Tell me if I am right in this or if I should just l et it go. - Page 2

[rabrog]

Oh, Tina! That's total crap! : These kids don't have enough to do and now they have to be tested again? All because a bunch of adults got a up their ...geez.

(I'm a bit riled now - I just read and replied to the bullying thread... )

Jenn

[Flor]

The 6th graders in our district all have a "forced" elective, too. They do 6 weeks of art, 6 weeks of music, 6 weeks of computers, etc. In 7th and 8th grade they choose their elective. When you say "speech" do you mean a public speaking class or a period of speech and language because of a special need defined on an IEP? Parents can elect to pull kids out of special services here.

I agree that if you evalute her work and decide that there really is 6+ hours of homework being required, take it all down to the principal and talk. Find out what the "policy" is. How long, and how much of the grade.

BTW, I didn't mean to imply that I thought middle school=lots of homework. My sentence before that was that parents seem to expect us to give homework. I prefer to get it done in class.

Also, if you feel that the teacher is wasting time, I'd ask to observe the class. and, how much really is "20 point" assingments. Out of what? In my class a 20 point assignment is nothing and wouldn't do much to a grade because it would be out of the 1000 or so points we have for the semester so far. In other classes, that might count for a lot depending on how many points the class has accumulated so far.

[aniT]

It is a public speaking class. I called the school at the beginning of the year when she wanted out of the "leadership" class. I was told that she would rotate through all the electives during the year and would have to take it anyway.

In my opinion I don't think it is right to force kids to be "leaders" or "public speakers." It just sets shy kids up for failure when they cannot comply with the class.

When I was in 8th grade if I was forced to take a public speaker class I would have failed. I would have sat in the back and flat out refused to give the required speeches.

[Flor]

Originally Posted by aniT

It is a public speaking class. I called the school at the beginning of the year when she wanted out of the "leadership" class. I was told that she would rotate through all the electives during the year and would have to take it anyway.

In my opinion I don't think it is right to force kids to be "leaders" or "public speakers." It just sets shy kids up for failure when they cannot comply with the class.

When I was in 8th grade if I was forced to take a public speaker class I would have failed. I would have sat in the back and flat out refused to give the required speeches.

I would have bombed that one too! However, our state standards for English are divided into listening/speaking/reading/writing, so while we don't have a separate "speech" class, it makes up 1/4 of our English standards. Not my favorite thing to teach.