MCPS Teachers Not Checking or Providing Feedback on Homework - How Common is this Practice?

[Anonymous]

^^^^I am an elementary teacher. I don't really know how middle and high school teachers' time is managed but I would venture to guess it's similar.

[Anonymous]

There is no point to grading homework in class together as a group. This is stupid. You can't give feedback on writing by lecturing in front of the room without ever looking at the damn paper.

If the homework is basically multiple choice so the teacher is just saying a,b,c then why not just put it on-line in one of those software programs that checks the answers. If an answer was wrong an explanation could come up. The student would have immediate feedback.

[Anonymous]

With the new 2.0 curriculum, writing effects all subjects across the board. This is the 2nd year Math 2.0 has been introduced for High School and there is a lot more written explanations involved in Algebra 2.0 and Geometry 2.0 than under the old curriculum.

It is frustrating to see a child with 100% homework completion turn around and repeatedly fail the assessments. The teacher is not looking at the child's individual assignments before the tests so the "Practice and Prep" is useless. There are no online notes, textbook, or answer key for parents to even help their child at home.

When I went in for meetings to see what could be done and what resources could be gathered to help my child, the first answer is "perhaps this course is not right for your child." Did they realize my child was an A math student in the previous course at another school? What course do they think is suitable?

There are a number of serious problems in MCPS:

1) Teachers who cut corners with teaching - whether that is because MCPS micromanages them via meetings or they just clock out at 2:30 when school is dismissed doesn't negate the fact that their core responsibility for teaching the kids is being neglected

2) Lack of resources for parents and teachers and unequal resources throughout the county - some schools have more resources than others when it comes to the new curriculum; some schools get the training and materials while others are still waiting for instruction; there are no resources for parents to offer extra support for their child at home. This is a central office problem and no one from the central office is going to the schools to check whether schools are meeting the standards for the new curriculum. The Board of Education should be looking into why the central office is so hands off helping schools with rolling out a new curriculum and the Board of Education should be investigating whether students are better than before after 3 years of the 2.0 rollout.

3) Providing class notes. study guides, and answer keys is just good teaching practices, why don't all teachers do this? - At our high school, every classroom has a Promethean Board. This is a $5,000 piece of equipment that projects the teacher's presentation/work examples during class. Why aren't these computer files accessible online? Why does valuable class time get wasted for kids to copy down information that could easily just be given to them via the internet? For some kids, the act of copying is a mindless task that keeps them from being fully engaged in the instructional process. Couldn't the class run smoother and faster if the kids could just sit back and listen knowing that the notes will be provided as backup? If the notes were provided the night before or copied at the beginning of class, couldn't the kids do annotations on them during class? If teachers would utilize the Promethean Board to it's full capacity, wouldn't that free up class time for kids to start their homework and for teachers to go around answer individual questions and glossary check if the students are on track?

4) MCPS has turned into this oversized, wasteful government bureaucracy where people clock in and clock out but does anyone believe in its mission to teach kids? To say "I don't have time to look at every child's rough draft" or "I don't have time to check homework" or the central office doesn't make onsite visits to see what is happening in the schools are examples of the bureaucratic mindset in education. The goal is not to help students be successful and be prepared for life after high school but to punch in and punch out to earn their paycheck.

I'm sure there are many problems that other PP's can come up with so feel free to add to my list.

[Anonymous]

Or is the teacher going over the homework assignments in class, posting the answers on the Promethean board expecting the students to check their work and ask questions, and your daughter is not participating? Homework assignments are typically meant to reinforce whatever was taught that day in class- seems like it would waste a great deal of time (and delay the process) if a teacher were to collect it up and mark it for 130-150 students daily, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the new 2.0 curriculum, writing effects all subjects across the board. This is the 2nd year Math 2.0 has been introduced for High School and there is a lot more written explanations involved in Algebra 2.0 and Geometry 2.0 than under the old curriculum.

It is frustrating to see a child with 100% homework completion turn around and repeatedly fail the assessments. The teacher is not looking at the child's individual assignments before the tests so the "Practice and Prep" is useless. There are no online notes, textbook, or answer key for parents to even help their child at home.

When I went in for meetings to see what could be done and what resources could be gathered to help my child, the first answer is "perhaps this course is not right for your child." Did they realize my child was an A math student in the previous course at another school? What course do they think is suitable?

There are a number of serious problems in MCPS:

1) Teachers who cut corners with teaching - whether that is because MCPS micromanages them via meetings or they just clock out at 2:30 when school is dismissed doesn't negate the fact that their core responsibility for teaching the kids is being neglected

2) Lack of resources for parents and teachers and unequal resources throughout the county - some schools have more resources than others when it comes to the new curriculum; some schools get the training and materials while others are still waiting for instruction; there are no resources for parents to offer extra support for their child at home. This is a central office problem and no one from the central office is going to the schools to check whether schools are meeting the standards for the new curriculum. The Board of Education should be looking into why the central office is so hands off helping schools with rolling out a new curriculum and the Board of Education should be investigating whether students are better than before after 3 years of the 2.0 rollout.

3) Providing class notes. study guides, and answer keys is just good teaching practices, why don't all teachers do this? - At our high school, every classroom has a Promethean Board. This is a $5,000 piece of equipment that projects the teacher's presentation/work examples during class. Why aren't these computer files accessible online? Why does valuable class time get wasted for kids to copy down information that could easily just be given to them via the internet? For some kids, the act of copying is a mindless task that keeps them from being fully engaged in the instructional process. Couldn't the class run smoother and faster if the kids could just sit back and listen knowing that the notes will be provided as backup? If the notes were provided the night before or copied at the beginning of class, couldn't the kids do annotations on them during class? If teachers would utilize the Promethean Board to it's full capacity, wouldn't that free up class time for kids to start their homework and for teachers to go around answer individual questions and glossary check if the students are on track?

4) MCPS has turned into this oversized, wasteful government bureaucracy where people clock in and clock out but does anyone believe in its mission to teach kids? To say "I don't have time to look at every child's rough draft" or "I don't have time to check homework" or the central office doesn't make onsite visits to see what is happening in the schools are examples of the bureaucratic mindset in education. The goal is not to help students be successful and be prepared for life after high school but to punch in and punch out to earn their paycheck.

I'm sure there are many problems that other PP's can come up with so feel free to add to my list.

What facts is your opinion based on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Or is the teacher going over the homework assignments in class, posting the answers on the Promethean board expecting the students to check their work and ask questions, and your daughter is not participating? Homework assignments are typically meant to reinforce whatever was taught that day in class- seems like it would waste a great deal of time (and delay the process) if a teacher were to collect it up and mark it for 130-150 students daily, right?

Wouldn't it be more effective to post the Promethean answers on Edline? Some kids may gloss over the information and know it in the moment but need reinforcements to study. Some kids might be distracted and miss a step if they are trying to copy information down. The Edline posting is a resource that can be used by parents as well if their child is struggling.

When the assignment is so specific (say English) that an answer key is not sufficient, then yes the teacher should be collecting prior to the major assessment to see if every child is mastering the concept. A child doesn't often know what they don't know. The child might be thinking ok I did that and I know that but in reality the child has serious gaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the new 2.0 curriculum, writing effects all subjects across the board. This is the 2nd year Math 2.0 has been introduced for High School and there is a lot more written explanations involved in Algebra 2.0 and Geometry 2.0 than under the old curriculum.

It is frustrating to see a child with 100% homework completion turn around and repeatedly fail the assessments. The teacher is not looking at the child's individual assignments before the tests so the "Practice and Prep" is useless. There are no online notes, textbook, or answer key for parents to even help their child at home.

When I went in for meetings to see what could be done and what resources could be gathered to help my child, the first answer is "perhaps this course is not right for your child." Did they realize my child was an A math student in the previous course at another school? What course do they think is suitable?

There are a number of serious problems in MCPS:

1) Teachers who cut corners with teaching - whether that is because MCPS micromanages them via meetings or they just clock out at 2:30 when school is dismissed doesn't negate the fact that their core responsibility for teaching the kids is being neglected

2) Lack of resources for parents and teachers and unequal resources throughout the county - some schools have more resources than others when it comes to the new curriculum; some schools get the training and materials while others are still waiting for instruction; there are no resources for parents to offer extra support for their child at home. This is a central office problem and no one from the central office is going to the schools to check whether schools are meeting the standards for the new curriculum. The Board of Education should be looking into why the central office is so hands off helping schools with rolling out a new curriculum and the Board of Education should be investigating whether students are better than before after 3 years of the 2.0 rollout.

3) Providing class notes. study guides, and answer keys is just good teaching practices, why don't all teachers do this? - At our high school, every classroom has a Promethean Board. This is a $5,000 piece of equipment that projects the teacher's presentation/work examples during class. Why aren't these computer files accessible online? Why does valuable class time get wasted for kids to copy down information that could easily just be given to them via the internet? For some kids, the act of copying is a mindless task that keeps them from being fully engaged in the instructional process. Couldn't the class run smoother and faster if the kids could just sit back and listen knowing that the notes will be provided as backup? If the notes were provided the night before or copied at the beginning of class, couldn't the kids do annotations on them during class? If teachers would utilize the Promethean Board to it's full capacity, wouldn't that free up class time for kids to start their homework and for teachers to go around answer individual questions and glossary check if the students are on track?

4) MCPS has turned into this oversized, wasteful government bureaucracy where people clock in and clock out but does anyone believe in its mission to teach kids? To say "I don't have time to look at every child's rough draft" or "I don't have time to check homework" or the central office doesn't make onsite visits to see what is happening in the schools are examples of the bureaucratic mindset in education. The goal is not to help students be successful and be prepared for life after high school but to punch in and punch out to earn their paycheck.

I'm sure there are many problems that other PP's can come up with so feel free to add to my list.

What facts is your opinion based on?

I am so sorry, pp, we had the same experience and now we are paying for private school.

[Anonymous]

Kids should note have to take notes??? This is an important skill! I do not want them handed to my child. Taking notes helps with learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids should note have to take notes??? This is an important skill! I do not want them handed to my child. Taking notes helps with learning.

+1

[Anonymous]

They should take notes but they should also have something given to fall back on especially if the teacher is talking non stop, going off topic and overexplain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should take notes but they should also have something given to fall back on especially if the teacher is talking non stop, going off topic and overexplain.

Why doesn't MCPS just fire all the teachers and just give each student a detailed packet of notes to study and then have them take a test on what they've memorized? Since teachers just serve to talk nonstop, go off topic and overexplain (WTF?).

For the people who want notes to be provided--you do know that in college students are expected to take notes during classes? And that the professors do not provide notes for the students? If teachers start providing everything for the students then you'll all be back here in a few years whining that your snowflake is failing out of college because the mean professors aren't providing notes and poor Larla just doesn't understand when she has listen to the professor and take her own notes.

Have you ever sat in a meeting at work taking notes so that you know what is expected of you? Guess where you learned and practiced that skill?

I seriously fear for the next generation of our workforce. Maybe you all will get lucky and by then mommies will be hired alongside their children to assist them with anything that's too hard for them to do on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should take notes but they should also have something given to fall back on especially if the teacher is talking non stop, going off topic and overexplain.

Why doesn't MCPS just fire all the teachers and just give each student a detailed packet of notes to study and then have them take a test on what they've memorized? Since teachers just serve to talk nonstop, go off topic and overexplain (WTF?).

For the people who want notes to be provided--you do know that in college students are expected to take notes during classes? And that the professors do not provide notes for the students? If teachers start providing everything for the students then you'll all be back here in a few years whining that your snowflake is failing out of college because the mean professors aren't providing notes and poor Larla just doesn't understand when she has listen to the professor and take her own notes.

Have you ever sat in a meeting at work taking notes so that you know what is expected of you? Guess where you learned and practiced that skill?

I seriously fear for the next generation of our workforce. Maybe you all will get lucky and by then mommies will be hired alongside their children to assist them with anything that's too hard for them to do on their own.

I could not agree more. I teach at a local college and my MCPS students just do not know how to take notes in class when I lecture. They expect "study guides" before exams and many are not comfortable answering questions that ask them to apply their knowledge (instead of just regurgitating what they have memorized). Learning to take notes is an important skill that has to be developed in middle school and in high school. It makes you listen, think about what the teacher is saying, you are learning to organize your thoughts, note important facts and details etc. You are learning actively instead of passively. It takes years to learn how to do this well and the sooner they start the better. The best 'prep' schools don't spoon feed their students - they make them practice these skills so they are prepared for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For HS Enlglish, my daughter receives no comments on her rough drafts. They are just checked for completion. The teacher also does not update Edline in a timely manner. There are missing grades from assignments turned in over 4 weeks ago. Up until this week, my daughter had an A so we thought there were no problems in the class. One rough draft turned into an essay worth 25% of her marking period grade which she FAILED. Totally has tanked her grade in the class.

!! English teacher here. Rough drafts should get THE MOST feedback! I'm really shocked by this.

[Anonymous]

Handing students notes is the same as handing them a detailed handout with tons of instruction and direction.

That is to say, it is useless. You have to walk them through every little word. Students should be taking notes and asking questions. They need to be actively engaged in their learning process, or they will not learn.

That being said, teachers should be giving regular and timely feedback. How about we train teachers better, provide stronger mentoring programs, and cap the class size at 18?

We know what needs to be done to make things actually work. When will it happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should take notes but they should also have something given to fall back on especially if the teacher is talking non stop, going off topic and overexplain.

Why doesn't MCPS just fire all the teachers and just give each student a detailed packet of notes to study and then have them take a test on what they've memorized? Since teachers just serve to talk nonstop, go off topic and overexplain (WTF?).

For the people who want notes to be provided--you do know that in college students are expected to take notes during classes? And that the professors do not provide notes for the students? If teachers start providing everything for the students then you'll all be back here in a few years whining that your snowflake is failing out of college because the mean professors aren't providing notes and poor Larla just doesn't understand when she has listen to the professor and take her own notes.

Have you ever sat in a meeting at work taking notes so that you know what is expected of you? Guess where you learned and practiced that skill?

I seriously fear for the next generation of our workforce. Maybe you all will get lucky and by then mommies will be hired alongside their children to assist them with anything that's too hard for them to do on their own.

+1 It's not the next generation. It's already an issue.