HS English class and in-class reading

[Anonymous]

During pandemic virtual, MS English teacher asked for student volunteers to read out loud. Child said no one would and teacher then called on students. Child said it was even more embarrassing than reading aloud in class.

[Anonymous]

My CAP kid definitely has to read at home as does my younger kid at TPMS.

[Anonymous]

MCPS's stance is requiring kids to do reading at home or homework in general is inequitable and racist. So now, they have kids do it in class instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My CAP kid definitely has to read at home as does my younger kid at TPMS.

Right so maybe CAP, a magnet program, has this expectation but it is not the norm elsewhere. You are lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You never had sustained silent reading? With all the distractions outside of school, it’s nice to “force” a nonnegotiable time and space to read. With jobs, extracurriculars, sports, social media/video game temptations, and chaotic/noisy home lives, it can be helpful to provide some time to read. Independent reading IS productive, it’s not a study hall. Don’t we want them reading at school?!

That seems inappropriate for a high-school level course, particularly a supposedly “honors” course but even an on-level one. Students in high school should be expected to read materials outside of class and come prepared to discuss and write.

Okay, but they don’t. Even the top kids. So what do you suggest? How do they discuss the reading if no one has done it? At least if there’s some time in class to do it, there can be an actual discussion. You do what you can with what you’ve got.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You never had sustained silent reading? With all the distractions outside of school, it’s nice to “force” a nonnegotiable time and space to read. With jobs, extracurriculars, sports, social media/video game temptations, and chaotic/noisy home lives, it can be helpful to provide some time to read. Independent reading IS productive, it’s not a study hall. Don’t we want them reading at school?!

That seems inappropriate for a high-school level course, particularly a supposedly “honors” course but even an on-level one. Students in high school should be expected to read materials outside of class and come prepared to discuss and write.

Okay, but they don’t. Even the top kids. So what do you suggest? How do they discuss the reading if no one has done it? At least if there’s some time in class to do it, there can be an actual discussion. You do what you can with what you’ve got.

I think usually the idea is to give them bad grades and fail them if necessary. That’s kind of how this all works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You never had sustained silent reading? With all the distractions outside of school, it’s nice to “force” a nonnegotiable time and space to read. With jobs, extracurriculars, sports, social media/video game temptations, and chaotic/noisy home lives, it can be helpful to provide some time to read. Independent reading IS productive, it’s not a study hall. Don’t we want them reading at school?!

That seems inappropriate for a high-school level course, particularly a supposedly “honors” course but even an on-level one. Students in high school should be expected to read materials outside of class and come prepared to discuss and write.

Okay, but they don’t. Even the top kids. So what do you suggest? How do they discuss the reading if no one has done it? At least if there’s some time in class to do it, there can be an actual discussion. You do what you can with what you’ve got.

I think usually the idea is to give them bad grades and fail them if necessary. That’s kind of how this all works.

K. So then the entire class fails (or the majority) and the teacher gets in trouble for too many failing grades in her class. Parents complain that the teacher fails everyone. How about parents make sure their kids do the reading at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You never had sustained silent reading? With all the distractions outside of school, it’s nice to “force” a nonnegotiable time and space to read. With jobs, extracurriculars, sports, social media/video game temptations, and chaotic/noisy home lives, it can be helpful to provide some time to read. Independent reading IS productive, it’s not a study hall. Don’t we want them reading at school?!

That seems inappropriate for a high-school level course, particularly a supposedly “honors” course but even an on-level one. Students in high school should be expected to read materials outside of class and come prepared to discuss and write.

Okay, but they don’t. Even the top kids. So what do you suggest? How do they discuss the reading if no one has done it? At least if there’s some time in class to do it, there can be an actual discussion. You do what you can with what you’ve got.

This. Believe it or not, I don’t want my kids to fail and I don’t want to have a boring class where no one contributes to the discussion. So, if giving fifteen minutes here and there to get a head start on the reading or hook them into continue reading at home is what I have to do, then I’m okay with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You never had sustained silent reading? With all the distractions outside of school, it’s nice to “force” a nonnegotiable time and space to read. With jobs, extracurriculars, sports, social media/video game temptations, and chaotic/noisy home lives, it can be helpful to provide some time to read. Independent reading IS productive, it’s not a study hall. Don’t we want them reading at school?!

That seems inappropriate for a high-school level course, particularly a supposedly “honors” course but even an on-level one. Students in high school should be expected to read materials outside of class and come prepared to discuss and write.

Okay, but they don’t. Even the top kids. So what do you suggest? How do they discuss the reading if no one has done it? At least if there’s some time in class to do it, there can be an actual discussion. You do what you can with what you’ve got.

I think usually the idea is to give them bad grades and fail them if necessary. That’s kind of how this all works.

K. So then the entire class fails (or the majority) and the teacher gets in trouble for too many failing grades in her class. Parents complain that the teacher fails everyone. How about parents make sure their kids do the reading at home?

This isn’t the fault of teachers.
Teachers need to be allowed to fail kids for not reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You never had sustained silent reading? With all the distractions outside of school, it’s nice to “force” a nonnegotiable time and space to read. With jobs, extracurriculars, sports, social media/video game temptations, and chaotic/noisy home lives, it can be helpful to provide some time to read. Independent reading IS productive, it’s not a study hall. Don’t we want them reading at school?!

That seems inappropriate for a high-school level course, particularly a supposedly “honors” course but even an on-level one. Students in high school should be expected to read materials outside of class and come prepared to discuss and write.

Okay, but they don’t. Even the top kids. So what do you suggest? How do they discuss the reading if no one has done it? At least if there’s some time in class to do it, there can be an actual discussion. You do what you can with what you’ve got.

Then they should have to have actual leveled classes. If kids can't handle reading actual texts, they can go in an on-level class. Kids who actually are prepared to put in a modicum of effort take honors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's your child's experience regarding in-class reading? My DS says his class spends about 45 minutes reading with minor "interruptions" from the teacher. Is this normal? Are students no longer told to read the book at home for homework? Just checking. TIA

Many teachers now are expecting that almost all work for the course will be done in-class for equity reasons. I am an AP Lang teacher and communicate with hundreds of other English teachers on the group Facebook page. I don't agree with this, just reporting...

NP but I support the idea (my kid is not disadvantaged fwiw).
They need to be hanging out with friends, working, playing sports and doing other things after school. The school day is long as it is.
My kid is lucky that he likes to read. For some kids it’s hard work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's your child's experience regarding in-class reading? My DS says his class spends about 45 minutes reading with minor "interruptions" from the teacher. Is this normal? Are students no longer told to read the book at home for homework? Just checking. TIA

Many teachers now are expecting that almost all work for the course will be done in-class for equity reasons. I am an AP Lang teacher and communicate with hundreds of other English teachers on the group Facebook page. I don't agree with this, just reporting...

NP but I support the idea (my kid is not disadvantaged fwiw).
They need to be hanging out with friends, working, playing sports and doing other things after school. The school day is long as it is.
My kid is lucky that he likes to read. For some kids it’s hard work.

This right here is the parenting that the school system is up against. Add in staff/parents who fight having meaningful calendar changes and you why things are as they are.

[Anonymous]

Not my kid's experience. Reading in class only if lesdon finished early. Reading required text is mostly homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's your child's experience regarding in-class reading? My DS says his class spends about 45 minutes reading with minor "interruptions" from the teacher. Is this normal? Are students no longer told to read the book at home for homework? Just checking. TIA

Many teachers now are expecting that almost all work for the course will be done in-class for equity reasons. I am an AP Lang teacher and communicate with hundreds of other English teachers on the group Facebook page. I don't agree with this, just reporting...

NP but I support the idea (my kid is not disadvantaged fwiw).
They need to be hanging out with friends, working, playing sports and doing other things after school. The school day is long as it is.
My kid is lucky that he likes to read. For some kids it’s hard work.

The kids who find it hard work are the ones that need to practice more. Your faux compassion leads to 18 year old semi-literate high school graduates. Young kids can read 30 minutes a day; older kids 45 minutes to an hour. The school day is not that long, and learning and preparing for life is their job. Teenagers have plenty of leisure hours between school and when they go to sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our MS honors English does not have any required home reading, but even worse, the teacher reads to them. It’s hilarious.

Reading to students is recommended. You should read out loud to your kids at home too for as long as they will allow you to, yes even in MS age take turns reading aloud as you would if reading a play script. Trickier to get the tween or teen to do so.

It is appropriate until 8th grade, when their reading and understanding skills catch up.

It is not appropriate in a HS course.