The teacher gives too much homework. To me. I’ve been valiantly trying all year long to keep up but my motivation is gone. Each week Jillian has spelling words to practice (hard ones!), vocabulary words to learn, a poem to memorize, two math timed tests to take, reading minutes to record, a math story problem to write and illustrate, a story to read three times (one of those must be aloud to a parent) and then write and answer questions about, as well as extra projects like book reports, dioramas, and other extension activities. Each of these things are due on specific days. (secret word: rant) Her organized teacher sends home planner pages each week with spaces for parents to sign indicating that our child completed each item each day. If ever I forget to sign, the next day I find the blank signature lines circled in red with a question mark next to them. The teacher is very clever. This way I am the bad guy--the homework police--instead of her. Grant had this same teacher three years ago and I thought she was tough then, but she expects even more this time around.
Jillian spends 1-2 hours on homework each night, even on Fridays. (Although it seems like much longer because of the extra time spent complaining about all that she has to do and whining that her friends, and her 5th grade brother, barely have any homework.) A few weeks ago I decided I was tired of having Jillian correct all of her mistakes from every language and math assignment (only two or three per page but those add up in a week!) so I just started throwing them away. I felt a twinge of guilt, but shrugged and thought, “so what’s going to happen? She probably won’t even notice.” A couple of weeks later I read this paragraph in the teacher’s weekly online newsletter. “Some children have not been turning in their corrected papers. Please remember that correcting assignments is part of our weekly homework. Help them understand their mistakes and make sure they fix them accurately.” Arrggghhh! In my defense, let me point out that in order to correct the homework it is necessary to log on to the class website and view the photographs of the white board to see the math and language assignment for that day.
Last week I forgot to write the secret word (from the newsletter posted on the teacher’s website—her way of making sure that parents are checking the site each week) on Jillian’s reading/math log. And I turned in the log a day late! I just finished reading the newsletter from the past two weeks and was reprimanded, “I expect to see the secret word on every reading log!” Without the secret word on their paper, the kids are not eligible for the prize drawing that week. Sorry, Jillian. And I discovered that the teacher still needs more parent volunteers in the next two weeks to help with Water Day, Dinosaur Fair, a field trip, and T-shirt painting. Sign me up. Again.
Two more weeks. Will I make it? Will I pass second grade? At least Jillian will, and that’s all that matters! I, on the other hand, am expected to complete second grade two more times.
PS—Please remember to include the secret word in your blog comments if you wish to be eligible for the weekly prize.
8 comments:
man...i don't think i've consistently had 1-2 hours of homework a night even in college! that teacher sounds brutal! but i'm sure you must be ranting about Jill's killer spelling skills. some of those words she gets are words i don't think i've ever even used in a sentence. good luck in third grade, mirien.
That's no fun! I'm thinking Jillian is going to be bored in third grade after all of that!! Doesn't it seem a bit excessive? Does the teacher know these are 7 and 8 year olds? KIDS! Let them play!!! Best of luck finishing up the last two weeks! Rant!
Holey moley.
I'm impressed that it's taken until the last 2 weeks of school for you to rant about this oh-so-clever teacher. 2 weeks. I think you can, I think you can...
i remember listening to a similar rant back when we stayed with you in may. i really can't believe you've lasted this long without snapping and i DO hope that your next two little girls are lucky enough to get a different second grade teacher! next year should seem easy, right?
We had a sixth grade teacher like that this year and it was the single most draining teacher we've ever dealt with. I can't even imagine it with a second grader though, when they still need so much help. I hope your principal takes requests for your next two that come along, so you can have a different teacher.
Yikes. That is rough! I think you're amazing for getting this far through the school year without making a peep about it. I'm so excited to see you next week! Good luck finishing up second grade! :)
Emily had the same teacher and I so remember those days! But that was five years ago and it does sound worse now. At least she is retiring... Maybe Jill and Abby will be in the 2/3 class together. Hopefully they will get good teachers. Ms. Davies was really good. Katy had her. (Because Katy and Jill's teacher would've killed each other.) :)
So sorry..that workload is ridiculous. I hate it when you are at the mercy of your kids' teachers. I am tempted to tell my kids not to worry about their homework some nights when we're busy, or when it just seems like too much for them. But I don't want to disappoint those teachers:). Ok I'll stop ranting...but what is this secret word thing, anyway?
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