Please ask your children what they've done

:cheers:

 

My high schooler spent the day sharpening 1000 pencils. No lie. I know it's the end of the year but that's just kind of stupid. Plus, I thought the kids supplied the pencils. I know I do. That and all she could talk about was how they were going to investigate WJHS for all the gang graffiti all over the school. Haven't seen it, don't know how much. She told me they're offering a $500 reward. Sad that some really don't care about their school.

I sidetrack. This whole thread is not just about two weeks of no homework or classwork. Which for my kids btw, it will be 3 weeks, some 4 weeks w/ nothing to do. I know b/c I yelled at them 2 weeks ago thinking they were lying to me about no homework. In addition, BEFORE the stupid EOG's, you have weeks of "prepping" them for the test. Yeh, yeh some will say it is review. Those EOG test booklets they come home w/ really don't look like review to me. I was younger, teachers taught, we learned, took a test at the end of year and that was that. The last week was spent of fun but not a few weeks prior and there was NO prepping for the test. You knew it or you didn't. Bottom line. Now, I also think the tests are a big waste of time. It doesn't matter if you fail it. Seriously. They get a second chance. If they fail that one, they go to what is called waiver. Yes, they can pass that w/ failing the tests showing that they do NOT have the knowledge to go forward. School pushes them through anyhow. How do I know? B/c it is happening to one of my sons and I am fighting it. Why should he advance a grade if he doesn't know the material? Makes absolutely no sense to me. Then, they'll just get further behind. Blows my mind the thought processes of some of the admin. And then, if you have a child that is mentally challenged(moderately) they are still made to take the test. Even if they can NOT read the test! Seriously, they're just filling in the bubbles. She does not qualify to take the life skills version b/c she is not that severe. I just think things are not quite right in the schools. I do think we have pretty decent teachers. I have had some awesome, awesome teachers over the years. 2 really, really bad ones but many, many good far outweigh those situations. Let the teachers do their job & the kids really will learn. I don't mind my kids having a good time at the end of the year. But, a few weeks of nothing to do is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. I asked my son "what movie did you watch today?" He said "we didn't watch a movie." I was starting to get really excited and then he said "we watched cartoons!" Lovely.

stephanie--mom to 7

 

Its a damn shame. I imagine with the tax dollars saved with ending school early could save quite a few teachers jobs and programs out there. Now our children is going to have to suffer because of the budget cuts

 

still doing home work at Westview. (3rd grade)

 

Lawmaker Wants To Eliminate Unnecessary Testing
Representative Bryan Holloway (R-Stokes) has introduced an amendment in the Education Appropriations Subcommittee to eliminate unnecessary testing in public schools while providing critical funding for classroom supplies. Holloway, a former public school teacher, said the amendment would eliminate End of Grade tests not otherwise required by No Child Left Behind. Under the Holloway amendment, the $2 million now spent to administer these tests would be used to provide classroom supplies that had been reduced in previous state budgets. “Teachers need classroom supplies such as paper and other instructional materials to educate,” said Rep. Holloway. “It is unfair to expect them to purchase these with their own money. It is far more beneficial to fund classroom supplies than these redundant tests.”
http://www.1270wmpm.com/

 

I have 2 in 3rd grade here. Mine haven't had any. Guess it depends upon the teachers.

stephanie--mom to 7

 

I agree with this man completely. All the EOGs did was teach my son how to scam a test, now he can screw around all year and still pass a class. Yay! Seriously, he has a "system".

And ICAM about teachers (AND parents) having to purchase basic supplies.

My kindergartner watched movies yesterday.

 

:hurray:

wonder how we could help/support this guy.....

 

Wonder exactly what tests he proposes to eliminate. No Child Left behind requires testing but leaves each state to decide what testing will be done. NC created their own assessment test to meet the reuirement ... the EOGs
http://www.ericdigests.org/2004-2/behind.html

 

When my son got back from AIG yesterday he said his class was watching Dinosaur Train on PBS. They have done very little since the end of EOGs.

 

I have to say that my daughter got a new teacher right after spring break and I was part of a conversation between the old and new teachers. The original teacher said she had done all the planning for the class up to the last two weeks of school and that the new teacher would have to take care of that, but since it was after the last grades were done it didn't matter what they did. Keep in mind, this is early elementary school so no EOGs. Now what I have seen has been good. They have done some more creative things in class and still very relevant, but I was upset to hear the mindset of the teachers about the end of school. I have also been upset that reading groups stopped about two weeks before EOGs and have never been picked back up. When your child is already at the minimum for going to the next grade in reading, you want them to get every minute they can in that environment. Her reading group has been great. I have been upset to see that stopped so early in the year. I know the teachers have a long year and are ready for summer break as much as the kids are, but I wish they would continue to work with the kids and teach them new things, even if they won't be graded on it.

 

No Child Left Behind

Its my understanding that every state is REQUIRED to test all students in grades 3-8, (plus EOCs in high school). To eliminate EOGs would be a violation of federal law.

 

Ok so this may sound mean but I don't really care what they are doing as long as they are doing it at school. I'm going to have my kids all summer so I want them to go to school every minute until they get out! I'm even upset that they get out early on the last day! thanks for reading.

 

My daughter this week has had homework, but it's fun homework if that is possible lol, she is enjoying it. It's mostly math and science. Which she loves. Works for me.
No spelling test which again is fine too.
I think those two weeks of EOG's she had nothing and her teacher picked it back up this week. I guess the work they are doing now doesn't count for their grades, but at least she is doing something.
Sheri

 

My sons teacher said the school was asking for all final grades this past monday, for awards next week. So they really cant do alot...but my sons class has stayed busy. They've been learning about rocks, poems, hurricanes and volcanos. No math though.

 

I thought to eliminate EOGs just meant you didn't get a check ($$) from the govt?

 

There are a required number of days in a traditional school calendar....180 days. So maybe the kids will have a few easy days at the end of school....if you don't like it keep them at home. Unless your's is one going for perfect attendance or they have already missed so many days that they need to be there.

Teachers need to be given a certain amount of time to remediate children who require extra testing. Should those children become sick or have some other reason for missing that day of school then another day must be set aside to test. The school calendar tries it's best to give enough allowance for these situations that may arise so that ALL STUDENTS are given an equal chance to take these EOG tests.

Let alone many students grades leave things in question and some decisions have to come down to the wire as far as if they pass or fail their grade. Now you can shake your head and say "well that's not my fault". But one day it could be your kid and I am sure you would want some kind of allowance to give your kid a second chance to prove they can pass their grade.

There are many teachers in the schools still giving work in the classroom. I was in one this week that was giving a State and Capitals test. Some are doing math work, a few have been going around the school taking measurements and doing comparisons, others are still taking online reading tests to improve their reading levels.

So I would suggest you can either come and see excatly how much your child is "not" doing or just go on and keep them home with you! Stop dissing the schools because you're only causing your own child doubt about their education.

Oh, here's the blurb about days : North Carolina legislation requires Public
Schools to open for students no sooner than
August 25th and complete a minimum of 180
days. Excessive days missed for inclement
weather may have to be made up during
spring break. Parents should always be
cautious about scheduling activities on
teacher workdays and annual leave days,
including spring break as these days may be
used to makeup days missed. Optional
teacher workdays at the end of grading
periods may be adjusted if school is missed
for inclement weather.

 

My son already doubts his education... he himself was surprised to get a high B on his Geometry exam after screwing around all semester. "It was just logic mom, but every once in a while they would put in a few 'a' answers in a row to throw you off. You just need to know how to test on a bubble sheet and use deductive reasoning in finding the right answer".

My son could have been brilliant, but instead he is a cheat. YAY NCLB!!!
Actually, he is brilliant but very lazy. He has done this all through his school career. In elem school, he scored in the 95th %ile - probably using these techniques along with his brains. Now, he just uses this technique and a small portion of his brain. lol

 

Remediation is a waste of time and tax payers money. If the kid fails the test, the kid fails and repeats the grade. Maybe if that happens a few times the kid may start trying harder.

If a child does get sick, bring them in on a Saturday to make up the test, don't make other children have to sit in silence because a few kids were sick. Only excusable absences during EOG's should be sickness and death in the immediate family. If you had to go on vacation that week, you automatically fail, no chance for retest.

If my kid fails the test it is my fault. It means that I was not involved enough to make sure he was doing his homework and other studies. Maybe I'm one of the few parents that take responsibility for my child's education and not rely on some system to push them through. Retesting only teaches children that if they keep screwing up they'll just get another chance. It doesn't always work that way. How many times can you take a final exam in college? Drug test? That's a simple pass/fail. Getting heart surgery? Let them try that a few times to get it right.

My child doesn't worry about his education. He doesn't need to worry about it. I (and other parents) should worry about the quality he receives. The state of education in this country is pathetic. I'm sorry if you're a teacher because I know that you're not given very much liberty to use what you can to teach a child. You have to teach them by the book.

We've become too cushy of a country and worried about other people's feelings. We worry if some child will be upset because they failed or they didn't win their baseball game. Life has it's ups and downs. Let them learn it early and then they can learn to conquer it later.

 

If one of my kids is that close to passing or failing, fail him. I would rather have my kid repeat the information to learn it, and not just pass him though