My Passion
Ok, how many of you have read Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish’s book The Case Against Homework? Hands up so I can see them, nice and high!
Now, that passion that they have, that’s exactly the passion that I am about to employ on my son’s school over this idea of using physical education as punishment. Or taking it away as it is. I don’t need, nor does the teachers, principals and other administrators, to be told how important exercise is. I am an over-weight-adult-onset-diabetic sufferer because I hate to exercise. I loved physical education. I have a degree in physical education. I know the nutrition aspects as well as the importance of exercise. I get very offended when I go to the doctor and they try to explain these things to me when they know I am a college educated person with a degree in physical education. They have to know I am simply deaf and not dumb.
Anyway, missing P.E. because of some infraction that occurred in the classroom is about to make me go nuts on some folks. Yes, when I taught physical education, it was tried on me too. I did not allow teachers to withhold students from my class because they misbehaved in the classroom.
Do you think the math teacher would have been happy if I had sent the students to math class but sent a note that read, “I am keeping Susie in from Math today because she was misbehaving in my class, I hope you don’t mind”?
Oh, yea, I can see classroom teachers all over the place rolling their eyes and wishing me to be deaf and dumb. Or thinking that indeed, I may be both. My point is, I fought this fought all the way to the superintendent once as a teacher and I’m ready to fight the fight again as a parent.
For now my son has only missed one 5 minute time out of physical education and one full class of physical education. I blame this on the P.E. teachers because that’s who allows it to happen. It is not my place however to talk to them about this. The teacher knows my position on it and it is going to be with great passion that I go to the administrators of the school with this issue.
I know this leaves the homeschoolers out of the subject a little for now. However, I am curious if you take away your children’s play time for not completing assignments or other infractions? Or is this just a public school phenomenon?
Please, I am very curious and very very upset. Opinions please?
October 29th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Oooh, this is a tough one - as a former ps teacher, current parent, wife of a ps teacher, and homeschooling mom…. ouch.
I do withhold other “classes” from my student when it costs her dearly. She loves going to choir with her friends, but when she spends her time doing things other than she has been asked, I take something away so she knows she can’t do it again.
I agree with you - my 2nd grader didn’t get recess for an entire year because she was very slow at math, and the teacher made them finish math before recess. The problem was that the “punishment” obviously was not motivating enough to get the kid to work any faster.
So for motivating a student who doesn’t want to be motivated -what would you suggest? What can we take away that costs what kids love to get them to do something they don’t?