Why do teachers do this???

[Irin997]

FTR = For the Record

Thanks!

It's just a shame that you don't have someone who could help you out.. Are there grandparents nearby that could lend a hand some afternoons or evenings?

Yes, her grandparents and great-grandparents are both very close, BUT both of my parents are young and work full time still (they are in their 40's...my mother had me at 20 and I had my daughter at 20). My grandparents are great but can't necessarily help out....my grandmother has parkinson's so to ask for help everyday is WAY too much to ask. Plus, unfortunately, I'm a do-it-yourself type of gal.

We are just so busy as it is, trying to make time just to do FUN things with her is hard enough.

 

[Mkrop]

What is FTR?

Unfortunatey, while the daycare my daughter goes to is great, they do not have a quiet study hour. I would much rather her go to the after-school daycare actually at school BUT they are closed when the school is closed....so what is the point? We tried the "get your HW done" at daycare and it just didn't work because we had to re-do most of it after getting home.

Finding the balance is tough!! But we're working on it...as that is all we can do.

I do agree that some children need the push. I will say that my daughter's reading has gotten sooo much better since the start of the school year but I'm not sure whether to attribute it to the required reading for HW or just because she's really gotten interested in reading lately. She/We discovered the Magic Tree House books and she loves them! They are chapter books but not too long of chapter books so she is so proud of herself when she finishes them!

Yep FOR THE RECORD, sorry for the confusion.

Magic Treehouse Books are awesome. DS loved them and they fly off the shelves at school. I think many kids found a love of reading with these books. I know it helped DS get into other historical fiction books that are more a 5th grade level that he may never have touched before. If it wasnt sports related he wasnt reading it!

And what I bolded is what we should all strive for, some days it is easier than others, I think we all can I agree on that

 

[Mermaid02]

I don't believe in homework. Frankly, if Jack can do 3 math problems right... why does he have to do 30? Either you know how to do it or you don't. Families need time to be a family- make meals, talk about their day, play a board game- go biking- watch a favorite movie or tv show- enjoy each other. Frankly, that can all be gone in a heartbeat.

 

[Magic Mom]

I teach 1st grade and I believe developing fine motor skills is important. So I assign one cut and paste activity related to academics a week.
I am not lazy, I care!!!!

Sending home homework doesn't make a teacher lazy, because homework is extra prep and extra grading. If you were lazy, you would say "Screw it." and not do any more than necessary.

 

[Aliceacc]

It is assigned because some teachers just cannot stand the thought of not controlling every spare minute a child might have. God forbid they might play, read or just be kids for some time during the day, all of which do contribute to learning.

My advice is to complain. Do it frequently. Be well prepared before you go in to speak to the teacher....

I buy a copy of the first book for each of my kids' elementary teachers and ask them to read it. It has helped some. If your school is anything like mine, they like to pretend that they follow evidence-based practices. They get that deer in the headlights look when you present them with the evidence which runs completely counter to their practices.

I teach secondary math, not elementary school. And I have a standing 20 minute rule: kids are to stop their math homework after 20 minutes of serious, no phone, no IPOD, no computer, serious work.

If most of my 5 classes haven't finished the work I've assigned, either I assigned too much or didn't teach the material thoroughly. If it's just one or two, they know that they need extra help after school.

So I don't think I'm one of the teachers you're talking about.

But to be honest, I wouldn't trust my kids' education to anyone I trusted as little as you seem to trust your kids' teachers. If I thought they were that power hungry and incompetant, I would find a way to homeschool my kids.

And I can almost promise you that no teacher finds the time to read your book in time to do your own kids any good. If you complain as frequently as you suggest others do, I suspect you're getting a lot of lip service from teachers who are too busy teaching to hear a litany of complaints.

Constant complaints will get you one thing: when you have a REAL issue with your child you won't be taken seriously. You know about the boy who cried wolf, right??

I have 3 kids and a dog (not to mention some serious health issues this year.) Any "real" reading I do is done over the summer. My time in the start of the school year is non-existant. I almost always manage to get through the paper. Beyond that, it's summer reading for me. And by then I'm so hungry for some reading time that I choose what I read, not people who don't like me and don't trust me. I simply don't have the time for any real reading beyond the paper, my school work, and the professional literature that appears in our mailboxes on a daily basis. Oh, yes, and then there's the reading I do with those 3 kids.

For the record, I teach 180 kids, plus 41 additional kids in my homeroom. I've been teaching for 23 years, and kids are happy when they see my name on their schedules. I have a few credits beyond my Masters degree. I've taught everything from Math 7 to Intro to Calculus, with the exception (for some reason) of Math 8. I was math department chair for 6 years before I left to be home with my kids for a few years. I'm good at my job. I like teaching, and like the kids and the overwhelming majority of the parents I've met over the years. I'm open to suggestions and questions, but don't react well to demands from anyone not in administration.

If each of my kids gave me a book telling me how to do my job, I would make a fortune on ebay.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I have nothing against the crafty projects, i am however against the fact that they send it home one night and expect it done for the next day. I wish i could get at least one week's notice. I do have all crafty stuff at home and the last thing i want to do is run out after work and buy anything. I appreciate at least a week's notice.

 

[MM27]

Also, if a parent walked into my classroom, handed me a book, and told me to read it, so they can "tell me how to teach", It would take everything in me not to throw it away right in front of them.

We used to love professional development meetings being led by education professors who have never been in the classroom.

Or consultants who were teachers for a year or two and decided they either weren't good at it, couldn't handle it, or had enough of it. You can make anything look good on paper. To implement it in a room with 25 kids is another story.

 

[Aliceacc]

But, wait!!! They WENT to school, a long time ago. And they've look stuff up on the internet; I hear that Wikipedia is a great source.

Doesn't THAT make them experts on how to teach???

 

[mickeylove2]

Wow, thanks for all the responses, I read every one of them. For the record, I have a FABULOUS relationship with my kids' teachers, the principal, vp, and pretty much all the staff at the school, I trust that what they give for homework is worthwhile, yet sometimes as a parents it can get frustrating. I would never complain about the job that they are doing while teaching my children, they are all great and do a wonderful job that is pretty thankless. The teachers know my situation and have already given me the ok to not have homework done, they've said that when it gets done, it gets done, my children don't get penalized for turning something in late...that very rarely happens, but it's nice to know that they understand. I guess I shouldn't complain about the things that will better their education, sometimes I just need to vent for my own sanity!

 

[stm61]

I absolutely cannot stand all the projects that are designed to be done as a family! I'm sorry, I have a house full of kids, a full-time job (as a teacher!), a husband with unpredictable hours, and, since I've already graduated hs, I've already completed whatever grade my kids are in. I have no desire to repeat that grade along with my child! Homework should be something the child can complete himself. If they can't do it, then either the child needs additional help or the subject needs to be retaught. Assigning arts and crafts projects, or those that require research that the child cannot do themselves, for the sole reason that the teacher/team/district/whatever believe that parents should be "actively involved" in their child's education is not getting done in my house. The school constantly sent home papers about "family education" and every other week there was a major project "we" were suppossed to complete together. After the first month of school, I met with the teacher and asked exactly why they assigned all the projects. I was told all about family togetherness and being actively involved. I explained, very nicely, that my husband and I had already completed X grade, felt no desire to repeat it with each of our children, and could find ways to be actively involved without their assistance. I also explained that we would not be spending the min. of $15 in supplies that each project required. From that time on, all projects were either completed by the kids, with minimal assistance and no cash outlay, or returned to school with a note from me. The teacher wasn't happy, but my kids learned more from completing their own assignments then the ones whose parents did the projects for them. I also will not assign any project in my own classroom that I would not want assigned to my own kids.

 

[twinklebug]

I am a single mother, work fulltime and go to college fulltime, I sent in 30 bottles of glue, 25 glue sticks, 15 boxes of crayons, 8 pairs of scissors, 10 packs of markers and 10 packs of colored pencils into school at the beginning of the year.

It's not easy being a single mom with 2 kids and working full time, not to mention school Just do your best, perhaps say something to the teachers, perhaps they can cut down on the crafty at home stuff a bit.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

I'm not "assigning" anything. I'm asking a teacher, who is routinely controlling my free time without giving it a second thought, to read something with an open mind.

In my experience, I have yet to encounter an elementary teacher who has ever spent ten minutes looking at the research on the benefits of homework. It's like some sort of sacred cow. Given how much time it devours, the amount of friction it causes, and the opportunity costs associated, I don't think my request is unreasonable.

Boy, that is really arrogant to say. WOW.

BTW, I assign homework that is related directly to the day's teaching. It provides additional practice. My DS is also in the same grade at my school, so I get to see the homework that I assign, in practice. It's a pain to put together, a pain to grade, and a pain to keep track of. My life would be simpler, for sure, without it. Multiply YOUR child's homework, by 20 or more.

However- where I live, the School Board has an explicit policy regarding homework, and they even decide how much should be per grade level, per night. You don't follow the policy, and you are subject to disciplinary action.

So before you go thinking that some teacher is close minded, an idiot with no intellectual curiosity, or a control freak, perhaps you should find out WHY they assign that homework.

 

[Big Deal]

i sure do hate when do teachers do that!

 

[Big Deal]

Ok, a little more insight to what my 2nd grader has for homework everynight:

- Reading for 15 minutes or practicing math facts/flashcards (these are alternated every night)
- Spelling HW (something different each day of the week, but same schedule each week)
- Oral fluency (reading and timing WPM of a new passage each week)
- Math worksheet

This is my DD7's HW schedule. Depending on the day, HW only takes about 30-45 minutes however on Wed evenings she has an insanely hard word search for spelling homework. I hate it....and so does she, but oh well.

Additionally, there may be a very small project (I'm talking like once a month) where cutting and pasting is involved. This month they were assigned a much larer project that invloves some very light research. We're working on it this weekend to get it done and over with.

She hasn't had cutting and pasting homework on a regular basis since kindergarten.

oh boy!!

 

[LisaMommy]

You have it 100% right there. This statement is so correct. Look back a couple decades and you can see that the parents and teachers worked together. If a student got in trouble at school, you would not want to go home because it will be worse there. If a teacher assigned something, you bet your butt it was completed. Nowadays, if a parent says there's too much homework, their little angel doesn't have to do it and a note gets sent to the principal & teacher. If a child gets in trouble at school, the parents will be calling the principal & teacher to schedule a meeting because their little angel can do no wrong.

So much has changed and not for the better.

When I was in school I used to get in trouble constantly. They often called my parents to complain about my behavior whilst my mother would struggle to keep a straight face. When she hung up we would all have a good laugh.

My parents knew that, as a child, I disliked when anyone couldn't keep up with me. If they were less intelligent or just not good at following trains of thought I would get frustrated and snap at them. It certainly wasn't worse when I got home.

You're doing an awful lot of assuming here. My parents didn't agree with the school system then and decided not to work with them in that area - how many decades was I supposed to look back?

 

[goofyernmost]

I absolutely cannot stand all the projects that are designed to be done as a family! I'm sorry, I have a house full of kids, a full-time job (as a teacher!), a husband with unpredictable hours, and, since I've already graduated hs, I've already completed whatever grade my kids are in. I have no desire to repeat that grade along with my child! Homework should be something the child can complete himself. If they can't do it, then either the child needs additional help or the subject needs to be retaught. Assigning arts and crafts projects, or those that require research that the child cannot do themselves, for the sole reason that the teacher/team/district/whatever believe that parents should be "actively involved" in their child's education is not getting done in my house. The school constantly sent home papers about "family education" and every other week there was a major project "we" were suppossed to complete together. After the first month of school, I met with the teacher and asked exactly why they assigned all the projects. I was told all about family togetherness and being actively involved. I explained, very nicely, that my husband and I had already completed X grade, felt no desire to repeat it with each of our children, and could find ways to be actively involved without their assistance. I also explained that we would not be spending the min. of $15 in supplies that each project required. From that time on, all projects were either completed by the kids, with minimal assistance and no cash outlay, or returned to school with a note from me. The teacher wasn't happy, but my kids learned more from completing their own assignments then the ones whose parents did the projects for them. I also will not assign any project in my own classroom that I would not want assigned to my own kids.

That, I believe is the point of the parental resistance. I believe that a teachers job is difficult, but, having worked in a school district administering employee payroll and benefits, there are plenty of perks.

When I hear about the OMG, I have to correct assignments, prepare for the next day, blah, blah, blah, it just makes me more annoyed. Yes, you work hard and yes you have a tough job. Welcome to the club. We all do. Presuming that it is your obligation to FORCE parents to get involved with their child's education is beyond comprehension. If my child had a problem I would expect to hear about it and together we might be able to make a plan to fix the problem. To be told, without my input, how I was going to get involved in their education, is obnoxiousness in it's highest form.

Home projects requiring parental involvement without any knowledge of what the parent has on their plate or requiring additional cash outlay (besides taxes) without any knowledge of their financial situation is wrong on so many levels.

As I said before, we pay teachers to do the job of formal education. That's your job. How we interact and deal with our children is our job. Suggestions are one thing, requiring participation with the child as the victim if the assignment cannot be accomplished, is not acceptable.

 

[stm61]

That, I believe is the point of the parental resistance. I believe that a teachers job is difficult, but, having worked in a school district administering employee payroll and benefits, there are plenty of perks.

When I hear about the OMG, I have to correct assignments, prepare for the next day, blah, blah, blah, it just makes me more annoyed. Yes, you work hard and yes you have a tough job. Welcome to the club. We all do. Presuming that it is your obligation to FORCE parents to get involved with their child's education is beyond comprehension. If my child had a problem I would expect to hear about it and together we might be able to make a plan to fix the problem. To be told, without my input, how I was going to get involved in their education, is obnoxiousness in it's highest form.

Home projects requiring parental involvement without any knowledge of what the parent has on their plate or requiring additional cash outlay (besides taxes) without any knowledge of their financial situation is wrong on so many levels.

As I said before, we pay teachers to do the job of formal education. That's your job. How we interact and deal with our children is our job. Suggestions are one thing, requiring participation with the child as the victim if the assignment cannot be accomplished, is not acceptable.

EXACTLY!