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 
FedUpMom and Jennifer- thanks!! I’m sorry I’m late in responding but I forgot to check in between last minute summer vacations and working in my room.
I will follow your advice! No more homework! – think that’s a line from “Schools Out for the Summer” 🙂
I have to say it is a relief not to have to create homework packets and I’ll be saving building money in the process.
Have a good school year! And thanks again for this thread and your advice. As an educator its hard to view school from a parent perspective. And having no kids, its even harder!
Christie
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Just found this article after my last post….
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Do-Kids-Have-Too-Much-Homework.html?onsite_source=relatedarticles&onsite_medium=internallink&onsite_campaign=SmithMag&onsite_content=Do%20Kids%20Have%20Too%20Much%20Homework?
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I have to report that today when I introduced my plan for homework for the year, which I explained in an earlier post, the kids were elated. It wasn’t because they wouldn’t have homework. I had MANY students say to me that it made them so happy to have a teacher that understands readers and what they need…time to read! They shared that in the past they had been asked to do 20-30 minutes a night and then write complicated responses that sometimes took them up to an hour! Wow! I wrote the homework assignment on the board…
Read! Anything you like, for as long as you like! Smiles across the room!
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Christie and Jennifer, it’s great to hear from you. You are an inspiration. I hope you’ll keep in touch and let us know how the year goes. I predict your kids will be more interested, more enthusiastic, and will learn a whole lot more than previous years.
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Sally writes: “A minimal amount of homework does in fact encourage responsibility as well as much needed practice in a different setting. Children have a need to involve their parents in what they are doing at school.”
Sally, do you think you could do a minimal amount of homework so that you could learn to break up your paragraphs into coherent prose? I got dizzy just reading your comment.
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“They started focusing on what they were reading instead of watching the clock.”
This is so seminal, Jennifer. I thank you for saying this. My daughter would get lost in a book and read for hours without coming up for air. Why on earth would I want to set up an artificial time? The time spent in filling out a reading log is better spent simply reading more.
We are a family of readers. So passionate am I about this life long pleasure that I won’t get my child an e-reader. Books are everything in our household. Time comes to a standstill for us in libraries and bookstores.
There’s no way a teacher here can convince me my daughter would love reading even more if I felt better about reading logs.Let it go, teachers. Trust us. We know what we’re doing in our homes. You do your job (teach) and allow me to do mine (parent). You do your job in the hours you have her, I’ll do mine in the hours I have her. With some luck, your influence will spill over into our household and my influence will spill over into your classroom.
I don’t need reading logs any more than you need a to do list from me. Remember. You get paid. We don’t. You work for the student. Not the other way around.
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Amen HomeworkBlues!
I was brave and spoke up at one of our inservice meetings at the start of the school year when they told us we all needed to create menus for our gifted kids to provide enrichment activities. My fear is always that gifted kids will be asked to do more work, instead of differentiated wrok and that those assignments will end up as homework!
It started a conversation about the amount of homework we are asking kids to do on our campus. After the meeting my daughter’s teacher from last year asked me to help her reevaluate what she assigned last year. I also noticed that her new teacher for this year is not using a reading log or assigning the dreaded spelling homework! My daughter told me that the first day of school the teacher asked if students had any questions and she asked, “What exactly is your homewrok policy?” That’s my girl!
Now that I have been outspoken about the issue, teachers are coming to be to share that they too want to look closely at the issue.
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Amen HomeworkBlues!
I was brave and spoke up at one of our inservice meetings at the start of the school year when they told us we all needed to create menus for our gifted kids to provide enrichment activities. My fear is always that gifted kids will be asked to do more work, instead of differentiated wrok and that those assignments will end up as homework!
It started a conversation about the amount of homework we are asking kids to do on our campus. After the meeting my daughter’s teacher from last year asked me to help her reevaluate what she assigned last year. I also noticed that her new teacher for this year is not using a reading log or assigning the dreaded spelling homework! My daughter told me that the first day of school the teacher asked if students had any questions and she asked, “What exactly is your homewrok policy?” That’s my girl!
Now that I have been outspoken about the issue, teachers are coming to be to share that they too want to look closely at the issue.
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I am a first grade teacher who uses reading logs. I do not use them as a reward or as part of an incentive program. Reading logs should not be made public to other students/parents in any form. Our curriculum requires reading logs as a form of progress monitoring. We also use these logs to have wonderful 1-1 conversations with our students on their progress, what book did they enjoy the most, why, etc… Our logs do not track minutes read. We do leave space for parents to leave positive comments on how their children are making progress. As with anything, there is good and bad. Reading logs can serve as a useful tool if used correctly,
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@Jennifer, keep up the good work! I hope you see real changes in your school.
@M, you may think your reading logs are harmless, but you don’t really know that. You don’t know how the reading log works out at home. You don’t know how much stress it causes, or how much it actually discourages reading by turning it into a chore owned by the school.
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M, if you want to create meaningful dialogue with your students about the books they read, just ask. Just talk. You don’t need a log.
Problem with logs is they can turn off a child already turned on to reading and unlikely to turn on one who isn’t already. If it runs the risk of damaging a child’s relationship to reading, already it isn’t worth it. I wouldn’t push it. It’s simply not worth the risk.
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“Again the best solution would be for you to home school your child so things can be done as you see fit.”
I hear this sentiment a lot on this blog. If you don’t like it, leave. Homeschooling is presented as a renegade option for non-compliant parents.
I homeschooled for a year. It is a real option for many parents. It is real, vibrant, growing, effective and gives schools a real run for their money. I for one am sick and tired of educators dismissing homeschooling as some rebellious unstructured free-for-all for all those parents you cannot put in their place.
Often parents homeschool because school is not meeting their needs. And more often than not, the school could have been far more responsive and cooperative. Take it or leave it is not what you tell families in a democratic society.
Many educators here talk about the compliance factor. Parents who homeschool are not, by and large, loud mouthed obnoxious rude parents who “make a ridiculous mountain out of a molehill,” who nitpick “every little thing,” and are generally unruly and difficult. Parents often choose this option as a last resort.
Don’t get me wrong. I think homeschooling and the tributary that flows from it, unschooling, is an amazing option. Parents will leave the schools in tears only to reap the joyous benefits of this remarkable adventure down the line. But despite those surprising benefits, it still rankles that the attitude here is “my way or the highway.” That’s not a partnership. That’s an edict.
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I came across this by accident and was mildly intrigued. I’m an American teaching overseas (Asia), most parents here ask for more homework and more for their children to learn and do. Education does not stop when the school day is over. It appears that the expats and international communities are preparing their children for successful futures while Americans are focused on airing their opinions via blogs.
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Anonymous, Japan for example has a HUGE initiative problem. A lot has been written about that, in major publications. On paper, they appear to beat us cold. Their last year of high school is known as cram school. They do nothing but prep for tests that determine their future, whether they even get into university, let alone a good one.
What happens to many of these youngsters is, they lose their creativity and initiative. A lot has been written about Asian students and workers. The elite ones, of course. They seem to do well in school and well on tests. But look further. By and large, they don’t seem to invent much. We hosted two Japanese students over two years. They were smart, delightful, compliant, gracious. They don’t sleep much during the school year.They were terrified of that last year of school. I worry they’ll burn out fast.
Our nation (the US, that is) was founded on revolutionaries, not compliance. We produced great thinkers and do-ers. Let us not lose what is unique and great about us.
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As a teacher who DOES assign reading logs, I have to say something on this issue. I had kids BEFORE I became a teacher and I knew that reading logs were no fun for parents. HOWEVER, now that I teach 5th grade and the students are supposed to be reading to learn and not learning to read, I set individual goals for each student. I’m flexible because I know that parents don’t always have the time to sit with their child and talk about what they are reading. Which is beyond me, because even without a log, I talked to my kids about the books they were reading. Was it interesting? What’s your favorite part? What makes you like the characters? Would you do something differently?
BUT I AM A TEACHER and the majority of parents aren’t. They have no idea what goes into teaching and why homework is even assigned. I’m not into teaching compliance with my students, but I am into teaching responsibility.
And yes, parents you have to have a hand in your child’s education. School IS your child’s job right now. They HAVE to do certain things. And if your child is as responsible on their own as most think they are, then the student should have no problem completing an assignment. And you should have no problem spending less than 30 seconds to provide a signature.
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Anonymous says:
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I’m not into teaching compliance with my students, but I am into teaching responsibility.
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No, you’re into teaching compliance. Real responsibility comes with a position of power — as in, “the captain is responsible for his ship.” Your students have no power.
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I’m flexible because I know that parents don’t always have the time to sit with their child and talk about what they are reading. Which is beyond me, because even without a log, I talked to my kids about the books they were reading.
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Do you hear how self-righteous and patronizing you are? Your contempt for parents is really shining through.
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BUT I AM A TEACHER and the majority of parents aren’t. They have no idea what goes into teaching and why homework is even assigned.
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The vast majority of teachers have no idea why homework is assigned either. They do it out of habit. If they read the research, they would stop assigning homework in elementary school.
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Anonymous says:
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School IS your child’s job right now. They HAVE to do certain things.
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If that’s not teaching compliance, what the heck is it?
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Anonymous says:
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And you should have no problem spending less than 30 seconds to provide a signature.
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As I have said many many MANY times already, the problem with signing the log is not the time it takes but the message it sends.
Reading logs tell kids that reading is an unpleasant chore that is owned by the authority figures in their lives. The teacher doesn’t trust kids to read on their own, so schools and parents conspire together to make them read, and then make them prove that they have read. The teacher won’t trust the child to tell the truth about his reading, so she requires the parent to sign too.
What’s wrong with this picture? How could any child develop a love of reading under a regime like this?
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“I’m flexible because I know that parents don’t always have the time to sit with their child and talk about what they are reading. Which is beyond me, because even without a log, I talked to my kids about the books they were reading.”
One of the problems I have with this statement is that I feel like a hamster on a wheel. I keep making my points, and new teachers come along, don’t hear a thing I say, and make the same statements. So I’m left with making my point again. And again. And again. And yet again.
Look, teacher, I don’t expect you to read 900-something comments on this blog. But speaking of homework, I do expect you to at least scan, look at the major contributors on this post and the entire blog and at least get a feel for the positions we have taken. Without at least listening, we have zero chance at meaningful dialogue.
I agree with FedUp. Your contempt for parents shines through loud and clear. Some parents don’t have time to sit with their child to discuss what they’re reading? Why do I bother on this blog? If I haven’t talked about our love of books and literature till I’m blue in the face, I haven’t said it once. We LOVE reading! My husband and I spent countless hours cultivating it. Heck, I started reading to her in the womb and never stopped.
Once more. WE ARE NOT OPPOSED TO READING. We don’t want reading logs! Logs are not reading. Logs take away from reading. As Sara Bennett writes in her book, the time it takes a six year old to fill out a log is time she could have been reading another book.
Time is golden. We have such precious little of our children to begin with. Don’t take it away from us. It’s your job to teach, not to manage our home lives. Don’t give us this bunk about “teaching responsibility.” We’ve heard it before. We’d believe it better if we saw productivity during the school day. As the years wore on, I saw more clearly through this charade. Homework wasn’t responsibility. It was code for “let’s send home all the work we didn’t do during the day. Let’s shove it onto unsuspecting parents, make them feel rotten when they slowly discover the Emperor Has No Clothes, and if they dare to speak up, let’s brand them as bad bad parents.”
Been there done that. No thank you.
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Reading logs are a funny thing; they seem like a little deal, but they provoke big reactions. As a student, I was a voracious reader who DESPISED reading logs. As a teacher, I still dislike them. However, I do assign them, but only because parents have asked me to do so. Some parents have told me that their children do not read at home unless they are required to by the school. So I assign the dreaded logs, but I also send home opt-out forms for parents who do not think reading logs are the best tool to get and keep their kids reading. It’s impossible to please everyone with a one-size-fits-all approach to homework. Flexibility (on everyone’s part) is important.
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Karen says:
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I also send home opt-out forms for parents who do not think reading logs are the best tool to get and keep their kids reading.
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Opt-out forms! Hooray! I have never seen such a thing, but I wish they were the regular accompaniment of homework. Let every family decide what works for their own situation.
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Karen! You go! Opt out forms. Beautiful. But who let a sane person into this discussion? 🙂
Wow, you’re fabulous. You made my day, Karen. You have restored my faith.
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Just passing on what I did this fall….
On the first day of school this year, dear daughter came home with my instructions. “You HAVE to look at my agenda everyday and you HAVE to sign it to show that you saw the messages and that I did my homework. The teacher said all parent have to do this. We get to put our name in the hat for a prize every time we get a signature. And then at the end of two weeks he draws a name out of the hat”
I know…I know…I took very big gulps of air in as I waited for her to finish.
She’s in Grade 5 now and while she’s very old and wise, I’m still the Mom and this is still my home. I told her that since she can certainly tell me the messages I’m supposed to get and that I think she should make sure she does her school work herself, I thought it a much better idea that she sign her own agenda when she’s completed these apparently essential tasks. I wrote a note to the teacher saying the same thing. SO far this idea works.
And as for the draw…that’s just so wrong on so many levels I don’t know where quite to begin in addressing it.
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I have been teaching for 20 years. I have seen a lot of changes in education. Parents and teachers need to work together, recognizing that parents know their children and teachers know educating children.
The reason reading logs are used is the legislators demanding data to show progress. Parents and teachers need to work together to help politicians draft appropriate education policies. No one group should be dictating to the others. Right now, educators are at the mercy of politicians, who do not have degrees nor have they been trained in education, as to how to show progress. Until parents and educators work together, politicians will continue to dicatate how progress is shown and reading logs will continue to be implemented.
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Wow, resorting to name calling. I think you just hate teachers FED UP MOM..and I’m fed up with parents like you who blame teachers for everything.
FINAL WORD, quit blaming teachers, elect a different school board and pull your precious snowflake out of school. HOME SCHOOLING IS ALWAYS AN OPTION. Quit you whining…you don’t like where your tax money is going, then vote differently and work to make a change instead of hiding on the internet to complain.
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The amount of time that is spent arguing about this topic is ridiculous. So you people have nothing else to do? Why not complain to your local school board and see their reaction? As a matter of fact, why don’t you RUN for the school board if you want change so desperately, then you’ll get to see the REAL problems in schools and they aren’t reading logs.
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I do not assign reading logs. However, it does seem like there could be well-designed reading logs that encourage students to think more deeply about something they are reading.
I suppose that this kind of assignment would not really be a “log” as the name describes, but it would ask students to slow down and think about what they are reading. It could draw their attention to certain aspects of fiction as a craft, or analyze ideas in a way that pushes them to read beyond simply for entertainment. After all, it is possible to be a passive reader, too. It seems like reading logs, if designed with the goal in mind, could be a tool to encourage critical thinking skills. Thoughts?
Also, on another note, I hear many more complaints from parents about students not receiving enough homework rather than students receiving too much. Some parents are worried that students aren’t learning about academic responsibility ouside of school, and they are concerned about their future academic success because of that. Of course, many students have unique schedules with classes that assign more homework. I understand that. However, from my perspective, it doesn’t seem like the rule.
Actually, I’m just looking for feedback regarding the possibility of more productive and valuable “logs.”
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Wow, this makes me sick.
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I was looking around on the internet for ideas on how to make a reading log for my kid’s reading club when I stumbled into this site. I decided to pitch in and help my daughter’s reading club in school design one. What is the fuss all about? I do not see anything wrong with reading logs. In my experience, it has helped cultivate a love for the english language in my child. I do not see any malicious intent on the teachers why they make the children and parents do this together. But if you as a parent do not want to do it, i guess it is your right to express your disagreement. You did say you transferred your daughter to a different school so I hope that solved your homework/reading log dilemma. For me, if there is something disagreeable, it is less stressful to just find an alternative than to fight the entire system. Less stressed parent equals a happier child.
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To a Different Teacher:
I am just going to help with the design and not the content of the reading log. The moderator of my kid’s reading club in school made the kids decide what information would be included. There are no minutes read or parent’s signature required so it is up to any of the kids who have read a book if they want to participate in filling up the log. Only info on the paper are DATE, NAME OF STUDENT/GR LEVEL, BOOK TITLE, AUTHOR and RATING. This will be posted on their club’s bulletin board. For the rating, the girl’s asked me to help them make stars that they could color. So each line for rating will have 5 stars and it depends on each child’s rating how many of the stars will be colored. I guess this way encourages all the other children to be a participant because they can see their friends enthusiastic about the project. Whenever somebody signs in on the log, they also have the chance to talk in front of the class about the book they’ve read.
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I read most of the posts on here…
I am a public school teacher. I teach 6th grade in an urban school district. My students come from the lowest socioeconomic status, are all minorities, and have parents who care but mostly do not know what to do.
I use reading logs. I use reading logs because the most important thing a parent can do is read with his/her child every night. Read to them, read with them, whatever it looks like is wonderful.
It seems to me most of the parents who have posted on this blog are very, very involved in their children’s education. This is so wonderful! There are actually very few parents who don’t care; most of the parents I interact with simply do not know what to do. They work two jobs, they work at night, they themselves are not educated, etc. A reading log is a very specific and tangible way to support their child’s learning. I do not care if they read comic books, as long as there is print on that page. Read, think about what you’ve read, tell someone at home about it – this is exactly what I tell my students.
There are the uninvolved parents (for whatever reason), and then there are the over-involved, “helicopter” parents. My child is a genius. My child needs to be in a gifted program. My child is the center of the universe and therefore should be the center of yours, Teacher. Look how special Johnny is. My child didn’t do anything wrong – so-and-so’s kid is to blame. Students need to be held accountable for some things – reading every night for 30 minutes is one of them.
Reading is a skill. Some children manage to pick it up on their own at a very young age, but most do not. Children need to practice this skill at every opportunity. They need to practice decoding words, practice metacognition comprehension skills, practice retelling and summarizing. Life is very skills-based – performance is what counts. If you’re already a voracious reader, great, filling out a reading log shouldn’t be a hassle if you’re reading anyway. If you’re not a great reader, let’s find a text you can read and practice some self-discipline.
My job is to educate your child, absolutely. I know what I’m doing; let me do my job.
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Speducator, I notice that you divide parents into two groups: the “under-involved” and the “over-involved”. Is there any such thing as a parent that you don’t criticize?
Some children really are gifted, and really do need a different approach to education. The problems of gifted kids are just as real as the problems of your special ed kids.
In common with a lot of teachers, you seem to think that assigning something is the same as ensuring that it happens. This just isn’t true. Maybe the reading log plays out the way you wanted it to, and maybe it doesn’t.
Did you see the comment from a teacher who found that 40% of her class admitted to faking the reading log? How many of your kids are faking it?
Holding kids “accountable” for reading is a great way to make them dislike reading and avoid it whenever possible.
Your assumption that your students’ parents “don’t know what to do” and that it’s your role to tell them what to do is extremely patronizing.
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“Is there any such thing as a parent that you don’t criticize?”
I’m actually not criticizing any parents. I deal with many of them, and these are the two ends of the spectrum.
“The problems of gifted kids are just as real as the problems of your special ed kids.”
This may be true in some sense, but not in the sense I’m talking about. Students who struggle with reading, writing and basic math will most likely struggle their entire lives. It will get easier, but it will never be “easy.” Special education does not mean “low intelligence.” It has everything to do with accessing information. SPED students are unable to access information in a typical classroom setting, so they receive extra supports and modifications so that they can still learn what is necessary. A huge part of the world will continually be a challenge for them. My job is to present information in a way they can understand.
Gifted students (as well as students in general education) can still access information any way it is presented. They may thrive in a specific type of setting, but they can still function and excel in any type of setting. They are going to learn no matter where they are placed. If your child isn’t, perhaps he’s not gifted.
“you seem to think that assigning something is the same as ensuring that it happens”
Only when it comes to reading logs. I do not give homework because it doesn’t tell me anything and it doesn’t inform my instruction. However, I have set up a classroom culture where my students want to improve their reading levels, and the only way to do this is to read as much and as often as possible. I spend the first month of school creating this type of environment, and once October hits out comes the reading log. I have other incentives, of course, but usually by January the students are seeing their reading levels rise on our “Slam Dunk to Reading Success” chart and realize how much they are in fact improving and how much reading is getting easier and more fun.
My job is to focus on what works, and I strongly believe in a “less is more” approach. Reading logs work.
“How many of your kids are faking it?”
They may be faking a few days a month, but they are all reading most every night. I know this because I call parents once a week to check in. The reading log always is a part of the conversation. I have them in a binder, and when it comes to a parent-teacher conference or IEP meeting, there is my data. Since I don’t give other homework, it’s only one thing to keep track of. For those parents who aren’t there at night, I have an additional conversation with the older brother/cousin/whoever is there at night. If you frame these conversations in a way that gives the student and the caregiver a sense of ownership over the reading log and the progress made, the reading log works.
“Holding kids “accountable” for reading is a great way to make them dislike reading and avoid it whenever possible.”
I disagree. I feel once students practice reading and become better at it, they are more likely to do it.
“Your assumption that your students’ parents “don’t know what to do” and that it’s your role to tell them what to do is extremely patronizing.”
This isn’t an assumption; it’s reality. I get this every year during my first phone call home or in person conversation during the first week of school. The parents are the one telling me they don’t know what to do. Considering all that parenting entails, I have the most respect for parents who know they are not getting it right all the time. The moment I think I’ve got it down, that is the moment I’m actually the furthest away. It’s easy to be overwhelmed as a parent, and being given something tangible such as a reading log is something parents thank me for every year.
It’s not my job to improve parents’ parenting, just as it’s not a parent’s job to improve my teaching. Parents parent, teachers teach. Reading logs are an area where they overlap.
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WOW PARENTS! What don’t you just blame each other for the idiotic homework that teachers have to dish out each night to children. Homework has NEVER proven to make a child smarter. So many parents complain that there isn’t enough homework. And when extra homework IS GIVEN, they don’t have the time to help do it because they were at the mall. Give it a rest. Children deserve the right to go home to relax after a hard day at work, too. Let them go outside and play.
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Often times in life we are required to complete unattractive tasks. Instead of lamenting, let’s come up with some creative alternatives to the unpopular reading log.
The main objective for the reading log is to produce an artifact of the student’s response to a piece of literature. There are several, more attractive, ways to do this. She could discuss the book with you or a friend, create a playbill or movie poster about the book, blog a response, text a response, video a response, create a book mark to promote the literature, write a theme song for the book, design a comprehension quiz and answer key for the book, create a menu or cookbook based on events or settings (bring a sample dish to share with the class), design a wardrobe for the characters, storyboard a videogame based on the plot, or create your own vehicle to meet the goal in an exciting and enjoyable way.
The most important lesson here is how to turn an inconvenience into an opportunity. Also, this is your daughter’s battle, not yours. This is the perfect opportunity for you to empower your daughter to have polite, yet persuasive conversations with her teacher about your family’s aversion to reading logs.
Life is one big Homework Assignment. You are allowed to take a different path as long as you eventually reach the desired destination. Don’t sit in the dark complaining, strike a match, light a candle, and bring your light to this situation. You are a mommy! So, quit fussing, get off the computer, and go spend some time with that little gal.
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I do not give homework. Most of my students walk home, whip out their key-necklace, double bolt the door of their empty pre-fabricated home, crack open a can of Spaghetti-Os, and wait for their parents to get home from shift work. Yet, I’m pretty sure they would GLADLY take on a mountain of homework if they could come home to a hot meal, and an adult who wasn’t mentally and physically spent. Do you think I could get some of my students into your private school on scholarships? I can grantee their parents would not be complaining online about reading logs; they are too tired.
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Amen. I hate homework. I hate giving it to my 4th grade class. I hate correcting it. I hate that it is busy work. I hate keeping track of the stupid reading logs — both as a mom and as a teacher. That said, I have already had 3 complaints to my principal that I don’t give *enough* homework and parents want to be sure I am really challenging their kids. I am a 19-year-veteran master teacher. No matter what we do, we piss off parents, administrators, and the general public. It is so discouraging to have parents trying to manage my systems, my structures, and criticizing me for what they know to be in error — even though they disagree radically about what that is. As a mom, I make sure my kids do what their teacher asks, even if I disagree. My children learn that they are NOT exceptions to the rules, that sometimes the world is unfair, and that they can adjust and cope and even thrive, and not think that rules are for everybody else. And because I’m also a 13-year-veteran master mom, I manage to do so without squelching their love of learning and reading.
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WalktheTalk says:
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Life is one big Homework Assignment.
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OMG, how depressing is that? That certainly isn’t my philosophy of life. If it’s yours, I feel sorry for you.
Not As Bad As You Think says:
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Yet, I’m pretty sure they would GLADLY take on a mountain of homework if they could come home to a hot meal, and an adult who wasn’t mentally and physically spent.
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Are there parents in the world with bigger problems than I have, and kids in the world with bigger problems than my kids have? Yes, of course. But the fact that somebody else has a bigger problem doesn’t solve my problem.
Anonymous says:
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As a mom, I make sure my kids do what their teacher asks, even if I disagree.
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If your doctor prescribed the wrong medicine for your child, would you make sure your child took it?
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I found this blog when I google searched, “reading log”. As a teacher who has taught most elementary and middle school grades, I have never understood the purpose of the reading log or homework.
I teach in a Title 1 school (95% of my students are on the free lunch program). Most of them have VERY LITTLE assistance at home. I “looped” with my 2nd Graders to 3rd Grade this year. I know my students and their homelives/families very well. I send homework one time per week (as required by my school) and it is differentiated. I do give spelling words (as required by my school) but do not require the “3x each” or “definitions”. I do have a spelling center in the classroom that has a choice board the students go to once a week.
I do not see a purpose in homework because the students who truly NEED homework or assistance at home do not get any assistance or their parents are unable to help them with 3rd grade level homework.
So, why am I searching for a reading log? Again, this is required so I must find one. In 5 years, I haven’t found one that I like. I try to send something with a response. I do look at them and discuss the types of books my students are reading and write notes to parents (ie: Do you have enough books at home for your child to read for their book log? ie: I notice that Tylan is reading a lot of superhero picture books, I will send home a graphic novel that he might enjoy). I too have a 3rd grader who struggles with fluency so we are always on the look out for books that interest him.
After reading this blog, I have decided to do a reading log for my students who truely need to read and help increase fluency (it will include a response sheet). And for my students who I know are on level and who I know are reading all the time, I will give a reading response sheet for a novel or chapter book that s/he chooses to read. This will be their “reading log” grade. Hope this gives parents hope that there are teachers who listen!
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RE: Reading Logs & “compliance”
Success in much of life is “simply” giving people want they want.
School is particularly easy, if seen this way, because you are always told exactly what is wanted – and the requests are carefully matched with the student’s current ability to deliver.
Later “what they want” may be a new product or a service offered or an acceptable level of productivity — or…? “It” will always require appropriate knowledge and understanding. “Giving people what they want” will likely require making requests of others – colleagues, supplies, crew.
“Compliance” – or giving people what they want” is the whole of it and a source or “power”. If a teacher/coach asks for something, do it or get another coach.
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PS – My 5th grader attends a wonderful public school in a major west coast city. She is several years ahead of her normalized grade level. We are fortunate from an education and cultural perspective.
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I have a great example of the damage a reading log can do. We have a set of twins in fifth grade. One twin has me…personal conferences to set reading goals/ talk about books 3x a week. The other twin has different teacher with a log and a 20 minute a night requirement. The mom came to me to ask for help because the girls are of equal ability and yet they are performing very differently. The twin that has me has finished 8 books already and reads nightly for long periods of time on her own. The other twin has finished one book. She asks her mom to time her and stops at exactly 20 minutes. Its sad! How can that possibly improve her reading. And it’s not just the amount of reading completed, its the attitude about reading. Some teachers on here are saying the log promotes responsibility, but I believe it hinders it. Give students the power and trust them, they just may surprise you!
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@Jennifer — Wow! Great story. That says it all.
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Take a look at Steve Jobs. Did his teachers love him? I don’t know. But I doubt he was the kid who did his homework every night. We get teachers who come on here and preach compliance, dutifulness, meekness. Do what you’re told.
That is not how visionaries are made. That is not how they are born. Let us not take the rare kid who has a vision and do everything in our power to stamp out that creativity, that innovation, that fire.
Let’s ban reading logs. Let’s ban the twenty minute reading rule. We hear too often that potentially great readers start asking to be timed, so that they can be dutiful and stop reading when the twenty minute timer goes off.
Let Steve Jobs be a lesson to us all. Not every child will grow up to be a visionary. But let’s not kill the ones who are even before they are out of the gate.
Let Steve Jobs be a lesson to us all. In every child, there is a flicker, a hope. Let us not extinguish that. Children are our greatest asset. They are our future. We owe it to them to provide an education that is meaningful.
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Very well said HomeworkBlues. Thank you.
I had tears in my eyes this morning listening to Steve Jobs give an address (probably to a graduating class somewhere) about doing what one loves for one’s life work. It’s the most important thing in the world to find and do work that you love. We have no passion for anything else.
We have an obligation as parents to help our kids discover and nurture their passion. We need to treat kids with respect and give them what they need, not bore them to death with the stuff we think they should know.
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http://www.danpink.com has the Steve Jobs speech…a commencement speech, that I probably heard a snippet of this morning.
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He was adopted by working class parents. He dropped out of college. He went on to become arguably the greatest visionary of our modern time.
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@PsychMom, I blogged about “Love What You Do” here —
http://kidfriendlyschools.blogspot.com/2011/10/love-what-you-do.html
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A Dad says:
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Success in much of life is “simply” giving people want they want.
School is particularly easy, if seen this way, because you are always told exactly what is wanted – and the requests are carefully matched with the student’s current ability to deliver.
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That hasn’t been my experience at all. Frequently, homework assignments are so vague, or poorly described, that it’s not all clear what the teacher wants.
Homework is rarely matched with the student’s ability. It’s either so simple as to be insulting, or so far beyond the student’s ability that it’s frustrating.
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I am appalled by the original post. The parent is the primary educator of the child. As a teacher myself, I hope that the parents that are in the lives of my students fulfill that role in every possible capacity. While I understand there are bound to be philosophical differences in the pedagogical approaches between a parent and a teacher. The approach taken by FedUp Mom is simply passive aggressive, counterproductive, and rude. If effective lines of communication are to be constructed between the classroom and the home, that is not the way to handle it. I encourage all of the parents in my classroom to discuss any hesitations they have about my teaching methods with me. Odds are through a face to face discussion we can work through differences and their child comes out as the winner.
I have a reading log in my second grade classroom. The way the reading log is set up, the students are able to choose to read any book they want and read for as long as they are interested. If they have minutes recorded and signed by a parent, they are commended. Several of my students would not read at home if not for a reading log. That is not an assumption, my kids did not read at home and because of that I implemented a reading log system. I provide class incentives to push the students to read in their free time rather than play video games or watch television. Parents are asked to sign it simply because if a parent is signing his or her child’s reading log it sends a message to the child that the parent considers reading to be a priority.
I was particularly concerned with the comment “I feel more like an unpaid employee. Wait a minute — we’re paying them!” As we all can attest to, parenting is an “unpaid” career! In addition, as an educator, I do not work for parents. I work for students.
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