High schoolers can’t write

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:There are schools that don’t cost that much PP.

Do name the schools that don’t cost “much.” Except for some low-quality religious schools (whose math instruction is far worse than MCPS) most private schools in this area are extremely expensive.

The average private school tuition in the state of MD is $14,000/year.

https://www.privateschoolreview.com/tuition-stats/maryland

but not all private schools are created equally.

-dp

Yes, but the vast majority are better than MCPS.

None are

[Anonymous]

This is everywhere not just MoCo.

Are there courses someone can take to be a better writer?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Are students even assigned to read entire books in ES and MS? My neighbor told me her kids have never been expected to read an entire book, only excerpts. WTH? Why?

I don’t think your neighbor knows what she’s talking about. In elementary school they may read excerpts, but kids definitely read whole books in middle school language classes.

While individual teachers might assign whole books, assigning excerpts from books is a common problem across MCPS in MS and HS.

They are now required to teach at least one novel study per quarter in secondary English classes in MCPS.

Our school does 2/quarter -- one whole-class novel and one in book circles that varies by reading level.

Oh boy! One novel study! How ever will the kids handle all of that.

By secondary do you mean MS or HS?

Both.

The fact that they’re only required to teach one book per quarter is utterly pathetic.

I don’t see the problem with one anchor text a quarter. So you teach The Odyssey as an anchor text. You throw in related texts, such as Atwood poetry or nonfiction about the ancient city of Troy. Students do related research to find criticism, and then write their own.

Easily enough content for a quarter.

that’s not how it was described. it was described as one book per quarter.

PP who said one book per quarter minimum. That is the minimum full-length books. It was said in response to someone who said kids read 2 books/year, which should not be happening.

The one book/quarter minimum is indeed the anchor text with other texts added on.

We've never had four books a quarter. Last year, freshman year, it was two books, excerpts and a movie for one quarter, which was absurd.

In MS, it was 1-2 books a year.

Ya’ll should definitely talk to the English department at your schools because it’s been one book per quarter and one major writing assignment per quarter for awhile. That info comes directly from Central Office. Further this school year they have re-emphasized this and are limiting the number of book choices available for teachers to choose from just to help ensure it’s grade level or above content.

Have you seen the choices for the Honors English 9 curriculum? Many are below grade level. But yes teachers are required to use 1 anchor text per quarter — just disagreeing that limiting choice means kids are getting grade-level content. In the pilot, most teachers chose texts well below grade level.

Yes I have seen the English 9 choices and I’m fine with them. If teachers are always choosing the easiest text, then that’s a teacher and expectation setting problem. I also know that it’s the reading, analysis and writing done with each anchor text along with supplemental material that determines the quality of the class.

My problem is how much of the books they try to read in class.

Having anchor texts that are below level and reading them in class in so-called honors English is ridiculous and underscores the problem here — class time is spent reading and not learning about how to analyze text and write.

Give us the list!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mcps employee here.
-I am using the institute for excellence in writing to teach my kid how to write. My child is in 5th grade and has terrible grammar, spelling, and idea organization. I think some kids can learn to write by being avid readers (like my other kid) while many need direct instruction which mcps is not providing in a systematic way. It's shameful that they only focus on reading and math and don'teven do a good job with these subjects. Writing has just been completely thrown out the window. This curriculum has been recommended on dcum and I really like it. It is extrmely structured. You can either do it through a tutor, online classss, or you can learn the curriculum on your own. It's sad that providing a solid education has fallen on the shoulders of many parents and even more depressing that the kids who need it the most won't be able to get extra academic support from their families.

How much does it cost?

The virtual tutoring is $40 a session which is so cheap (key is to find someone in a lower cost area of the country for lower rates). Not sure how much the classes cost but I think they are reasonable. I am doing the spelling and grammar portion with my kid and have the once a week tutoring focus on the actual writing of different kinds of pieces.

DP - I like a similar curriculum, just a bit more: Classical Academic Press https://classicalacademicpress.com/collections/writing-rhetoric

Their grammar books are good too... https://classicalacademicpress.com/collections/well-ordered-language

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are schools that don’t cost that much PP.

Do name the schools that don’t cost “much.” Except for some low-quality religious schools (whose math instruction is far worse than MCPS) most private schools in this area are extremely expensive.

The average private school tuition in the state of MD is $14,000/year.

https://www.privateschoolreview.com/tuition-stats/maryland

but not all private schools are created equally.

-dp

Yes, but the vast majority are better than MCPS.

None are

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are schools that don’t cost that much PP.

Do name the schools that don’t cost “much.” Except for some low-quality religious schools (whose math instruction is far worse than MCPS) most private schools in this area are extremely expensive.

The average private school tuition in the state of MD is $14,000/year.

https://www.privateschoolreview.com/tuition-stats/maryland

but not all private schools are created equally.

-dp

Yes, but the vast majority are better than MCPS.

None are

lol ok

[Anonymous]

My kids grammar seems okay but for anyone concerned, we liked this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Grammar-Tony-Preciado-ebook/dp/B009RZ3ALA
Sadly now seems out of print but I’m seeing it on some resale sites.

[Anonymous]

I would like to see them integrate more of the secondary English courses with the Science, History and Art curriculum. Especially since 6th-10th kids are taking most of the same courses. They would still be able to cover the same essential questions but in a way that requires students to develop cross curricular thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are students even assigned to read entire books in ES and MS? My neighbor told me her kids have never been expected to read an entire book, only excerpts. WTH? Why?

I don’t think your neighbor knows what she’s talking about. In elementary school they may read excerpts, but kids definitely read whole books in middle school language classes.

While individual teachers might assign whole books, assigning excerpts from books is a common problem across MCPS in MS and HS.

They are now required to teach at least one novel study per quarter in secondary English classes in MCPS.

Our school does 2/quarter -- one whole-class novel and one in book circles that varies by reading level.

Oh boy! One novel study! How ever will the kids handle all of that.

By secondary do you mean MS or HS?

Both.

The fact that they’re only required to teach one book per quarter is utterly pathetic.

I don’t see the problem with one anchor text a quarter. So you teach The Odyssey as an anchor text. You throw in related texts, such as Atwood poetry or nonfiction about the ancient city of Troy. Students do related research to find criticism, and then write their own.

Easily enough content for a quarter.

that’s not how it was described. it was described as one book per quarter.

PP who said one book per quarter minimum. That is the minimum full-length books. It was said in response to someone who said kids read 2 books/year, which should not be happening.

The one book/quarter minimum is indeed the anchor text with other texts added on.

We've never had four books a quarter. Last year, freshman year, it was two books, excerpts and a movie for one quarter, which was absurd.

In MS, it was 1-2 books a year.

Ya’ll should definitely talk to the English department at your schools because it’s been one book per quarter and one major writing assignment per quarter for awhile. That info comes directly from Central Office. Further this school year they have re-emphasized this and are limiting the number of book choices available for teachers to choose from just to help ensure it’s grade level or above content.

Have you seen the choices for the Honors English 9 curriculum? Many are below grade level. But yes teachers are required to use 1 anchor text per quarter — just disagreeing that limiting choice means kids are getting grade-level content. In the pilot, most teachers chose texts well below grade level.

Yes I have seen the English 9 choices and I’m fine with them. If teachers are always choosing the easiest text, then that’s a teacher and expectation setting problem. I also know that it’s the reading, analysis and writing done with each anchor text along with supplemental material that determines the quality of the class.

My problem is how much of the books they try to read in class.

Having anchor texts that are below level and reading them in class in so-called honors English is ridiculous and underscores the problem here — class time is spent reading and not learning about how to analyze text and write.

Give us the list!

Look it up!

[Anonymous]

Do kids even learn cursive anymore?

I learned cursive, language arts, and grammar in Catholic school in the 90s.

We used to diagram sentences and label noun, verb, adverb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do kids even learn cursive anymore?

I learned cursive, language arts, and grammar in Catholic school in the 90s.

We used to diagram sentences and label noun, verb, adverb.

Mine did, we did it at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do kids even learn cursive anymore?

I learned cursive, language arts, and grammar in Catholic school in the 90s.

We used to diagram sentences and label noun, verb, adverb.

My kid learns all of that in private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP did not want a religious school. The average in MD is brought down by religious privates. -DP

Well, we can’t all have exactly what we want.

If my choice was Catholic school or crap MCPS, I’d choose Catholic school.

I wouldn't. Our neighbor's kids are at catholic school (they have 7 kids, so they're ultra catholic) and one of the kids is 3 years older than my kid and always says my kid is doing harder math. I'm not going to pay for the privilege of less qualified teachers (not to mention the social indoctrination).

Catholic schools are better at teaching English/writing than public schools.

Public schools grade for completion of the assignment but don’t grade on grammar, punctuation, writing style or mechanics

[Anonymous]

Kids are using ChatGPT for everything, all the time. They don’t know how to do anything on their own.

Don’t blame it on the teachers. It’s the kid’s fault. Own it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP did not want a religious school. The average in MD is brought down by religious privates. -DP

Well, we can’t all have exactly what we want.

If my choice was Catholic school or crap MCPS, I’d choose Catholic school.

I wouldn't. Our neighbor's kids are at catholic school (they have 7 kids, so they're ultra catholic) and one of the kids is 3 years older than my kid and always says my kid is doing harder math. I'm not going to pay for the privilege of less qualified teachers (not to mention the social indoctrination).

Catholic school teachers are expected to have state certification. (And as someone who has an advanced certificate, let me say that’s a LOW bar. It isn’t hard to get.) Many Catholic school teachers are also former public school teachers.

I am required to do MORE professional development as a teacher in a Catholic school. I am also observed more than I was at my former public school.