The part of this that gets me madder than hell is that each and everyone of these teachers have their own websites...with sections on it for them to list their homework for their classes. None of his teachers do it, nor do they feel that it is necessary. Here is what one of their websites says:
Homework
February 2, 2010We are now working on ratios, rates, probability and percentages.
Please chech your student's planner daily for homework and assigned work.
***please note that the above misspelling is the teachers and not mine***
Let me pose a scenario to all of you: If you had a student, or a small group of students that were struggling with having their homework completed, or if they were consistently not turning it in wouldn't you want to take some measures to ensure that you were doing everything possible to help these kids out?? Maybe I'm in the minority on this but I thought that the teachers were there to help our kids??? Is letting them consistently not do work helping them to succeed?? If you have the resources available to you why don't you use them?? Is it too time consuming??
Another thing...what ever happened to teachers being there after school for kids who need help?? My pops was a teacher for over 30 years and I remember him being there after school for a couple of hours to help kids out...EVERY NIGHT! School gets out at 2:45 and his the majority of his teachers are gone by 3pm!! I think we really need to make a stand! I hope that I am not the only one concerned about our youth...what good does it do to let them slide through something as important as school...it just sets them up for failure later on in life.
I truly hope that this school district is an anomaly...and I know that there are actually teachers that care out there. My point is this: even if you aren't getting the response that you want from the majority of parents/students, don't stop putting forth the effort...there are some of us who care about how our kids are doing! If I did that in my profession...I'd be looking for a new one!
When I taught M.S. we used planners as well and though tedious and time-consuming I would end each period and tell them what to write in their planner and look it over quickly. I felt that if it was the routine at 6th grade they would hopefully do it on their own as they got older. Good questions, communicating homework has always been an issue.
ReplyDeleteMy 12 year old also in Middle School and a boy never has a problem writing down his homework in his planner and comes right home and does it. So maybe it's just different personalities in the kids. Some don't care and some do.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #1 - thank you for your feedback! I think that is an excellent idea and I wish his teachers would do just that. Now his science teacher definitely keeps us posted - she gives detailed notes for the kids to write down in their planners.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous #2 - I don't disagree that different personalities lead to different traits regarding their homework. My nephew is extremely conscious about writing his homework down and getting it done right away. I'm not trying to take the responsibility away from the child either but if we are giving ALL of the teachers a way to keep us informed as parents, and we are paying for such things in a school budget that is paid for by taxpayers then they should have the obligation to use said tools. I wish all kids were as responsible as yours is but they just aren't and if we don't have a way to help them as parents until it is too late...what good is that??