Petty school rant/whine/complaint

[VandVsmama]

I'm not looking for any advice. Just want to complain. I don't see the point of dumb stuff like this.

Forever and a day since YDD (now in 6th grade) was in kindergarten, her school has required each kid to come to class with a couple of items in a binder that they use for every subject:
- a journal/day planner, in which the kid writes down HW assignment for each subject/class & writes down when tests & quizzes are coming up
- 1 folder to put your HW in. On 1 side of the folder, it's labelled with something like "TURN IN" and the other side labelled with something like "TO DO" or "NOT FINISHED." Kids are encouraged to put their "TURN IN" side in the order that they have classes for the next day...makes it easier to not forget to turn something in.
- your pencil pouch

Every year at the start of the school year, the school issues a new journal/day planner thing for each kid. And every year, they put all this stuff in one binder. So when they trot off to math class, for example, you bring this all-in-1 binder + your math binder. The system works pretty well and is simple and effective.

Up until today. Again, this is petty. But it's annoying. All of the 6th graders were told today that effective immediately, they are no longer allowed to put the above 3 items in 1 binder. So you're ONLY allowed to bring to class:
- your day planner
- your pencil pouch
- the binder for that subject + the binder for the next class (they're allowed to go to their lockers after every other period)

No longer are they allowed to keep the "to be turned in" HW & the new HW handouts given out that day in class in one place. It is ONLY allowed in each binder for each individual subject. Except in each individual class, they've been told that they can't have a tab labelled something simple like "TURN IN" or "TO DO." Only a tab labelled "HW," but that section contains previously turned in & graded HW.

It's not enough that some of the teachers required them to have a specific COLOR of binder for each class. We don't participate in that ridiculousness...I recycle binders each year that still have some life left in them.

So I went to Staples this evening and bought a set of tab dividers for YDD...the kind that have a built in folder pocket. So she labelled those and put one in each subject's binder. I told her to let me know if her teachers give her a hard time with this and I will speak to the administration about it because their new rules are totally dumb.

Thanks for listening to my whine. Cheers!

 

[barkley]

dang, someone at that school likes to micromanage ah for the good old days-just a pee chee folder with some binder paper, a textbook covered in brown paper bag and a (gasp) non mechanical pencil (how did we ever manage to be educated?).

 

[indimom]

I don't think it's petty, it's annoying.
My kids are out of school now, but their school had a new "plan" like this every year from about first to sixth grade. One year it was a 1" binder for each course (in particular colors). One year it was an accordion file (that was a disaster). One year it was a similar system to your old system.
I got tired of buying and the kids got tired of trying to learn/remember new systems/methods of organizing their schoolwork.
Vent away.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Totally with you! It used to drive my DS nuts when they dictated systems. He knew what worked for him, and it was ridiculous to keep changing.

Also, carrying every binder home is not always necessary. - This new system is bad for their backs!

 

[Disneylover99]

So glad there are no binder rules at my children’s schools.

 

[LysieLee]

It's extremely petty, but on their end. Why does it even matter? I don't have kids so I have no idea what 'the norm' is, but this seems a little insane to me. Being that anal about how students organize their own work, and on top of that, changing it half way through the year? No thanks.

When I was in school we could handle our papers, etc however we wanted. As long as our folders didn't have inappropriate images, we just did whatever worked for us individually. But we were also allowed to go to our lockers in between every class too. One year we were given planners, but they were for our convenience and not required. I don't know why this is bothering so much, lol. Just can't wrap my head around it.

 

[Kitty 34]

Gosh I remember the days when we just stuffed all papers (done, not done, graded, whatever) in our textbooks. We didn't even have backpacks to stuff anything in so we just walked around with 3 to four books in our arms. Now those were the days!!

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Are 6th graders still in elementary school where you are? And are 7th graders middle/junior high? (they are here, so this popped into my head)

Could they be starting to work on transitioning them into middle/junior high mindsets? Where it's better to keep classwork separate, based on the class and not what needs to be done?

They did something similar here, dictated by each teacher (since DS was in 3rd and started in this district). What they needed per class was decided by the teacher, except for the planner they received at the beginning of each year. Some years, teachers wanted specific colors in specific types of folders (try finding a 3 prong with 2 pockets in bright orange, green, blue, red, black, yellow and green...for one year!) as the colors made it easier for the younger kids to identify which folder they needed to have out for that class. Some years, it was simply 1" 3 ring binder (or 3" binder, in the case of the English teacher, IDK why so big, it wasn't used very much) in whatever color.

 

[luvsJack]

Is the school dictating the “system” or the grade? When my kids were in school, each set of grade teachers came up with a system for their grade. So it may change every year but stayed that way for the year. And each year the system used pushed the kids to be more and more self reliant on getting stuff turned in, keeping track of stuff, etc. I think the idea was that by the time they hit high school, they would use their own system and stick with it.

My oldest, was careful about getting every thing done and every thing turned in but wasn’t particularly organized. My youngest was very organized and knew exactly where every thing was and when it was due. My middle child was more of a “stuff everything in the backpack and assume it got done and/or turned in”. Guess which one usually had the highest grades!

 

[VandVsmama]

At the school my kids attend, 6th-12th grade is all at the same school, but 6th-8th is considered middle school and they all have lockers & different teachers for each class.

 

[VandVsmama]

The really dumb part of all this nonsense is that the culture at this school is such that everybody is encouraged to express their individuality, that it's ok to be unique. One of the art teachers goes to work several days a week in cosplay clothing complete with different wigs to match the outfits. Another teacher changes her hair color every couple of months. One of the vice principals sports a pretty long-ish beard and for fun sometimes will put girly bows & clips in it. At Christmas, he usually puts Christmas-themed hair decorations in his beard.


If you're into Star Wars while everybody else digs Marvel? You're not ostracized. It's ok. Oh, you're into a totally random form of Japanese anime that hardly anybody has heard of? Totally fine. Let your freak flag fly. Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Hindi, etc...all kids encouraged to openly discuss their religions at school if they want to. LGBTQ? Very supportive. You can be "out" and nobody's going to bully you or make fun of you.

But don't you dare put all of your HW that's due the next day in 1 common folder. We can't have that.

I sent an email to my DD's teachers & the principal last night telling them that as of today (Tuesday), she's going to have an additional folder/binder tab in each subject specifically for HW that's to be turned in and the new HW assignment given out in class that day.

And if they don't like it, they can go pound sand as far as I'm concerned. Next year in 7th grade, they won't care and YDD can go back to using the system that she prefers & is used to. By 8th grade, they let them organize themselves however they want. But for some reason right now in 6th grade, they're super strict about this. Totally unnecessary.

 

[RUDisney]

I remember the days that my teachers wanted 5-subject notebooks for their classes. They told you what to put in each section, as if I didn't know how to organize myself. Grr...

By the second quarter, the 5-subject book was tattered and unfilled. If I had a 1-subject, I could have moved to another without wasting so much paper. But, I would have gotten my grade dinged for not having the supplies that the teachers required.

 

[cabanafrau]

I don't understand the need to email the teachers and the principal? Why would the principal need an email with the information about how your daughter specifically will be organizing her schoolwork?
Seems like your daughter is old enough to speak up to her teachers if they question her and you could get involved from there if it became an issue that merited it.

 

[monsterkitty]

Thoughts from a middle school teacher:

I can somewhat understand the separate binders as most 6th graders just stuff papers in the binder without putting them in the proper section. Often this is a recipe for a binder explosion.

Other than this, nothing else makes sense. Why have a separate homework folder for each class? Now that is a recipe for the lazy kid not to transfer the homework for each folder to a single folder at the end of the day. Or, the kid is going to take home 7 binders each day and lose 3 of them.

I would have your daughter keep one folder for homework and just transfer it to the new set of binders when she makes the switch.

We limit locker access to before period 1, before lunch, after lunch, and at the end of the day. No backpacks or bags allowed in the classrooms so our kids do the single binder. I have students in each class that I will have help others organize their binders so that the binder does not explode. We had a dean a few years ago that mandated how kids set up their binders but we as teachers finally stepped in and told her that her way of organizing a binder does not work for every person. She refused to give up. We refused to let up and we may have run her out the second year of the ridiculousness. It was an expensive method and we teach kids who can't afford a basic binder so the cost fell onto the teachers.

 

[RangerPooh]

With four kids in three schools we see so much variety. My frustration right now is with the middle and high school being electronic. There are no real text books, and what is considered an e-book looks like something that was purchased form Teachers Pay Teachers. There are no examples, no in depth readings for science or history. And the teachers discourage students from looking online for additional information. I'm sorry, but when the so called e-book does not provide sufficient information we're getting it elsewhere.

And on top of the chromebook and ipads that they have to carry they're carrying binders and notebooks. This is year four of this madness and it's madness. Don;t even get me started on the teachers telling me to 'look in Schoology' for the answer. Nope, this mom wants real paper handouts or email attachments.

 

[DopeyDame]

At our kids' school the 5th and 6th grade teachers are really big on explicitly teaching "executive function" and a lot of that includes dictating how they need to organize things, so it's easier for the teacher to say "don't forget to put your widget in the puce folder and your whatsit in the orange binger and your wahoo in the bin in the back" or whatever.
So could this actually be part of their curriculum this year? It's a lousy time to change things though - if they wanted to teach them new skills, they should have started at the beginning of the year and actually told the kids why they were doing things.

 

[luvsJack]

With four kids in three schools we see so much variety. My frustration right now is with the middle and high school being electronic. There are no real text books, and what is considered an e-book looks like something that was purchased form Teachers Pay Teachers. There are no examples, no in depth readings for science or history. And the teachers discourage students from looking online for additional information. I'm sorry, but when the so called e-book does not provide sufficient information we're getting it elsewhere.

And on top of the chromebook and ipads that they have to carry they're carrying binders and notebooks. This is year four of this madness and it's madness. Don;t even get me started on the teachers telling me to 'look in Schoology' for the answer. Nope, this mom wants real paper handouts or email attachments.

Get ready for college to be that way too. Our students have e books for all academics. Technical classes have a mixture of text books and e books.

All communication is done through the student portal. Whether it’s financial aid, admissions, grades, homework assignments, messages from the instructor, it’s all there.

I still have students that ask if we will call them when we receive their transcript or their financial aid is complete. Uhmmm, no. Check the portal.

 

[RangerPooh]

Get ready for college to be that way too. Our students have e books for all academics. Technical classes have a mixture of text books and e books.

All communication is done through the student portal. Whether it’s financial aid, admissions, grades, homework assignments, messages from the instructor, it’s all there.

I still have students that ask if we will call them when we receive their transcript or their financial aid is complete. Uhmmm, no. Check the portal.

I know this very well, I work in student services at a large university. I hear it all the time form students complaining. Heck, I even ask my students if they checked their portal/blackboard/etc to locate xyz? When I worked as an academic advisor I was showing students how to navigate their portals daily, as well as fielding questions on where to find resources. You'd think that new student registration/orientation would cover that or at least a website with sufficient information...

I'm fine with e-books and the like when they are good resources, but what our middle schooler and high schooler have is not. They are incomplete and often incorrect. There have been multiple assignments that I have assisted my kids on where I sent the teacher an email with snapshots showing incorrect information given in the text as well as assignment. Plus as a parent trying to log into 4 different accounts in two different districts is a real pill. Especially since the log in information changes annually, and trying to get a hold of it is not as easy as it should be. I've come to appreciate the multiple Remind texts that I receive weekly

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think the level of rigidness is a bit much. However, I know when I was in school they did try to do things that would help us transition from school to school.

Even with more grades in one school that could be the end goal...though no need IMO to make it go that far.

Growing up K-6 was elementary school, 7-8th was middle school and 9-12th was high school. It was a small elementary school with only 2 teachers per grade. In 6th grade we had a trapper keeper and our math and english scheduled time in the day were randomly chosen between the 2 teachers so we would be able to get ready to switch teachers for each subject that would happen in middle school. It honestly helped because whichever teacher you got for math and english might have different rules than the other, plus you may have the opportunity to get up and walk to the other classroom.

Maybe it would help if they explained why they need to have things this way because otherwise it's just way too much micromanaging at that point.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

With four kids in three schools we see so much variety. My frustration right now is with the middle and high school being electronic. There are no real text books, and what is considered an e-book looks like something that was purchased form Teachers Pay Teachers. There are no examples, no in depth readings for science or history. And the teachers discourage students from looking online for additional information. I'm sorry, but when the so called e-book does not provide sufficient information we're getting it elsewhere.

And on top of the chromebook and ipads that they have to carry they're carrying binders and notebooks. This is year four of this madness and it's madness. Don;t even get me started on the teachers telling me to 'look in Schoology' for the answer. Nope, this mom wants real paper handouts or email attachments.

My aunt was a second grade teacher (she retired at the end of this past school year after 40+yrs) and her 2nd graders had iPads. I believe it was 4th grade when the iPads would go home with the kids rather than being stored at the school.

I'm all for electronic communication but I thought that was a bit early for that kind.

I do think most of the paper stuff is bygone era if nothing else than waste and cost concerns and time spent. Obviously iPads, laptops, etc cost $$$ but printing on a gran scale probably does too and I'm assuming the school district can just buy the electronic license for a textbook and be done rather than worry about replacing more and more. And when things get updated from edition to edition it's probably easier to do that. Plus I feel more parents want quicker and easier access to things pertaining to their students.

That doesn't mean I think it's always a good thing for e-textbooks. If it's as you describe that's not exactly an encompassing learning material.