Homework....sometimes less is more

As a former student, I hated homework and everything about it. As a teacher, I know it can be a frustrating for both the parents and the students, so I try to send home a few items as possible. When I was a second grade teacher, the only thing I really had them do was read, and then they would record in their journal the title of the book, the page numbers, and a short reflection. What I really wanted them to learn was not going to happen at home, but rather in the classroom. So I just focused all my teaching efforts to make it as effective and efficient as possible. Unfortunately I do know that from time to time we had to do grade level projects where I can see the parent's influence from all different degrees. From writing, to building, to even creating the idea of it, the parents who I saw, had taken away the child's ownership and made it their own. While they might be trying to be helpful, is actually causing serious problems down the line when the projects become bigger and more important.

The Houston Chronicle, wrote a story discussing this very issue and explained that parents who tip over into doing the majority of the thinking and writing need to stop and back off. Helping them with thinking about how to solve it, is fine. Helping them write it and solve it while they watch is not. It's a hard and sometimes blurry line that parents have to deal with. So the rule of thumb is to try to do as less as you can.

How do you feel about homework? Do you notice that as teachers your parents are having more and more influence on it? As parents, are you finding that you are coming more and more to your child's aid?

Can you belive this????

I'm not sure if it's because of all the dieting that I'm doing but lately I'm just noticing how weird our parents can be. I'm not one to point fingers, I know i'm not exactly the most sane person around, however, after hearing this rant you might understand a little bit of where I'm coming from.

I have a friend who's a 4th grade teacher, and one of her parents have been having problems with this teacher. Problems such as, not enough contact, not enough caring and support for her son, and not enough of hard discipline on those who bully her son. Nothing too extreme, right, just a mother who cares for her son. I even felt a bit sorry for her.

Well it turns out, that of all the kids in her classroom, this is the only student who receives grades on a weekly basis, he does get more than enough caring and support not only from his classroom teacher, but from the whole school as well, and since there are no phones in the teacher's rooms, and horrible cell phone reception, communication is limited to phone messages, and notes sent to and from. So from that stand point everything would seem like the teacher is doing as much as she can for this student.

Not too long ago the mother took it even a step further, and asked to sit in one of her teachings, so she can see how her teaching style is like. I'm sure that she had no problem with that and probably even agreed to that. But can you just imagine a parent making those kind of requests? I have been imagining myself in that same situation, and when that request is made to me, and I flip it around and say "Sure....let's also schedule a time when I can come over and observe your parenting skills".

Teachers are way too often held accountable for everything a student does in their classroom. We are measured, reviewed, surveyed, poked and steped on, by administrators and parents alike. It's the nature of the job, and I understand how important it is to be held to such a high standard. Yet how much accountablility do the parents have in the whole process?

For those parents who do care and do go the distance for their children, I admire you. For those other parents, who let their kids play video games all night, who neglect to provide a jacket for the cold weather, who consistently drop off and pick up their children late, who do not read to their children at night and who do not hold their children to a high standard.......HOW ON EARTH DO THEY EXPECT US TO DO THAT????

Maybe I'm just a little tired, and a bit cranky....but I would like to see more accountablility from parents and hold them to the same high standard that teachers are held to. In the end, I do believe that this will greatly benefit the child in all aspects of the world. Let's see if this new era of change will handle this.....although I'm not holding my breath.