have 3 options for filling in the map:  one they can use their textbook and find the answers, they can use the map on the wall and find the answers or they can wait until the teacher goes over the map on the wall and fill in the answers.  The first two ways would make a great in-house assignment but not at home because if the student forgets his/her textbook, what good is the assignment if the child has no resources at home.

One study habit that the teacher puts out there for the students to help them learn is that she also has a blank map on the wall.  The students as a class group or in small group with a student leader (alternating the leader) points to the empty map and the other students try to identify the state and the capital.  Naturally, this can’t be done if the student hasn’t put some time into “studying” before hand. But it makes for great socialization skills and helps the students learn.  You know, the first one to get it right gets to pick the next state.

Sidenote:  One of my junior high teachers who basically never gave homework would work through using his instructional time and then he would do games to help us learn.  One of his games was he would pull down the blank map, split us into two teams and have us compete against one another.  It wasn’t a free for all because he would start with one team, the person in the front seat.  If that person missed it, the other person in the front seat had the opportunity to get the point.  If he/she go it, that team got a point, if not, he went to the second person in the row for an answer.  He would go back and forth so that everyone had to participate but it was somewhat competitive.  He even did this on occasion and instead of breaking us up into teams, he would give you an extra point if you knew the one that he pointed to when it was your turn.  It worked great and rarely even had to take his work home to study.  He had given us every learning opportunity during class plus every opportunity to retain the knowledge.

Another method of studying would be the teacher providing the student with copies of an empty map to take home along with their already “correctly identified map”.  That means that the teacher had to make the effort to check everyone’s map, not just assume that the child did it right because she told them to use the book or the map on the wall.  Many children simply can’t copy straight from a book or it takes them an eternity.  So, the teacher might find that on the final night, giving out a copy of the U.S. map that she has correctly labeled and then giving the students access to blank copies to study from.

Another tip that I think would be beneficial is for the teacher to also leave the map blank, number the states, give a child a copy of the number and state and capital that corresponds and then give the child a copy of the blank map numbered.  And, possibly give them a different one numbered differently.

Now, if a child takes that assignment home, he/she doesn’t need anyone to help them (or shouldn’t and realize I am assuming no learning disabilities here).  They can sit down and use the various methods with which to study.  My reason for loving this method is the child doesn’t have to lug a text book home which is something I always hated and I know many children still do.  Have you ever seen those kids coming out of the building with the back pack weighing them down?

This to me would be one proper way to teach the skills in class, the teacher spending instructional time going over the U.S. map and helping the children label it, giving them opportunities to learn with their peers or alone and finally giving them a study method to employ at home.

My reasoning behind this method is because students have to find their own niche’ for study habits before he/she gets to college and their life would be much easier if it was accomplished before high school. 

Study habits are in - homework is out.

Discuss.