This is the sixth post by FedUp Mom, the mother of a fifth grader. FedUp Mom’s daughter used to attend a public school in suburban Philadelphia, but this year FedUp Mom moved her to a private Quaker school, hoping for a more relaxed environment. You can read her other posts here, here, here, here and here.
I Hate Reading Logs
by FedUp Mom
Every time I think we’ve solved the school problem something comes along to bite me in the rear. This week it’s the dreaded reading log. We found out about it from a letter the teachers sent home:
“Your child will be expected to read every night. We ask that you sign the log each night … We will also check the log regularly, in order to ensure follow through on your child’s part… Please sign the form below and return it to school tomorrow with your child.”
And now, the fun part:
“Thank you for your partnership in your child’s education.” (!)
And how does following the teacher’s directions make me a partner exactly? I feel more like an unpaid employee. Wait a minute — we’re paying them!
There was a little form at the bottom of the letter that said:
“I have read the above letter and agree to help my child by signing his/her log each night.”
I crossed this out and wrote in:
“We trust our daughter to do her reading.”
Then we signed it.
Then we sent the following e-mail to the teacher:
Teacher X: we have chosen not to participate in the reading log. We’ve experienced reading logs before and have these objections:
1.) They turn reading into a chore.
2.) They send a message that we don’t trust (daughter) to do the reading without meddling and micromanaging.
(Daughter) will do the reading she needs to do, but she won’t be logging the pages. Thank you.
I’m hoping that will be the end of it. I’m really tired of conferences and I’m sure we all have better things to do with our time.
Stop Homework 
Thanks Psych Mom. Actually, it seems as if elementary school today is much more rigid, authoritarian and demanding then it was when I went to school in the seventies.
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I have sat here for about an hour and went through all the different posts. I find it very interesting that, while everyone has a difference of opinion, no one has really touched on what might be making those logs so hard. I was a student, and a poor one at that. Reading was hard, not the actual dynamics of reading, but understanding what I was reading. I just didn’t get it. Asking a student or a person in general to record something they aren’t good at is really setting them up for failure. But it tells the teacher something: there might be a bigger problem at work.
I have students in my class that have been sent to me because of reading problems. Parents tell me all the time that their kids are miserable. I use those logs to see exactly why and then address the problems in the classroom.
I also make those logs fun. Reading is not something someone tells you to do, but something you should enjoy. The kids get to choose their books, figure out what kind of book it is, and if they would suggest it to a friend. It also gives the parent, grandparent, friend, babysitter or whoever is willing, a chance to see what the kid can do. The kids come in, regardless of it they read the book, was helped with it, or it was read to them and tell me about it. That is all I ask. I also explain that those logs will help them to keep track of books they have read and what they like.
I do teach Special Ed Elementary and many of my students need that extra reading support, but I make it known that even if students are read to, it counts!
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@Anonymous, I think many of us have touched on what makes these logs so hard. It sounds like many of us here are coming from the opposite side–we have kids that love to read and the logs are just tedious and disruptive.
You may well be doing the right thing for your population of students and the fact that you look at the logs to help the students overcome their individual difficulties is excellent. In my experience with my own kids the reading logs are nothing more than a pass/fail item for the teacher. No evaluation of the work is done and the time the student spends on the log is essentially wasted.
This year (5th grade) we’ve been given a slightly different format for a reading log and to me it is actually acceptable. The 5th grade curriculum states that students need to read 25 books during the year, so it is a set of pages with 25 sections for title, author, pages and dates read…nothing more. Every 100 pages (no rounding) counts as 1 book so kids don’t get punished for reading longer books.
My son will have this log finished before the end of the first quarter so we only have to bother with it for a short time. Now if they try to make him do *more* after that then I will object…
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Anonymous says:
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I have sat here for about an hour and went through all the different posts.
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I think we should award a medal to anyone who makes it through all 600+ comments.
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Parents tell me all the time that their kids are miserable. I use those logs to see exactly why
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What do the logs tell you? Couldn’t you figure out the problem by talking to the kids?
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Actually no you can’t figure it out by talking to the kid. Not the ones I teach. You have to go through their work and figure it out like a puzzle. Is someone going to come right out and tell you what their weaknesses are? I highly doubt it, especially kids that already have self esteem issues. On top of that, many parents have been told that their kids will grow out of reading problems and that just does not happen. Some parents are not aware, as some teachers aren’t either.
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OK, but what exactly is in the log? I’m guessing it’s more than just a list of page numbers and times.
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I just noticed this on Alfie Kohn’s website this morning………..reading logs are number one on his hit list as a way to unmotivate readers.
http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/nonreaders.htm
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Thanks, PsychMom! I’ll add it to the master list.
http://kidfriendlyschools.blogspot.com/2010/08/join-chorus-against-reading-logs.html
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Wow, there are so many comments. I don’t have time to read them all, but I did want to say something. I think that the best way to encourage children to read is to show by example. My fifth grade teacher read to her students the “Hatchet” series. My fourth grade teacher had copies of the “American Girl” series that could be taken home by anyone who wished to read them. I think that providing children with a wide range of books to take home and by reading to them, you can open up the world of reading.
By the way, I hated reading logs. I would always make up a book name and a plot when filling them in. I guess it helped with creative writing!
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I agree Ana. I’m reading Stuart Little to my class right now. They’re begging me to keep reading whenever I finish a chapter. That’s the way I like it! It shows they’re loving the story. On the other hand, when I first began the book one student asked if there was going to be a test on it. How sad! Somewhere in his life, this student came to believe that he is tested on everything he reads. Hopefully my example of loving to read good books just for fun will be passed along to my students.
I also let my students “take-out” books from the classroom library. So far, the students who claim to hate reading are the ones borrowing books. I’m glad they’re finding texts they enjoy :o)
I told my third graders that my hope is for them to read every day. I am not assigning a log, but will ask the class to reflect on their home reading (not for homework, the reflection will be once a week during school). PsychMom and FedUpMom, does this seem reasonable from the parent perspective? I would love feedback!
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Hi Curious Teacher:
I guess it depends on what you’re expecting from the “reflection”. First, do they have to write it down or can they just talk about it..can they be given a choice on how they want to do it? I found my 3rd grade reader last year did not have the ability yet to make any thoughful comments on what she was reading. She either liked a book or didn’t..and it was based on how many words were on the page. If you asked her to comment on feelings and thoughts of the characters, or to place herself in the character’s shoes…she was not able to do these things. I think it’s a maturity/developmental step that she had not reached yet. Still way too egocentric…
My gut reaction to your question is to leave them alone in their home reading. Home is home….and not your territory.
All this analysis of reading shuts my kid down…and she’s not the only one. If you must try to do it…do it as a small group discussion, of a book that all of you have read together, like Stuart Little, that you’re reading right now.
Just my own thoughts.
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Curious Teacher, if you’re getting the kids interested in reading that’s the most important thing. The reflection thing is probably fine, although I wonder about the near-universal requirement to write about what you’ve read. Could you make the writing open-ended, so they could write about any subject they choose?
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Thanks for the tips! I can see where you’re coming from about writing about reading. For the reflection, I was thinking rather than writing, having small groups discuss their home reading (Discussions being: I like it because…, I didn’t like it because…). If a group was all reading about sports, they would be together. If another group all read Magic Tree House, they would be combined. This way kids of the same interest are discussing something they are interested in. Like I said, no more than once a week. It’s still a thought being kicked around in my mind…I haven’t quite figured it out yet.
I appreciate the tips and feedback though!
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Any other ideas for keeping students accountable for their reading? I’m a middle school teacher and also find the reading logs pretty useless. It’s only purpose is to show a record that the student is reading, but clearly the students can be filling in these logs without even having done the reading. Taking 10 minutes at the beginning of class everyday to discuss what they’ve read is not possible for me. Any other ideas?
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WOW! I am surprised, shocked, and appalled at what I’m reading here. I am a public school teacher, have been for 10 years, and the parent of 2 children who are in public school. I cannot believe the lack of support for your child’s teacher that I read here. The relationship between absolutely IS a partnership – an equal one. I DO NOT work FOR you. I am NOT your employee. I pay taxes just like you do, so I feel that I contribute to my own salary as much as you do, and since YOUR child spends as much as 6 hours in MY care, I feel that makes us somewhat equals. I do happen to use reading logs in my 2nd grade classroom; all I ask is that when the child – if he/she happens to be one that CHOOSES to read – that they just write down what they were reading. If it isn’t a child that normally reads, that child usually (not always) exhibits difficulties in the classroom with reading, and could therefore use some one-on-one reading time with the parent(s). My daughter has homework, too, and it is reinforcing what she is learning in the classroom. If it doesn’t or takes more time than what is reasonable, then it isn’t what homework was intended to do – help the student. It’s parents like what I’m seeing here that make my job difficult. I hope I never teach any of your children.
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Arizona Teacher
Thank you for how wonderfully you said that. I am a teacher also and it hurts me to think that parents know how to do our job better than we do. Not any of us are perfect, by the way. But we all strive to make sure the students get the best school day possible. What we do in the classroom can’t work with out parent support. Don’t think for one minute that the teachers are going to bring up your kids outside of the classroom. That isn’t our job. You had them, then help make them into wonderful human beings. This is why so many kids come in with a lack of responsibility and a need for things to be spoon fed to them. Parents seem to pick on the petty little things and forget to look at the bigger picture. It could be that reading log that helps to engage them in being responsible for their work.
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Arizona Teacher-
I hope you don’t teach my children either. As do most of the teachers who post here, you are missing the point completely. A partnership (by defintion) implies mutual consent agreed upon by both parties. No one consulted me as to the duration, skill level, difficulty, or lack of creativity of the homework I see. Moreover, our children are punished with lack of recess if they do not complete homework. No one consulted the parents re: this policy.
Why are you suprised that a blog called “stop homework” would contain negative comments re: homework? Why do you consider any parent who questions work sent home and done after school in their home unsupportive? Why are you appalled at the comments? (Many of which don’t seem all that outrageous). Why do you consider parents “difficult” who question a practice that many professionals in the field of education have come to question? I know you don’t see it this way, but when you write comments such as “it is parents like you who make my job difficult;” you are really revealing a rigid, limited mind set.
Why is the idea of no homework so threatening to you? Homework didn’t exist twenty years ago for gradeschoolers; why do you think it is a great idea now?
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Anonymous says “what we do in the classroom can’t work without parent support.” Why not? Do you consider teachers effective who cannot teach the curriculum without the invovlement of parents? Why is the curriculum designed to be taught with parent invovlement? Do you think that professional educators shoud be able to design a learning method that can be engaging and meaningful for the children in a classroom without parental involvement. As you stated, the children are in the classroom six hours a day. Don’t you think an effective method would be able to teach them what they need to know within this time? Shouldn’t that be the goal of professional educators? I am truly not trying to be “difficult”….just pondering the opinions you are stating as fact.
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Research confirms that the only way to become a better reader is to practice, and that is what a reading log encourages. It is not a measure of trust but one of accountability and responsibility. What better way to reinfore reading as a liflong skill than to practice at home. Most parents are excited to see their child progress through the early stages of reading. I have used and will continue to use reading logs in the classroom as key reinforcement to practicing reading skills.
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But why do you feel a six year old must be “accountable and responsible?” A love of reading doesn’t need to be “reinforced”… it needs to be nurtured.
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Also, what does “being a better reader” mean? I love reading but if a book is boring and unengaging; I won’t recall or be able to summarize much of it. Again, our educational system seems to be a slave to data and research.
Contrary to what you probably believe, most adults in the U.S.A. can read very well. If they choose not to read for pleasure or knowledge, it is probably their loss but it is also a personal choice they are free to make. Why do you feel it is your place to dictate to the kids how much they should read at home?
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I seriously think that you all have nothing better to do than complain about silly and trivial things. Be thankful that your kid is able to do all these things. There are some out there that will never have that ability or live to see it. GET OVER IT!
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Get over what? Your argument of life could suck more is true. However, the good ole U.S. of A is supposed to be a free country where spirited debate is welcomed. The teachers (and people that support them) can never debate on logic or merit. (Notice how none of them can ever answer any logical or reasoned questions re: homework and the fact that they can’t educate our kids in the six-eight hours they have our kids?) Notice how none of them can ever admit that homework causes stress and frustration for many families? Therefore, they resort to the hostile and emotional answer of just get over it! We should just do exactly as they ask without question and life would be so much easier for them!
Guess what? School is as government agency designed to foster compliance and dull-wittted obedience. I truly think the founding fathers (who signed a declaration against tyranny!) would be aghast at our government institutions of today. School has become a repressive, dull-witted, unthinking place filled with “don’t blame me I’m only following orders!’ teachers who lack the courage (and brains) to speak out against oppressive, dim-witted policies and rules.
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Arizona Teacher says:
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Don’t think for one minute that the teachers are going to bring up your kids outside of the classroom.
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A. Teacher, that’s exactly my point. I want all teachers to stop interfering with me bringing up my kids outside the classroom. When you send home reading logs and other homework, you’re intruding in my life. Enough already.
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As a parent, I’m not so much against the reading logs (although our logs are less authoritarian than some described herein) but it is the 20-30 minutes my second grader is “expected” to read on top of 40 minutes to 1 hour of other homework (which teachers think takes less than 30). First grade was just as bad. I’m beginning to think that all of this is solely for the adults who want to point to high test scores.
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For starters, I didn’t say that I would not bring up someone else’s children outside the classroom. That was from the person who responded to me. There absolutely was homework 20 years ago in grade school because that’s when I was in grade school and I had homework every night. I do not deny a child his/her recess if they miss turning in a part of their homework. They are allowed to work on it during the day if they finish early or during our pencil sharpening time if they choose. As far as reading logs go, again, I do not punish the child for not having it completed. It is ENCOURAGED because as it’s been said, reading is a skill that takes practice and should be done so often. As for alot of what we teachers do in the classroom, it is something that our district has mandated that we do – many times it is not a choice. Thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act signed in 2001, the focus on schools is how well they are performing on state tests and if they are making their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). If a school does poorly enough for long enough they are put on an improvement plan. If it continues doing poorly, the state can step in and remove the teachers and put in new ones. It’s hard enough to find teachers now – where does the state think it’s gonna find replacements?? All this is based on TEST SCORES. Our federal government has done this to our public education system. It’s not always ALL the teacher’s fault. Don’t be so quick to judge the teacher. You have NO idea what it’s like to do our job until you’ve done it.
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Arizona Teacher – I am interested, not challenging you. I saw for myself the huge pressure teachers are put under to get their students ready for the year-end standardized tests. Do you feel that the homework enhances the students’ preparation? Did the amount of homework assigned increase following NCLB?
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Arizona Teacher, you’re quite right. I should have quoted Anonymous above. I apologize.
As for NCLB, what an unbelievable waste of time, energy, and, last but not least, money, it has all been. Test scores have hardly budged. I wish the Feds would just scrap the whole thing, but I don’t have much hope, because Obama’s “Race to the Trough” is just as bad.
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Arizona Teacher,
You’re right. It isn’t all the teachers fault. However, the teachers’ union has made it near impossible to fire bad teachers (of which there seem to be many). The worst type of bad teachers I have seen (and the type that leads to bitter resentment on the part of the mothers), are the bullying, manipulative, hostile, lazy ones. As a parent, it is very difficult to navigate this type of teacher and not feel frustrated by a system that employs her. I think most teachers start out well-intentioned but (like any job where you deal with the public and have little autonomy), they burn out over time and become more authoritarian because it is the path of least resistance. Also, because most parents don’t want a confrontation, they just sort of go along to get along but silenty resent the burden of co-teaching their child (a job that many are shocked to find the school automatically assumes they should be fine with). In a way, teachers and mothers (who usually take up this job of co-teaching), are flip sides of the same coin.
It is understandable that you would want to vent as well. However, the teachers’ union never reaches out to the parents in an organized way to try and stop the insanity of NCLB.
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Did anyone here ever stop to think that teachers are not the ones responsible for the reading logs? It is just another requirement handed down by administration in many cases.
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My son’s 15-minute reading log in 2nd grade got him in the habit of reading 15 minutes. Problem was that he used to read 45-60 minutes and when he saw that his teacher only wanted 15 minutes he would watch the clock and end at the shortened time. Over the course of a year (and I blame myself for not speaking up) it changed my son’s reading habits to view reading as a job, only to be done when their was a requirement (no requirement on weekends or summer, then you don’t read then either) and watching a clock while you’re reading and stopping after a certain point instead of getting caught up in the book.
I felt the process to be demeaning, that my parenting skills were being watched since I had to sign this month-long log and I once toyed with the idea of getting it notarized to make it truly official.
I read aloud to my child almost every night – he’s 10 and still enjoys it. We’ve gone through dozens of great books. I can’t say that he’s read many books IN school with his teachers – less than a handful in 5 years.
I’ve always read as a child, with the goal being to finish books because they were good and I enjoyed reading. I cringe at how my son’s school promotes literacy, including a semi-threatening letter sent to parents about a summer reading requirement (ONE book from a list) while no one on the school staff does a book talk or even tells the kids about summer reading. They don’t promote literacy all year and believe that telling parents (not kids) that they MUST (they used capital letters) read one book is somehow going to make up for their year-long negligence.
Last thing I was going to do was give my child the expectation that reading ONE book over the summer was OK. I ignored the summer reading program other than the book list (it had some good choices). He read 6 or 7 books on his own and we read about 6 books together. We watch movie adaptations of books we’ve read and he has come to the conclusion that books are always better than the movie. He wonders why certain books weren’t made into movies and is learning there are far more choices in books than on TV. You don’t get these conclusions from promoting reading as a chore.
There are also logs of when a child practices a musical instrument.
I tell my son’s teachers I won’t teach my child to lie. It is unrealistic to expect him to practice every day and while it’s easy to sign and lie about this, I have enough respect that an experienced music teacher can tell if a child has practiced or not.
A reading log came home again in 5th grade. Write the title of the book, genre and how long (30 minutes minimum). I need to sign it weekly.
Right now, my son is reading and logging in. I don’t want to send my son mixed messages that I’m disagreeing with his teacher. I’ll see how long his honeymoon with the reading list lasts. I would prefer the teacher set a goal of reading 20-25 books in the school year and getting them excited about certain books and authors rather than nitpicking the time spent each night (and reading on the weekend being optional and worth extra-credit). That’s my approach.
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Stephanie,
It sounds like you do a great job encouraging your child’s love of reading. It’s too bad that his school is promoting reading in a way that seems to lessen the amount kids read rather than promote it.
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oops, I meant “rather than increase it” in the last sentence, not promote. Sorry!
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Quit complaining!!! Parents are your child’s first teacher. Therefore, you should spend that time with your child. Give them 30 mins of your time. Homework is never meant to punish, only purpose it serves is to spend that quality one-on-one time with your child. Who told you to have so many children. If all you have is just one….. Shame on you…. Mr. or Mrs. Lazy…….. Grow up and do your jobs….
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Quit complaining!!! Parents are your child’s first teacher. Therefore, you should spend that time with your child. Give them 30 mins of your time. Homework is never meant to punish, only purpose it serves is to spend that quality one-on-one time with your child. Who told you to have so many children. If all you have is just one….. Shame on you Mr. and Mrs. Lazy…….. Grow up and do your jobs….
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Shavonne, for heaven’s sake, I’m not against reading logs because I don’t want to spend time with my kids. I’m against reading logs because they have turn reading into a chore. Pay attention and keep up!
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I decided this year that I would give the parents a choice on whether or not their child needed a reading log. It went over very well with the parents in my classroom. At open house they filled out a form checking either “My child reads on their own and doesn’t require a reading log” or “My child could use the reinforcement of a reading log.” I had about 50/50 for each choice. Both sides appreciated being asked.
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Curious Teacher, great idea. One solution to the homework problem is to make it optional, and let every family decide what works for them.
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So glad to hear you’re doing that, Curious Teacher. That’s an example of a true parent-teacher partnership.
What does your school think and have any other teachers adopted the same idea?
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Honestly, I don’t know what my school thinks…but 2-3 other teachers in my school are trying it this year too. I told the kids and the parents at Open House that my goal is for all students to read a little each day. I’ve seen top readers lessen their reading because of logs, so I figured why not try this method. So far so good!
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Oh, come on Curious Teacher…we hear from many teachers that they have no choice about these things. Why are you different? I’m serious about this….what is it about you or your school that allows you to make these decisions? You need to communicate to other teachers and get the word around that teachers are professionals who can make sound choices about what goes on in their classrooms.
As a parent, I have no voice with those teachers who claim that doing reading logs is mandatory and out of their hands. You can be our reference point from here on, ….the teacher who made reading logs optional.
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My second-grader has a reading log and a 20-30 minute-reading per night rule. I read all the posts above about the logs turning reading from a pleasure into a chore. Fortunately (for my daughter, not me) the teacher has an endless collection of Scooby-Doo books which my daughter is happy to read. So she’s reading a Scooby-Doo book every night, and I’m just quietly keeping up the reading log without making an issue of it. If the teacher is unhappy because the log is in my handwriting, we can discuss it.
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I have worked in a school where the log was a requirement from the administration. The school I am currently teaching in doesn’t have a requirement, but it does seem to be past practice that never changes. This blog actually got me thinking about it and after discussing it with some collegues, we realized the only thing keeping us doing logs were the students who don’t like reading. I haven’t really announced our decision around the school but feel confident enough that I could back it up if need be.
I must say that I used to be a teacher who thought I had to send home a reading log. Thank you to the parents participating in this blog for helping me to see alternatives. I don’t have children yet and wouldn’t have seen your perspective had I not happened upon your blog. Thank you!! :o)
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Curious Teacher, you are very welcome. And a big thank you to you for being open-minded and thoughtful. Teachers like you give me hope.
Could you post again and let us know how it’s going? I’d be curious what the parents say about their kids’ reading. Do the kids seem more interested?
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I can definitely let you know. I send the first logs home tomorrow and am curious if the kids will be vocal about some getting logs and others not. That was my one concern with this system, but at the same time I tell the kids that everyone gets what they need. This is no different!
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Oh, and thank you for the kind words! I’m on the newer side to teaching (7 years under my belt) and am always up for new thoughts or ideas. I hope the parents in my classroom will be as honest with me as you have been with your child’s (children’s) teachers.
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I am saddened by what I read here!!! Really, you pay me as a teacher? Well then I guess I pay myself because I pay taxes like everyone else. Do you pay your own salary? Not to mention the $200 I just plunked down for a fingerprint card and renewed teaching license, or how about the $500 I spend at the beginning of the year for notebooks, folders, and art supplies so that the parents don’t have to and then probably another $500 during the course of the year for science supplies ect. You can’t do the small task of sitting with your child to find out what they are reading and hwo they are comprehending through the reading log? You trust your child to do it……..really? Heaven forbid a child have to do a little work to show what they have or in some cases haven’t learned. Good luck to you when your child whom you trust to do her job is living at home at thirty because she has no work ethic because mom said she didn’t have to do the work. A partnership is not you pay the teacher and the teacher does all the work, you work together to create a well rounded hard working individual who rises to the challenge and the job no matter what. Sorry if you are to busy to sit with your child and read for 30 minutes, should of thought of that before you procreated and is the very reason why teachers have to put certain procedures in place. Your philosophy is the very reason I left the classroom, society is a mess and I hated watching parents like you not invest in your child but make them an unproductive, entightled pain in society’s ass. Oh and by the way in 8 1/2 years I never did a reading log. The students were given a test on a computer and given a reading level from their score. They then were to read any book they liked on their own time 20-30 minutes a night that was at their level so they could have success independently and they could read whatever was an interest to them. They had to read enough books to get to a point goal I assigned them and if they did it by the end of the quarter I would by them out of my own pocket a pizza party. There was no grade or nightly log assigned to this task, just an encouragment for independent reading, and guess what in 8 1/2 years I averaged maybe 5 students meeting their goal per quarter, and you trust your child to read?
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@Nicole Costa: Actually, I do pay part of my own salary.
You use the word “partnership” but I don’t think you know what it means. To the public schools, “partnership” seems to mean “we take your money, and you do what we tell you to do.” That’s not a partnership. I throw out the taxpayer-salary link because, quite frankly, I’m sick of the attitude of school staff towards their customers/clients/constituents/whatever you want to call us and our kids.
It would be one thing if I felt the schools were doing a really good job at educating my children, but they’re not. The schools think they are because they are quite effective at teaching standardized test taking skills. Unfortunately, that’s not going to help my kids in their adult lives.
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Nicole Costa….you sound very hostile and angry. In addition, as are most of the teachers who post here, you are a very poor writer. Matthew hit the nail on the head re: the attitude most school employees have toward the kids, parents, etc. At my children’s high performing school, I was shocked to see how hardened and filled with hate many of the teachers had become over time.
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I came across this blog by accident, but I am very intrigued by the discussion here. I am a pre-service English teacher (aka: I’m in my last semester of classes and will be student teaching next semester) at a highly regarded university for education.
I thought it would interest you to know that when they teach us how to make lesson plans, the “homework/extensions” section is a -required- section. This means I am to devise an activity for my “students” to complete at home each day or week (depending on my professor). These are -general- educational methods courses that all Secondary Ed. majors take.
I can’t speak for the Elementary Ed. majors, but I laugh at my courses more often than not. My professor for general methods would lecture on why lecturing is bad and we shouldn’t use Power Points -as he read from a power point.- Keep in mind, my university is known for it’s education program.
That said, I have had the lucky chance to work with some “guest professors” for my Writing: Methods course. The entire course was taught by an actual English teacher who was taking time off as she is starting a family. In there I was taught to only assign homework if it was necessary. We actually were required to provide a rationale for every assignment done in and OUT of class.
On another note:
I believe that Education/Certification programs are the ones that should be held responsible. You can make the comparison that we parent the way we were parented…and we teach the way we were taught. But the difference is that teachers have years of training followed by years of practice, professional development, more training etc. Parenting is something that is inherent, and there is no parental training requirement or certification that you need to test for in order to reproduce (hence the common reversion to our own parents’ methods). I think comparing teaching to parenting is an excuse for a number of things that are essentially irrelevant.
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