What exactly does that have to do with English Language Arts?

[luvmy3]

My dd just started Jr. High this year, every year a particular "team" has a blood drive with the goal to get more volunteers than the previous year's team. Its a great cause, and I'm all for the students doing what they can to get friends and family to donate blood. However, I have a real issue when a graded homework assignment is to ask at least 10 volunteers. At first this was not homework, dd came home last week and asked me and dh but was not comfortable going door to door asking people to donate (who can really blame her) and everyone else she would have asked has a child on her team or knows 10 other kids on the team, and we do not have any family in the area. I didn't think too much of it, she went in with her form. Well apparently they didn't get enough volunteers so now they have to ask 10 more people and its a graded homework assignment. WTH
I told her fine, put down 10 of your family members and put down "no" for will you donate and she said her teacher said that they could just write someone's name in without asking but they would be left looking at themselves in the mirror knowing they could have helped someone
She said one kid said "uuh, my mom is not going to be happy about this", and my dd said "yours isn't the only one"
I'm still debating on whether or not to let her write in names, or just hand it in with me and dh on there and see what kind of grade she gets.
Have you heard of such a thing?

 

[Ceila]

My dd just started Jr. High this year, every year a particular "team" has a blood drive with the goal to get more volunteers than the previous year's team. Its a great cause, and I'm all for the students doing what they can to get friends and family to donate blood. However, I have a real issue when a graded homework assignment is to ask at least 10 volunteers. At first this was not homework, dd came home last week and asked me and dh but was not comfortable going door to door asking people to donate (who can really blame her) and everyone else she would have asked has a child on her team or knows 10 other kids on the team, and we do not have any family in the area. I didn't think too much of it, she went in with her form. Well apparently they didn't get enough volunteers so now they have to ask 10 more people and its a graded homework assignment. WTH
I told her fine, put down 10 of your family members and put down "no" for will you donate and she said her teacher said that they could just write someone's name in without asking but they would be left looking at themselves in the mirror knowing they could have helped someone
She said one kid said "uuh, my mom is not going to be happy about this", and my dd said "yours isn't the only one"
I'm still debating on whether or not to let her write in names, or just hand it in with me and dh on there and see what kind of grade she gets.
Have you heard of such a thing?

No grade should ever, ever be assigned for soliciting people! I'm all for volunteering, but this is ridiculous.

 

[mhsjax]

No way in h e double toothpicks would I ever participate in this, and I would march my behind right down to that school and tell them that they ahd lost their mind. If that didn't work I would continue upward. That is crazy for it to be graded, it has nothing to do with learning.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

First, I think the cause is great, and the idea is great. As a person with a family member who relies on blood transfusions as part of leukemia treatments, I am a big proponent of blood donation.

However, that being said, children cannot donate blood legally, right? So why in the heck should they be REQUIRED to get others to do so? And to grade them on it is ridiculous. If the school wants to show they have their heart in the right place, maybe they should require all teachers to donate blood or risk not getting their next paycheck? Does that sound crazy? Well it's no more crazy than hinging a grade on soliciting volunteers.

 

[luvmy3]

No grade should ever, ever be assigned for soliciting people! I'm all for volunteering, but this is ridiculous.

I totally agree and I'm even more upset at the fact that she is basically forcing them to do it by grading them, and guilting them if they don't (by her looking in the mirror comment). I asked dd like 10 times if she was sure that is what she said and that its going to be counted as a graded homework assignment and she said yes. I am going to talk to my friend tomorrow who's dd is on the same team and see if she heard the same thing, I don't want to contact the teacher until I get more info.

 

[redlight]

no grade should ever, ever be assigned for soliciting people! I'm all for volunteering, but this is ridiculous.

ita.

 

[Buckalew11]

I'd be all over this one. I really dislike that type of thing. Around here, kids have told me about being graded on bringing in phone books for recycling, extra points on naming Disney trival for Math tests, etc. What the heck do these things have to do with school and grading?
I'm sure if I pulled this while homeschooling, people'd laugh at me & be quite disgusted too.

It is a good cause. It just has nothing to do with grades.

 

[Becky2005]

However, that being said, children cannot donate blood legally, right? So why in the heck should they be REQUIRED to get others to do so?

Exactly! Kids can't donate until they are at least 16 & 100 pounds -- we found out the hard way DD couldn't even donate blood to herself!! She didn't weigh enough and the doctors wouldn't give her an order. Not only that but when we went for blood testing we it took forever just to get a couple of vials (the poor blood tech was trying every trick in the book to get her blood flowing -- I always joked she had no blood since her hands are always ice cold -- after that, I felt like I really wasn't joking!). I think they would have a hard time getting a unit of blood from her.

Our High School has blood drives all the time but no grade & it's not even for a specific class. I would have a very hard time having them make it mandatory basically.

 

[3smithboys]

I'm a Middle School teacher (and I teach LA.) I've never heard of such a thing.... there is no way I would tie in credit with this. While the cause might be noble, it should not be related to a student's grade.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Have you asked the teacher what is being assessed by this homework?

 

[Carly_Roach]

Perhaps instead of getting 10 doners to donate blood, you could suggest that your family donate money to a charity. I mean if we're going to buy grades then lets buy them and have done with it. It's the same principle for crying out loud.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

This is nuts. I could see this being extra credit or a prize thing. Like 10 points on the next test or being allowed to bring a coke and a snack into class or have a party at lunch one day for everyone who participated. None of these things amounts to a hill of beans in grades or the grander scheme of things, but it makes kids really happy and it's easy to do. But a grade with a 0? Insane.

 

[luvmy3]

Have you asked the teacher what is being assessed by this homework?

No, and quite frankly it doesn't matter. There is nothing that the teacher can't assess by using another method. Forcing the students to ask for donations, or guiltying them into it has no place in the classroom.
FTR, my dd has had other assignments for this cause, which I don't mind. She had to make a flyer using the computer and had to make a large poster by hand to hang in the hall. These are valid projects to assess the studets' use of the English language, grading the kids on how many people they ask to donate is not.
I emailed the teacher yesterday to ask her if maybe my dd misunderstood that she was being graded on this, I haven't heard back yet.