Teaching is hard.
William was given a video to watch today. How do we solve 3C + 3D = $11.60. The kids were provided a menu and told that c = cheeseburgers and to solve for D.
The kids haven't begun division yet. They haven't even multiplied two digit numbers.
I showed William how to get that answer using addition and subtraction, but it was tedious and there was a lot of trial and error before he finally picked which three of the seven items on the menu were purchased.
I didn't understand the relevance and e-mailed the teacher.
After asking the location of the video, she looked at it (apparently for the first time) and told me to ignore it, that it was unnecessarily complicated and was not what the kids were working on.
The district pleaded with people not to use charter schools because it would take moneys from the district schools. I'm starting to believe that this is not going to be a sensible or well thought out program, and that the school district will spend a lot more time trying to defend the program than to problem solve.
Their explanation that they are challenging all levels of skill does not wash, esp. when the teacher acknowledged that most kids could not solve that problem given the skill set that they currently have.
My suggestion: When the material is irrelevant or beyond the comprehension of the kids, the teacher should announce that the virtual teachers ignore that section of the program.
'They will do it for me,' they said. I am sure it is not just for 'me'. Others folks are having the same struggle, I am sure.
Oh my goodness, that’s discouraging. I’ve said this before: William is fortunate because he has you to help him, to email teachers about asinine assignments, etc. It’s the children who don’t have that who will suffer. A mess.
ReplyDeleteBoth my daughters attended a private elementary school and the oldest one is now in the public high school system. Unfortunately, teachers sending out unsolvable problems isn't contained to the public school system. I couldn't begin to count the number of times my daughters would be in tears over a homework problem from the private elementary school they couldn't solve because they hadn't yet been taught the skill set. It is simply a teacher that wasn't prepared and hadn't looked over the homework they assigned before giving it out.
ReplyDeleteI should say I don't fully blame the teachers for not being prepared. When I was in school, teachers taught from the same text book for years if not decades and knew the ins and outs of every chapter. These days the textbook business is so powerful in marketing, schools seem to "upgrade" to new books every year or two which places a huge learning curve on an already overworked and underpaid teacher.
ReplyDeleteright Bob and some teachers seemed to know the book by heart. It is hard for the new teachers to start but most make great teachers is they stay with it. They have to like it since it is not great money for them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I believe a number of states and/or school
ReplyDeletesystems have purchased “canned” online curriculums, when clearly one size does not fit all!