New York City Science Teacher Realizes Benefit of Downtime

A New York City science teacher recently posted a comment here about the benefits of downtime, so I wanted to see who she was. On her blog she writes:

…downtime is important for students. Just as importantly, I think it extends beyond students – teachers need downtime too. Humans do.
My ‘action reasearch’ this week involved unplugging myself from the computer and doing zero school-related work for two days. That is unprecedented since the day I started teaching, and it felt absolutely great! Forty-eight hours of bliss. I spent quality time with my daughter painting and rearranging her room – she had outgrown the pink and peach flowers and went with a cool aqua/lime color scheme. I talked to my son about college experiences and my newly-engaged step-daughter about marriage. I walked hand-in-hand with my husband and marveled at the neighbors’ holiday light displays after dinner.
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Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Success in San Anselmo, California

Today’s guest blogger, Torri Chappell, from San Anselmo, California, is the mother of a college freshman and a high school sophomore. She is also a teacher. After a decade of advocating for schools to reexamine educational practices that undermine learning and discourage learners (excessive homework, meaningless homework, standardized tests, timed reading/math quizzes), she has finally seen some results.

Gathering Voices and Inspiring Courage
by Torri Chappell

Before I tell my story a big thank you to all of you out there who are doing similar things across the country. You inspire me even more!

My story:

I am a teacher and a parent of a college freshman and a high school sophomore. This year started off with a bang..4+ hours of homework a night plus weekend papers, reading (The Odyssey…at what point does a classic just become OLD?) and group meetings for projects. My daughter’s health started being affected, she wasn’t getting enough sleep and our family time had evaporated. I set up a meeting with her teachers.
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Another Plumsted, New Jersey, Mom Weighs In

Over the past year, I have posted entries by Diane Hewlett-Lowrie here , here, here and here. Now, another parent in her Plumsted, New Jersey, community has written a letter to the same second-grade teacher:

I am writing to express my concerns with the homework situation. There are very few nights when things go great and homework gets done and everyone is happy. I have planned on discussing this with you at our parent/teacher conference [next week] but my frustration level has hit its brink. Other than writing the spelling words 3x’s, ABC order and math addition facts, there is not one piece of homework that my child can do independently. This is very concerning and I wonder if this is being recognized within the class room? [My child] and I sit and do homework together every night. The amount of time varies from 20 minutes, which is rare, to close to an hour if not an hour. I am not in the classroom with her everyday and do not know how to help or explain to her how to figure out her homework. I work full time and when I come home I don’t expect to have to “teach” my daughter what she should have learned in class.

I believe that homework should be a review of what she is doing in class and if you are in agreement with this then “why are we struggling with homework/studying?” I don’t know how else to explain the situation but there are nights that [my child] is in tears over “not knowing” what she is doing, or she thinks she did it right and I have to tell her “no erase it because it is wrong”. I thought about gettinga tutor but considering I am a single mother with a very limited budget, I really can’t afford a tutor at $40 an hour.

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First Monday–Take Action against Holiday Homework

Today is the first Monday in December. As I do every month, I recommend that every parent send a note to her/his children’s teachers, administrators, or School Board members today, the first Monday of the month.

Over the Thanksgiving break, I heard from several parents and students complaining about the amount of work that had to be done. Why not try to stop the winter vacation homework your child will get before it’s assigned? Why not have a conversation such as the one on page 205 in The Case Against Homework.

PARENT: I was wondering whether you’re planning to assign homework over [the winter vacation]. I’m asking because last year Georgia got homework over Christmas break and it really ruined it. She had to drag her books to her grandparents’ house and do homework while the rest of us were playing games and socializing. She didn’t even have time for our family tradition of caroling around the neighborhood.

TEACHER: Well, I always assign a project during vacation. It gives the students lots of extra time to work on it and it’s supposed to be fun.

PARENT: It might seem like the extra time is helping the kids, but it often has the opposite effect–at least for my child. It just hangs over her head for the entire vacation. In our family, vacation time is sacred. So we’ve decided that we’re not going to allow Georgia to do any homework during the break. If you must assign a project, could you please give us enough notice so that Georgia can complete hers before the break or do it once she returns?

TEACHER: I’ve never had a parent object to vacation homework before. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I’ll think about it and let you know.

PARENT: Thanks, I would appreciate that and I think all the other parents will, too. I’m sure everyone would be happier with a homework-free vacation, and the kids would return refreshed and ready to go back to work.

If you have a conversation, write an email, or take some other kind of action, please let me (and other parents) know what you did by posting a comment. If you put something in writing, please post a sample and the response you get as well.

From my Mailbox: California Mom Dislikes Holiday Homework

This week, I heard from the California mother of a fourth grader whose daughter just received a science project where most of the work would have to be done over the Thanksgiving break. The project requires the students to collect rocks, write about them, and do a display presentation.

Because the mother considered the display presentation portion to be parent work and of no educational value, she wrote to the teacher and told her that her daughter would not do the art part of the project and she also asked how the students’ work could be separated from the parent “help” in grading the project. The mother also explained that she thought the timing of the project violated the district homework policy: “Long-term assignments shall be given with a timeline that does not require a student to do all or most of the assignment during a school vacation period or holiday.”

If, like this California mother, you don’t want your child doing homework over the vacation, now is the time to let the teacher know that. If you need a suggestion of what to write in a letter or email, or say in a telephone conversation or person-to-person chat, you can find plenty of ideas in The Case Against Homework.

More from FedUp Mom: Conversations I Never Want to Have Again

This is the fifth post by FedUp Mom. You can read her other entries here, here, here and here.

Conversations I Never Want to Have Again
by FedUp Mom

I went to a parents’ party at the Quaker school my kids are now attending and found myself increasingly frustrated. We are living in such a lockstep culture that even in a left-wing school you hear the same old stuff. Here are some conversations I hope never to have again:

1.) “… University of Chicago.” I am tired of asking parents what they think of the local schools and hearing them brag about what college their child got in to. Can we find some other purpose for K through 12 besides college admission? How about, did your child learn something? What kind of person is she? And please, you’re not allowed to brag that your child got into a fancy school if she had a nervous breakdown in her first semester and had to come home. On the other hand, if your child is healthy and happy at the local community college, I will gladly hear your story.

2.) “… first he got a D, then he turned it around and got a B!” Again, did your child learn something? And don’t tell me, “yes, he learned how to get a B!” Grades are a distraction. An emphasis on grades teaches children to placate authority figures, to conceal ignorance and feign knowledge, and to do just enough to fulfill someone else’s requirements. Is this really education? (And if the answer is “yes”, I give up, I’m taking the kid home. At least I won’t have to deal with a roomful of conventional parents.)

Continue reading “More from FedUp Mom: Conversations I Never Want to Have Again”

Australian School Includes an “Opt-out” Clause in its Homework Policy

Here’s a good homework policy from a newly opened school in Australia. The policy includes an “opt-out” clause, a clause I think all policies should contain. It states, “In recognition of other demands on our students, we support individual students, with parent support, formally ‘opting out’ of the set homework.”

What to Do with Those Pesky “Contracts” from the Teacher

Last night, my daughter brought home a “contract” titled “Classroom Rules” from her 9th grade French teacher. The contract was to be signed by both the student and the parent/guardian.

According to the Rules, “If [a student] chooses to break a rule [s/he] earns a zero for the day.”

As readers of this blog know, I disagree with the giving of a zero for a grade. So, in good conscience, I couldn’t sign the bottom of the form, which stated: “I understand and support the rules.”

I crossed out “support the rules,” put an asterisk beside it, and wrote:

Dear Teacher,

Based on my own research, my husband and I don’t agree with the giving of a “zero” as a grade. If you’re interested in seeing that research, I’d be delighted to share it with you.

I’ll let you know what happens.

A Walk in Nature Improves Attention in Children with ADHD

A recent study conducted at the University of Illinois shows that children with ADHD demonstrate greater attention after a 20-minute walk in a park than after a similar walk in a downtown area or a residential neighborhood. According to one of the researchers, “we found that after the walk in the park children generally concentrated better than they did after a walk in the downtown area or the neighborhood area. The greenest space was best at improving attention after exposure.” Read about it here.