Time for a mutiny yet? MCPS = crummy math, no grammar, poor writing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:teacher here (many years in the system - enough to have seen three superintendents)

moving to Frederick . . .

Teacher with a spouse who is also a teacher in MCPS. We've also been here through three superintendents and are considering moving to Howard County. The disparity among schools in different parts of the county is becoming more and more appalling. Students whose families are unable to afford to live in Bethesda or other more privileged parts of the county are at a great disadvantage. For example, middle school students in the eastern part of the county are often limited to learning one foreign language (usually Spanish), while students in the Bethesda area are typically offered at least three choices (usually French and Chinese in addition to Spanish, and often others such as Italian). This is just one example where we feel that our children are falling behind others because we are not living in a W cluster.

[Anonymous]

I agree! It’s awful. Lousy math instruction, no grammar, no punctuation, etc. This week we went from dissecting a frog to discussion on sexual/ asexual reproduction. Things are just thrown at the kids in no particular order or sequence. Nothing builds on anything. We are in a W school district and DH and I find the schooling terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have four children in mcps elementary, and I've compared notes with parents from dozens of schools. Plus, DCUM had a recent thread lamenting the lack of cursive and the random approach to spelling "instruction."

DCUM as the basis of information.

If numerous posters comment that their children aren't receiving spelling or handwriting instruction while only a few report their children are, then that's useful info.

Even if the posters who claim their kids don’t have spelling or cursive are being truthful, they are all W cluster parents. So it’s only instructive insomuch as it shows what W schools are like. It doesn’t represent mcps as a whole.

What makes you think that they are all W parents??

We’re at a FOCUS school in Silver Spring and there has not beeen any cursive Writing instruction at school. Do you think lower-income parents lie us don’t care? We do. We taught our kids at home.

I don’t believe you’re a lower income parent in SS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:teacher here (many years in the system - enough to have seen three superintendents)

moving to Frederick . . .

Teacher with a spouse who is also a teacher in MCPS. We've also been here through three superintendents and are considering moving to Howard County. The disparity among schools in different parts of the county is becoming more and more appalling. Students whose families are unable to afford to live in Bethesda or other more privileged parts of the county are at a great disadvantage. For example, middle school students in the eastern part of the county are often limited to learning one foreign language (usually Spanish), while students in the Bethesda area are typically offered at least three choices (usually French and Chinese in addition to Spanish, and often others such as Italian). This is just one example where we feel that our children are falling behind others because we are not living in a W cluster.

I don't feel like my children are at a great disadvantage. Middle-school offers French and Spanish, high school offers German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and ASL.

-resident of the Siberian hinterlands

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:teacher here (many years in the system - enough to have seen three superintendents)

moving to Frederick . . .

Teacher with a spouse who is also a teacher in MCPS. We've also been here through three superintendents and are considering moving to Howard County. The disparity among schools in different parts of the county is becoming more and more appalling. Students whose families are unable to afford to live in Bethesda or other more privileged parts of the county are at a great disadvantage. For example, middle school students in the eastern part of the county are often limited to learning one foreign language (usually Spanish), while students in the Bethesda area are typically offered at least three choices (usually French and Chinese in addition to Spanish, and often others such as Italian). This is just one example where we feel that our children are falling behind others because we are not living in a W cluster.

I don't feel like my children are at a great disadvantage. Middle-school offers French and Spanish, high school offers German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and ASL.

-resident of the Siberian hinterlands

+1 What MS/HS only offers Spanish?

[Anonymous]

So the choices are incredibly hard curriculum in magnet programs or substandard education in the regular schools?

An apropos snapshot of the achievement chasm. Like global warming it will just continue to get worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach older students and the grammatical and spelling errors that occur early in the writing process are often a part of the struggle writers experience as they try to figure out exactly what they want to say and how to say it. As they go through prewriting and drafting, often these issues are cleared up.

It's important NOT to focus on editing until the very end of the writing process. If a writer feels writing is all about good grammar and spelling s/he will fixate on writing correct and safe and boring sentences because sentences with complex and new ideas are HARDER to write, and s/he will avoid that out of the fear of making mistakes. You will set your child up to be a very average writer if this is what you obsess over.

Elementary students should be taught spelling and grammar, but it should not be their primary focus.

I don't know where you teach, but many of the 9th graders I've had in the past in my SS schools couldn't identify parts of speech, nor did they know the difference between a fragment and a sentence.

but when you're reading below level . . .

So I disagree with your philosophy. As someone who's seen the pendulum swing back and forth over the past two decades, you can't substitute one thing for another. There is the need to both MEMORIZE and free write w/o being "burdened" by errors. But drafts riddled with errors of which students are UNAWARE are drafts that remain drafts.

DP, sure, in the later years... but not so in the early years as a 1st grade teacher PP was stating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the choices are incredibly hard curriculum in magnet programs or substandard education in the regular schools?

An apropos snapshot of the achievement chasm. Like global warming it will just continue to get worse.

No.

(And I say this as the parent of one kid in a magnet program, where the curriculum is not "incredibly hard", and one kid in the home school, who is not receiving a substandard education.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have four children in mcps elementary, and I've compared notes with parents from dozens of schools. Plus, DCUM had a recent thread lamenting the lack of cursive and the random approach to spelling "instruction."

DCUM as the basis of information.

If numerous posters comment that their children aren't receiving spelling or handwriting instruction while only a few report their children are, then that's useful info.

Even if the posters who claim their kids don’t have spelling or cursive are being truthful, they are all W cluster parents. So it’s only instructive insomuch as it shows what W schools are like. It doesn’t represent mcps as a whole.

Not true. My kids aren't in a W school. We are upcounty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Even if the posters who claim their kids don’t have spelling or cursive are being truthful, they are all W cluster parents. So it’s only instructive insomuch as it shows what W schools are like. It doesn’t represent mcps as a whole.

Not true. My kids aren't in a W school. We are upcounty.

Me too. My kid's school had spelling tests and taught cursive.

(Though I, personally, think that spelling tests are not very useful for learning how to spell, and cursive is unimportant.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach older students and the grammatical and spelling errors that occur early in the writing process are often a part of the struggle writers experience as they try to figure out exactly what they want to say and how to say it. As they go through prewriting and drafting, often these issues are cleared up.

It's important NOT to focus on editing until the very end of the writing process. If a writer feels writing is all about good grammar and spelling s/he will fixate on writing correct and safe and boring sentences because sentences with complex and new ideas are HARDER to write, and s/he will avoid that out of the fear of making mistakes. You will set your child up to be a very average writer if this is what you obsess over.

Elementary students should be taught spelling and grammar, but it should not be their primary focus.

I don't know where you teach, but many of the 9th graders I've had in the past in my SS schools couldn't identify parts of speech, nor did they know the difference between a fragment and a sentence.

but when you're reading below level . . .

So I disagree with your philosophy. As someone who's seen the pendulum swing back and forth over the past two decades, you can't substitute one thing for another. There is the need to both MEMORIZE and free write w/o being "burdened" by errors. But drafts riddled with errors of which students are UNAWARE are drafts that remain drafts.

I don't teach for MCPS.

Even many of the "gifted" 9th graders I teach struggle with sentence fragments and can't always name the parts of speech. I always mark these things, and I did not mean to suggest that these issues magically go away, nor that you should be substituting one thing for another. Rather there is a stage to focus on grammar and spelling, and it's not at the beginning of the writing process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach older students and the grammatical and spelling errors that occur early in the writing process are often a part of the struggle writers experience as they try to figure out exactly what they want to say and how to say it. As they go through prewriting and drafting, often these issues are cleared up.

It's important NOT to focus on editing until the very end of the writing process. If a writer feels writing is all about good grammar and spelling s/he will fixate on writing correct and safe and boring sentences because sentences with complex and new ideas are HARDER to write, and s/he will avoid that out of the fear of making mistakes. You will set your child up to be a very average writer if this is what you obsess over.

Elementary students should be taught spelling and grammar, but it should not be their primary focus.

I don't know where you teach, but many of the 9th graders I've had in the past in my SS schools couldn't identify parts of speech, nor did they know the difference between a fragment and a sentence.

but when you're reading below level . . .

So I disagree with your philosophy. As someone who's seen the pendulum swing back and forth over the past two decades, you can't substitute one thing for another. There is the need to both MEMORIZE and free write w/o being "burdened" by errors. But drafts riddled with errors of which students are UNAWARE are drafts that remain drafts.

I don't teach for MCPS.

Even many of the "gifted" 9th graders I teach struggle with sentence fragments and can't always name the parts of speech. I always mark these things, and I did not mean to suggest that these issues magically go away, nor that you should be substituting one thing for another. Rather there is a stage to focus on grammar and spelling, and it's not at the beginning of the writing process.

And when would that be?

Elementary schools used to be called 'grammar' schools for a reason. Yes, you can't expect a first grader to understand the concept of irregular verbs, but 4th and 5th graders are developmentally advanced to be able to learn grammar and spelling. Why do you think your 'gifted' 9th graders can't name the parts of speech? Because they haven't been properly taught in upper ES/MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

And when would that be?

Elementary schools used to be called 'grammar' schools for a reason. Yes, you can't expect a first grader to understand the concept of irregular verbs, but 4th and 5th graders are developmentally advanced to be able to learn grammar and spelling. Why do you think your 'gifted' 9th graders can't name the parts of speech? Because they haven't been properly taught in upper ES/MS.

What was the reason?

[Anonymous]

Not in MCPS but these complaints are the reason my son now goes to a Catholic MS. Now he is getting his butt kicked since he is behind in all 3 of these areas but he is learning. I am a teacher and have the same issues with my own students. By 4th and 5th grade, a student should be able to explain why the "sentence" they wrote, "In the car." is not a sentence. None of them could explain why it is not a sentence. "But it has a capital letter and a period!" Yeah, nope. Very sad indeed. When admin comes in and sees me teaching the basics, they are not happy. They like the "higher level thinking skills" but the kids don't even have the basics. Sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

And when would that be?

Elementary schools used to be called 'grammar' schools for a reason. Yes, you can't expect a first grader to understand the concept of irregular verbs, but 4th and 5th graders are developmentally advanced to be able to learn grammar and spelling. Why do you think your 'gifted' 9th graders can't name the parts of speech? Because they haven't been properly taught in upper ES/MS.

What was the reason?

There was a lot of emphasis on grammar. They had no spell checkers at the time.