How much homework does your child have and in what grade? - Page 6

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by beanma 

What to do, what to do. I _really_ do like him. I was pretty angry at him Monday night when she was slammed with homework, but overall I really do think he's a fantastic and very engaging classroom teacher.

Actually, that makes it all so much easier for you. Because when you give him negative feedback (which you really NEED to do) you can also say nice things about about how fantastic and engaging he is in the classroom. I find it much easier to deliver criticism when it's part of a balanced feedback. Teachers have strengths and weaknesses like the rest of us.

Originally Posted by beanma 

 I just replied to him and I probably spent more than 45 minutes crafting an email to him!

...

I also told him that she hadn't had direct instruction in writing research papers for Science before and that she hadn't received a lot of direct instruction in writing or that many other writing assignments in school this year (outside of Science).

yes, but you care about the email.

I think the part about never receiving instruction on how to do this is really important. If over the course of this year, he really teaches the kids how to write simple science papers, that would be a good thing. But it is unreasonable to simply assign work without teaching how to do it.

I think there is a big difference between a 2-3 day assignment and a one night assignment. A couple of days allows for kids having one night a week that is busy, or needing some time to mull over their research before doing their writing.

[meemee]

beanma when you say write a report with MLA citations i cant imagine what he means or how to do it in less than half an hour. 

i am curious. does your school have a feeder school? or is it a middle school which has kids coming from many different schools.

i ask coz my friend's high school going dd who didnt come from the feeder middle school took a long time to get used to things because the teachers did not explain quite a few things in detail.  that is what i have also heard from the middle school for which dd's school is the feeder school. 90% of that schools kids come from dd's school. 

i wonder if that is why he assumes kids know what hw he is talking about. 

[beanma]

No, there's no feeder school. It's a charter and starts in 6th. It draws kids from something like 9 districts and 5 or 6 counties. 

I had a very positive unplanned chat with him this morning. He's really a great guy, but as I suspected his idea of a "paper" is not the same as my idea of a "paper". He's just thinking of a collection of some facts, which is fine, but for my kid that's still going to take more than 30 min if she has to do research. He did suggest a couple of online resources, but I still think that's short on time, but definitely better. I think it's a combination of me (and everybody else) interpreting the assignment as too much (well, you read it — that's what it sounds like!) and him underestimating the amount of time it takes to do even rudimentary research and writing. 

Anyway, we seem to be at a good place now so I'll leave it for now and see how it goes from here.

[melissa17s]

Beanma, I am glad you got a good conversation going with the teacher both in person and email.  Hope your dd keeps enjoying science and the teacher, too.  

Edited by melissa17s - 10/27/12 at 6:54am

[meemee]

Originally Posted by beanma 

No, there's no feeder school. It's a charter and starts in 6th. It draws kids from something like 9 districts and 5 or 6 counties. 

I had a very positive unplanned chat with him this morning. He's really a great guy, but as I suspected his idea of a "paper" is not the same as my idea of a "paper". He's just thinking of a collection of some facts, which is fine, but for my kid that's still going to take more than 30 min if she has to do research. He did suggest a couple of online resources, but I still think that's short on time, but definitely better. I think it's a combination of me (and everybody else) interpreting the assignment as too much (well, you read it — that's what it sounds like!) and him underestimating the amount of time it takes to do even rudimentary research and writing. 

Anyway, we seem to be at a good place now so I'll leave it for now and see how it goes from here.

beanmama i think i am getting what he wants the kids to do. go online and read about it. then just copy and paste that info on a document and MLA it and voila - DONE!!! except for a child like my dd it would be like opening a pandora's box. she'd want to get more thorough research done.

i am so glad you stopped for an informal chat. i think its wise to wait and see what the next chapter brings.

[beanma]

meemee, I don't think he wants them to just copy and paste, but maybe more "take notes". Which, really, is just about what dd1 has been doing. On one assignment he told them to read about something online and then write down 10 facts. That's a little less intimidating since you don't have to worry about making your paper flow and read well. It's more like bullet points, but 10 facts is still a lot for a kid to research and write down in 30 minutes. That felt more reasonable, though, but would still take dd1 longer. Maybe some of the other kids could do that in 30-45 minutes, though. After talking to him I think that is really what he is looking for as far as the papers. He called them a "collection of facts". I still think 15 minutes to research and 15 minutes to write is tight.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by beanma 

 I still think 15 minutes to research and 15 minutes to write is tight.

it IS!!!! esp. for a 6th grader. i am in school doing school work. 15 mins to research is just not enough time even for me to gather enough good material to write a paper - no matter how casual the writing has to be. even 10 half sentences take a long time to write. 

[beanma]

Glad you agree! I think it will be an ongoing conversation with him. I think research and write down 10 facts might be a reasonable assignment over 2 days, though, which is how much time he gives for most of his assignments. What do you think? It was unusual that the rocket paper was due the next day. 

[meemee]

Originally Posted by beanma 

I think research and write down 10 facts might be a reasonable assignment over 2 days, though, which is how much time he gives for most of his assignments. What do you think? It was unusual that the rocket paper was due the next day. 

oh yeah. two days is perfectly fine for a research and 10 fact assignment. i was so caught up in being mad at him, that i read that as one day too.

in the meantime though beanma get your dd an typing tutorial. if there is one skill that has been invaluable to me, its typing. in every form of life. i can relate to your dd because i was like her as a child. everybody would finish and be off and i would STILL be working. same with eating, same with waking up.

in second grade dd went into a split class. the teacher gave tonnes of hw. and he was upfront about it. if you are in my class you have hw to do. he was sooo funny though. the kids LOVED him. totally worshipped him. he even brought icecream after class. every day after class he was the last teacher to leave the school becaseu for half an hour after class his past students would visit him and hang around him so he wouldnt be able to do his work. that year dd never protested and did all her work. she was given 3rd grade work to do. the only time she protested was over winter break she was given an hours worth of work to do everyday. she was the only student who turned it in two weeks late. 

the teacher retired the next year. he visits. if you hear screaming kids before school starts you know he is on campus. dd is very very VERY lucky. in her 6 years of school she has had maybe 2 teachers whom she doesnt really care about, and 4 teachers she absolutely adored. teachers over whom she has cried when they had to take a medical leave of absense. and when they came back kids ran to hug them. 

she has had one BAD substitute - once for a few weeks, once for a week recently and omg how my child changed. it stressed her out so much. she was a mess. 

so i think its huge, HUGE that inspite of everything both you and dd think he's great.