tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post1902586845691311039..comments2024-03-08T00:17:09.224-08:00Comments on The Daily Grind: The Road to PerditionMr. McNamarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03062641578010808106noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-24222859849559902992009-02-19T06:25:00.000-08:002009-02-19T06:25:00.000-08:00Mr. McNamar,I missed the part of your post that de...Mr. McNamar,<BR/><BR/>I missed the part of your post that defined homework. I was speaking from my children's experience. You are making a BIG assumption, in this statement :<BR/><BR/>"Extending a student's practice beyond the walls of a classroom and into the home should serve a greater purpose than simply the academics. <BR/>It can serve as a way for parents to reinforce learning as a life-long and never ending process."<BR/><BR/>Elementary school is the land of heterogenous class groupings. In practice, this means that there is a huge (like 10 years) spread in skill levels in a classroom. For some kids, extending practice means extending busywork. For many years, my daughter has taken the Monday spelling test, gotten all the words correct and then had to do all the spelling busywork until the Friday test. There was no learning going on in school and sending more busywork home ensured that the time spent on homework could not be spent productively. The time in no way that time could be considered learning.<BR/><BR/>My kids get sent home with extensive coloring homework.<BR/><BR/>I have come to the understanding that public elementary school is in large part day care. I don't like it, but I can't afford private school. Ok, I work, so I need my kids in daycare. But we don't need busywork when we are home.<BR/><BR/>I suspect that some of the attitude you see coming from home with the kids is the frustration on the part of parents like me. We are resigned to the fact that our kids waste a majority of their time at school. We don't like it, but can't fix it. There is no reason the school should waste more of their time at home.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-83124866392675042662009-02-18T09:44:00.000-08:002009-02-18T09:44:00.000-08:00anon--I didn't equate homework with useless colori...anon--<BR/>I didn't equate homework with useless coloring activities. Extending a student's practice beyond the walls of a classroom and into the home should serve a greater purpose than simply the academics. <BR/>It can serve as a way for parents to reinforce learning as a life-long and never ending process. That fact is that while you may spend your time wisely by planning educational opportunities in the home, many parents do not. That attitude is picked up by students and then carried into the classroom.Mr. McNamarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03062641578010808106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-65091495163010343422009-02-18T06:25:00.000-08:002009-02-18T06:25:00.000-08:00"What is this crap about not giving homework to el..."What is this crap about not giving homework to elementary aged students"<BR/><BR/>It is better to have no homework than useless busywork. My kids do NOT need coloring homework, to rewrite spelling words they already know, to play scavenger hunt around the house for odd items, etc. So far, my kids have been in school for a total ten years. That would be one kindergartern, second grader, fifth grader. There have been two years when the homework was of any benefit. That would be part of third grade and part of fifth grade.<BR/><BR/>It is irritating and offensive that teachers think that we have so little capacity to do productive things in our home with our children and feel the need to send home projects. <BR/><BR/>Quite frankly, my kids spend a lot of their school day killing time. If there isn't enough work for them to do at school, there is no reason to send ANY work home.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-48811782729403778792009-02-17T19:28:00.000-08:002009-02-17T19:28:00.000-08:00Speak!!!!!!Speak!!!!!!"Ms. Cornelius"https://www.blogger.com/profile/16970201479637588558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-77206795682127875822009-02-17T17:45:00.000-08:002009-02-17T17:45:00.000-08:00Indeed, indeed.What is wrong with giving elementar...Indeed, indeed.<BR/><BR/>What is wrong with giving elementary aged students HOMEwork each night? Shouldn't they have to study for upcoming tests? As far as I know, the best way to get better in math is to practice. There are too many people who think we are pushing kids too hard. In my opinion, we aren't pushing them hard enough in most cases.<BR/><BR/>I've always wondered about the teacher pay issue. Without teachers, no other job in the world would be possible. Even those ball players who "earn" millions of dollars to play a game had to learn something along the way from a teacher.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00084141612487541070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10132773.post-16279318307558710382009-02-17T16:43:00.000-08:002009-02-17T16:43:00.000-08:00Interesting blog site, Mr. McNamar. I just discov...Interesting blog site, Mr. McNamar. I just discovered this site today. Definitely some very compelling insights on the school we teach at. I'll have to check this site on the regular.<BR/><BR/>-S. GilliganAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com