2 more magnet teachers are leaving Clemente

[Anonymous]

I know two Clemente magnet teachers who left in the last few years

Moss and Marks..

Were they good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magnet is supposed to be for students who are "gifted and talented." Not "easily driven by parental pressures. "

FIFY

In an ideal world, the students in the magnet would all be gifted and talented. Parents wouldn’t matter at all. But we don’t have an ideal world. And a lot of MCPS parents don’t want that world because it allows them to get their average children into and through ES and MS magnet.

You sound bitter. If saying that makes you feel better, more power to you.

Bitter over what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know two Clemente magnet teachers who left in the last few years

Moss and Marks..

Were they good?

They were very well regarded and extremely competent Humanities teachers. My DC was not in Humanities but did have Moss-Pham. She was an excellent ELS teacher and my DC learned a lot from her. She was not an easy grader and had high expectations from her students. She gave extensive comments in her feedback of student writing and really focussed on the process of writing. I really liked that she made the students go through multiple drafts and revisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ what’s wrong with it?

Not that poster, but here is what I hear from some families:

*Disrupted family schedules because of the bus.
*Tension between students and parents over the workload at home.
*Unfairness to other kids in the family who lose parental attention or have to adjust their schedule.

NP here. I have not heard that in my 15 years as a magnet teacher. Most parents are aware of the time committment and they consider themselves a partner in their child's education. Most students are happy within the program, even if some have to work harder to catch up with some of their peers. The truth is that these children are able to do the work and they thrive also because of a very like-ability cohort.

- Magnet teacher.

We turned down CES due to the amount of endless projects. Yes, this is going much deeper into the material, but often projects seem like more work from parents than for students. Honestly, is very clear when parents have done most of the work.

Our daughter is capable of doing the work, but she is already extremely busy with a multitude of language, music, and dance programs. She has at least 10 hours of work from her language program each week already.

That's excellent! You chose what works best for your family and child. Your comment proves my point. Those who cannot put in the time do not choose the magnet program. Similar to you, magnet parents choose what works best for their family and children too. Many students do not even apply for the program because it would interfere with some other priority. You should absolutely do what works for you. And you should let others do what works for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

We turned down CES due to the amount of endless projects. Yes, this is going much deeper into the material, but often projects seem like more work from parents than for students. Honestly, is very clear when parents have done most of the work.

Our daughter is capable of doing the work, but she is already extremely busy with a multitude of language, music, and dance programs. She has at least 10 hours of work from her language program each week already.

Please stop trolling. You say you turned down the program so how do you have any idea what the projects are all about? You also have no idea that parents do the work. Just based on your response it seems like a case of sour grapes. You sound bitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We turned down CES due to the amount of endless projects. Yes, this is going much deeper into the material, but often projects seem like more work from parents than for students. Honestly, is very clear when parents have done most of the work.

Our daughter is capable of doing the work, but she is already extremely busy with a multitude of language, music, and dance programs. She has at least 10 hours of work from her language program each week already.

Please stop trolling. You say you turned down the program so how do you have any idea what the projects are all about? You also have no idea that parents do the work. Just based on your response it seems like a case of sour grapes. You sound bitter.

DP. This would be sour grapes: "My daughter didn't get into the CES but we wouldn't have wanted her to go anyway, we don't like the program."

This is not sour grapes: "My daughter didn't get into the CES but we turned it down, we don't like the program."

The sour grapes fable:

A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.

The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.

Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.

"What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for."

And off he walked very, very scornfully.

There are many who pretend to despise and belittle that which is beyond their reach.

[Anonymous]

“Bitter” is what posters resort to when they can’t actually refute your point with evidence. It’s a particularly gendered term (not surprisingly). Men get to be cynical, implying an intellectual response to negative experiences. Women must be bitter, which has undertones of an emotional response to be thwarted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Magnet is supposed to be for students who are "gifted and talented." Not "easily driven by parental pressures. "

FIFY

In an ideal world, the students in the magnet would all be gifted and talented. Parents wouldn’t matter at all. But we don’t have an ideal world. And a lot of MCPS parents don’t want that world because it allows them to get their average children into and through ES and MS magnet.

You sound bitter. If saying that makes you feel better, more power to you.

Bitter over what?

It's passive aggressive speak for 'my kid didn't get in'

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We turned down CES due to the amount of endless projects. Yes, this is going much deeper into the material, but often projects seem like more work from parents than for students. Honestly, is very clear when parents have done most of the work.

Our daughter is capable of doing the work, but she is already extremely busy with a multitude of language, music, and dance programs. She has at least 10 hours of work from her language program each week already.

Wow... you really failed your child. There weren't endless projects and I never stepped in, even to check homework. I did have awesome conversations with my kid, however, about what they were working on. The teachers did a great job a getting the kids to manage their time. Our kid had two after school activities that typically occurred 4-5 days a week. Kid survived. I think you're actually a troll, but if you really turned down the program for the reasons you posted, you really, really did your kid a disservice. The CES program was life changing for my kid. And we'd do it again 100 times out of 100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We turned down CES due to the amount of endless projects. Yes, this is going much deeper into the material, but often projects seem like more work from parents than for students. Honestly, is very clear when parents have done most of the work.

Our daughter is capable of doing the work, but she is already extremely busy with a multitude of language, music, and dance programs. She has at least 10 hours of work from her language program each week already.

Wow... you really failed your child. There weren't endless projects and I never stepped in, even to check homework. I did have awesome conversations with my kid, however, about what they were working on. The teachers did a great job a getting the kids to manage their time. Our kid had two after school activities that typically occurred 4-5 days a week. Kid survived. I think you're actually a troll, but if you really turned down the program for the reasons you posted, you really, really did your kid a disservice. The CES program was life changing for my kid. And we'd do it again 100 times out of 100.

DCUM, in general, has real difficulty with the concept "Different people make different choices for different reasons."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We turned down CES due to the amount of endless projects. Yes, this is going much deeper into the material, but often projects seem like more work from parents than for students. Honestly, is very clear when parents have done most of the work.

Our daughter is capable of doing the work, but she is already extremely busy with a multitude of language, music, and dance programs. She has at least 10 hours of work from her language program each week already.

Wow... you really failed your child. There weren't endless projects and I never stepped in, even to check homework. I did have awesome conversations with my kid, however, about what they were working on. The teachers did a great job a getting the kids to manage their time. Our kid had two after school activities that typically occurred 4-5 days a week. Kid survived. I think you're actually a troll, but if you really turned down the program for the reasons you posted, you really, really did your kid a disservice. The CES program was life changing for my kid. And we'd do it again 100 times out of 100.

Not PP, but there are many paths to a happy and successful life. My child left competitive dance when it hit the 4x a week practices/ $1k a month mark because it was no longer worth all the sacrifices, despite the trophies. We were exhausted. She never saw her closest friends outside of school. She left just as her team was selected to perform as backup dancers for a hip hop star. DD went on to do athletics, acting, and journalism. Today, she works in the entertainment industry and is glad she got her foot in another door by HS. There are plenty of life changing experiences. BTW, none of the girls who stayed in her team through HS are dancing professionally today.

[Anonymous]

I don't think the magnet program is the "key" to success in life. My daughter is in a HS one. Not everyone who graduates
from the program will be successful. Many will get a lot out of their experience but some at a high cost (very late nights etc) and will burn out. Some will feel entitled and have a tough time in life. Life is long..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Let’s get real. The kids were never all at the same level. There was always a variation in skills, interests, background knowledge, and work ethic. The difference I see now is that we get some parents who are less educated themselves so they can’t help at home, less equipped financially to assist with extra materials, less aware of the intense commitment the entire family is making, and less confident in asking teachers to explain a concept differently or reconsider a grade. Under the old system, a family might send three kids through magnet although only the first one was truly gifted and others average because they learned from experience how to make it work. Or they had lots of advice from friends and neighbors with kids who went to magnet. Now there are more kids who are truly trailblazers.

I’ve taught mixed ability general ed. This year’s classes were nothing like that. When MCPS starts admitting to MS magnet fifteen year olds or students reading on a pre-primer level, I’ll be the loudest one protesting.

Signed,
A middle school magnet teacher

That was my impression as a parent with kids in the magnet programs, too.

Also, as a parent with kids in the magnet program, my opinion is that participation in the magnet program should not require an intense commitment by the entire family.

Whether you like it or not, it does. Sending kids to magnet is a family commitment. We are perfectly okay with that.

Not in my family. My oldest requires less commitment than most parents give their kids in local schools (pick ups and drop offs notwithstanding). Perhaps if my youngest had been pushed and prepped and made to go to magnet it would have required that kind of commitment, but that's because he's not an appropriate kid for that program. He's perfectly happy being a straight-A student with all his various interests and activities in his local MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We turned down CES due to the amount of endless projects. Yes, this is going much deeper into the material, but often projects seem like more work from parents than for students. Honestly, is very clear when parents have done most of the work.

Our daughter is capable of doing the work, but she is already extremely busy with a multitude of language, music, and dance programs. She has at least 10 hours of work from her language program each week already.

Wow... you really failed your child. There weren't endless projects and I never stepped in, even to check homework. I did have awesome conversations with my kid, however, about what they were working on. The teachers did a great job a getting the kids to manage their time. Our kid had two after school activities that typically occurred 4-5 days a week. Kid survived. I think you're actually a troll, but if you really turned down the program for the reasons you posted, you really, really did your kid a disservice. The CES program was life changing for my kid. And we'd do it again 100 times out of 100.

To me ( parent) the projects seemed endless. I remember when DD finished the last one for 4th grade. I was giving her a cheer. YAY the last project is finished. She looked at me and said, "Mom I loved school this year and am sad the year is ending" If the projects seem endless to you kid, they are probably better off at their home school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Let’s get real. The kids were never all at the same level. There was always a variation in skills, interests, background knowledge, and work ethic. The difference I see now is that we get some parents who are less educated themselves so they can’t help at home, less equipped financially to assist with extra materials, less aware of the intense commitment the entire family is making, and less confident in asking teachers to explain a concept differently or reconsider a grade. Under the old system, a family might send three kids through magnet although only the first one was truly gifted and others average because they learned from experience how to make it work. Or they had lots of advice from friends and neighbors with kids who went to magnet. Now there are more kids who are truly trailblazers.

I’ve taught mixed ability general ed. This year’s classes were nothing like that. When MCPS starts admitting to MS magnet fifteen year olds or students reading on a pre-primer level, I’ll be the loudest one protesting.

Signed,
A middle school magnet teacher

That was my impression as a parent with kids in the magnet programs, too.

Also, as a parent with kids in the magnet program, my opinion is that participation in the magnet program should not require an intense commitment by the entire family.

Whether you like it or not, it does. Sending kids to magnet is a family commitment. We are perfectly okay with that.

Not in my family. My oldest requires less commitment than most parents give their kids in local schools (pick ups and drop offs notwithstanding). Perhaps if my youngest had been pushed and prepped and made to go to magnet it would have required that kind of commitment, but that's because he's not an appropriate kid for that program. He's perfectly happy being a straight-A student with all his various interests and activities in his local MS.

That’s nice but I think pick ups and drop offs are a big part of “family commitment” and not parents doing kids school work.