What is teacher looking for???

[taterules]

We got one for our 5th grader, but it was in a question/answer form. It asked things like:

List 5 words that describe your child.
What motivates your child?
What upsets your child?
What activities does your child participate outside of school?
What is your child's best subject?
What is your child's worst subject?

Etc...

I was happy to fill it out. I think this fomat might have been easier on parents than the vague wording of the OPs assignment. Either way I think it is a good idea.

I think either wording should be fine, but I think either way, someone is going to have a problem with it, and that's the real problem. In the question/answer format you give above, someone is going to be mad that the teacher asked about participation in activities outside of school because that's none of the teacher's business! And someone is going to be upset that the teacher asked about the worst subject because they want to stay positive! So, maybe this teacher thought it would be less threatening to ask for the parents to send in whatever they want to say about their kids. But, as you've seen here, then some will be upset that that's too broad. You can't please everyone.

 

[lovesmurfs]

That's funny! I agree with nskjerven that it was a way to put a humorous twist on the request. It's sort of another way of saying you are free to write as little or as much as you please, but not to go on indefinitely.

Yes, considering that there are approximately 250 words to a double-spaced typed page, a million words would be 4,000 pages.

 

[MoniqueU]

In HIGH SCHOOL??? Seriously?? I would think by then you would just be having the students write something about themselves--I sure hope by the time my daughter is in high school I am not getting these homework assignments! I think that by high school age they should be taking on more responsibility and letting the teachers know themselves about things.

That's what I was thinking. My kids are in jr high and up and I expect them to do the work and be independent at this age. I spent a long time looking over my oldest sons shoulders and figured out myself that I wasn't doing him any favors. This isn't about not wanting to cheer my kids on or be supportive I just think at the ages my kids are they should be able to speak for themselves and not need me to write into the teacher about them.

 

[arminnie]

I'd be SO tempted to have my child write back that this was not possible as his/her mother is illiterate. Unfortunately I had several relatives in the "older" generation who really were.

 

[Mermaid02]

As a teacher I just have to say that this perfectly illustrates the lose/lose situation we are constantly mired in. Give a cute assignment asking for real feedback on students so we can differentiate instruction or ward off potential problems and 1/2 the parents think we are lazy for asking, bold for wanting adults to do homework, etc. The other 1/2 love it and praise us. Multiply this 20 + times a day for every single thing we do big or small and that is why I'm having a beer right now .

Guess you can't please everyone..... bottoms up!

 

[whatsup]

My DS 10 is in 5th grade and the first day of school his teacher sent home "homework" for the parents, it says I need to write a million words or less about my son!! I am stumped I don't even know where to start! I mean I could go on and on about my little "snowflake", but what is she really looking for?

Well the Teacher did say "a million words" or "LESS". So I suppose one single word like "GREAT" would be acceptable.

 

[npcougar]

My child. my choice. The teacher will get to know her in a couple of weeks or otherwise look at the kids files I don't need to wriite a bragging leter to a teacher for the teacher to fiind out how great my ki is.I was also out of printer ink and am visually impaired so writing inm Word with a bigger font is best for me. This ha nothing to o with me not recognizng my daughters strengths or weaknesses I just didn't agree with the assignmetmt being sent to the parents/

How disappointing. The teacher was probably looking for ways to relate to your child and learn how to best teach her. I hope it didn't but this could have made your daughter look/feel bad, how would she feel if she knew all the other parents took the time to write but hers couldn't bother. Kudos to the teacher for trying.

 

[Jennasis]

Most novels are 90,000-150,000 words so obviously the "million" was tongue-in-cheek. I find the attitude of some people and their disdain for the assignment to be ridiculous. Just do it for heaven sake. Great lesson you're teaching your kids...don't like the job asked of you? Just ignore it.

Brilliant.

 

[clh2]

I had the opportunity to do this when DD was in 4th grade. I'm not one to enjoy doing homework, I echo the PP's comment about "my time for homework is over"

However, eventhough my snowflake is very very bright, she had an aweful 3rd grade year, with my least favorite teacher EVER. I was very concerned that Mrs. 3rd Grade "sucked" the love of school out of my duaghter FOREVER. SO I wrote a very short, concise note that basically metnioned while academically, my DD had a strong year in 3rd grade, she came out ofthe grade not really enjoying school. So - my hope for my DD's 4th grade year was that she would start to LOVE school again, and the academics would take care of themselves.

While her 3rd grade teacher was an "inside-the-box" type of teacher, her 4th grade teacher really allowed kids to expand outside of the box regardless of what their abilities where, yet Mrs 4th Grade really stressed the basics too.

I know - I am really digressing...about 3 weeks into the school year, Mrs. 4th Grade asked me how the year was going for my DD. By this time, Mrs. 4th grade had already worked her magic, and the nightmares of 3rd grade were long gone. (My DD is now a HS jr and Mrs. 4th Grade is STILL my favorite teacher, with Mr. 2nd Grade a close second.)

My advice - is if there is something you can write down in the note that will help to make a good year great for your child ---- shoot the teacher a couple of sentences. I would keep the note positive, and then move on to enjoying your evening.

 

[HelenePA]

only one of my kids brought home something like this. I just wrote she was very out going, very social, loved learning and hoped she had another great school year.. I highly doubt she wants to know her favorite color is pink, her favorite food is grilled cheese and hot dogs. I'm sure she'd tell her all this anyway... once she started talking she never stopped.. she even talks in her sleep.