The state of MCPS is atrocious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So to the people who complain about MCPS: what are you doing about it for your kid?

well, I'm not shelling out $50K/year for private school, so I bought some workbooks for my kid when they were younger. I have never sent them to a tutoring place.

I also read through their essays and made them re-write portions of it that were awful, but the teacher didn't bother marking up or providing feedback - grammatical mistakes, punctuation issues, disorganized sentences and paragraphs. I did this when the kids were in ES. They hated it at the time, but now that they are teens, they have admitted to me that this helped them become better writers.

Are you confident that you can supplement to that extent? That’s always been my concern. I help reinforce what my daughter is learning, but don’t feel confident in my ability to make up for lack of foundational skills.

If you’re on here having a discussion and following along you can supplement foundational skills. There is thousands of workbooks and curriculum available, classes, and even resources available at the public library., MCPS also offers LOTS of resources(tutoring, parent academy, Saturday academy, summer school for students needing to catch-up,etc etc). MCPS does need to do a better job explaining all the available resources and how to access.

This is so insulting to teachers. You think someone who can have a discussion on a message board is qualified to teach a child fundamental math and reading skills? If that’s true, then why waste money on training teachers? I guess we could just throw any able-bodied adult in there and they should be able to teach kids with resources they find on the internet.

What a joke. No wonder our kids are scoring so low.

I KNOW that many people can teach their own kid foundational math and reading skills with internet resources, rented or purchased curriculum and workbooks. Whether they choose to do so or not is a different situation. Also being able to teach your own child vs being able to teach a classroom of other people’s kids is a whole different ball game.

It’s actually often more difficult to teach your own kid than other people’s kids. More emotions involved.

Yet despite these emotions parents have managed to teach their kids dozens of things: chores, driving, sports. Is it frustrating at times, such, but people rise above emotion to do what is best or needed all the time. The percent of homeschooling is rising by 2-10% each year. Evidence that folks can teach their own kids.

Evidence that folks believe they can teach their own kids. Also at issue: what do parents teach their own kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College freshman here. We absolutely don’t use physical textbooks. Everything is online. Sorry to the extremely angry dinosaur here but that’s the truth.

I was curious so I asked my daughter (college junior, biochemistry major) and she said that ~2/3 of classes used textbooks, and almost all of her STEM classes.

DP…. Engineering junior here. All of our textbooks are online. Only on this hell site bc MoCo parents are wild and it’s entertaining to watch the train wreck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College freshman here. We absolutely don’t use physical textbooks. Everything is online. Sorry to the extremely angry dinosaur here but that’s the truth.

I was curious so I asked my daughter (college junior, biochemistry major) and she said that ~2/3 of classes used textbooks, and almost all of her STEM classes.

DP…. Engineering junior here. All of our textbooks are online. Only on this hell site bc MoCo parents are wild and it’s entertaining to watch the train wreck.

Same with my STEM classes at Montgomery College. (I am updating my skills.) To the extent there even are textbooks, the textbooks are on line.

-a MoCo parent

[Anonymous]

The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

I’m a private school teacher (formerly public school teacher and MoCo resident). This is exactly why I’m removing technology from my classroom next year. I’m dusting off the old textbooks and mandating in-class writing. My high school students get far too distracted by technology and / or they use it as too much of a crutch. Laptops will be out rarely and only when their use is an actual benefit to the lesson, like database searching.

It’s important to learn when and how to appropriately use technology. I think we’ve gone overboard in its use, however, and some students are now incapable of functioning without it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

On the other hand, elementary school and middle school kids are also not mature enough to be able to use textbooks printed on paper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

Elementary kids technically have textbooks. Benchmark (as problematic as it is)… they have magazines. There are Eureka workbooks for math…and also, both are online if need be. Pretty sure MCPS has this covered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

I’m a private school teacher (formerly public school teacher and MoCo resident). This is exactly why I’m removing technology from my classroom next year. I’m dusting off the old textbooks and mandating in-class writing. My high school students get far too distracted by technology and / or they use it as too much of a crutch. Laptops will be out rarely and only when their use is an actual benefit to the lesson, like database searching.

It’s important to learn when and how to appropriately use technology. I think we’ve gone overboard in its use, however, and some students are now incapable of functioning without it.

Old school isn’t always the way. Kids need technology skills because it’s 2023 and not 1986. That’s where the future is headed. It’s better to teach them how to properly utilize technology than ban it for textbooks that haven’t been updated since the 90s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

I’m a private school teacher (formerly public school teacher and MoCo resident). This is exactly why I’m removing technology from my classroom next year. I’m dusting off the old textbooks and mandating in-class writing. My high school students get far too distracted by technology and / or they use it as too much of a crutch. Laptops will be out rarely and only when their use is an actual benefit to the lesson, like database searching.

It’s important to learn when and how to appropriately use technology. I think we’ve gone overboard in its use, however, and some students are now incapable of functioning without it.

Old school isn’t always the way. Kids need technology skills because it’s 2023 and not 1986. That’s where the future is headed. It’s better to teach them how to properly utilize technology than ban it for textbooks that haven’t been updated since the 90s.

I’m the PP. Trust me, students are getting technology skills. The problem is that’s ALL they are getting. Yes, it’s 2023. They need to use Google and databases, etc. I happen to believe they should also be able to use a book and a pencil. They should also be able to think through a problem instead of merely finding an answer on some website.

Know what kids are doing with their computers? If it’s math, they can take a pic of the problem and the app does all the work for them. All they have to do is copy the work and answer down. If it is paragraph or essay writing, they use Chatgpt. Foreign languages are all about Google Translate now, so there’s no need to learn the vocabulary.

I’m all for using technology as a tool. Call me old fashioned, I guess, but I feel students should be able to do a couple of things on their own… like writing a coherent paragraph or participating in a debate with their own thoughts and not regurgitated Google finds.

I doubt I’ll get a single parent complaint. I actually anticipate I’ll get a ton of parent support.

[Anonymous]

All the folks vouching for textbooks are private schools parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

I’m a private school teacher (formerly public school teacher and MoCo resident). This is exactly why I’m removing technology from my classroom next year. I’m dusting off the old textbooks and mandating in-class writing. My high school students get far too distracted by technology and / or they use it as too much of a crutch. Laptops will be out rarely and only when their use is an actual benefit to the lesson, like database searching.

It’s important to learn when and how to appropriately use technology. I think we’ve gone overboard in its use, however, and some students are now incapable of functioning without it.

Old school isn’t always the way. Kids need technology skills because it’s 2023 and not 1986. That’s where the future is headed. It’s better to teach them how to properly utilize technology than ban it for textbooks that haven’t been updated since the 90s.

I’m the PP. Trust me, students are getting technology skills. The problem is that’s ALL they are getting. Yes, it’s 2023. They need to use Google and databases, etc. I happen to believe they should also be able to use a book and a pencil. They should also be able to think through a problem instead of merely finding an answer on some website.

Know what kids are doing with their computers? If it’s math, they can take a pic of the problem and the app does all the work for them. All they have to do is copy the work and answer down. If it is paragraph or essay writing, they use Chatgpt. Foreign languages are all about Google Translate now, so there’s no need to learn the vocabulary.

I’m all for using technology as a tool. Call me old fashioned, I guess, but I feel students should be able to do a couple of things on their own… like writing a coherent paragraph or participating in a debate with their own thoughts and not regurgitated Google finds.

I doubt I’ll get a single parent complaint. I actually anticipate I’ll get a ton of parent support.

Parent here. I’d rather my kids actually learn to use technology properly than “dusting off old textbooks.” Sorry you just sound super out of touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing about everything being online, is that kids are not mature enough to regulate their computer usage. Elementary school and middle school kids are gaming and going on random websites instead of learning. Lots of distractions that having textbooks would sidetrack- at least until the kids get cell phones and are distracted that way.

-mcps educator

I’m a private school teacher (formerly public school teacher and MoCo resident). This is exactly why I’m removing technology from my classroom next year. I’m dusting off the old textbooks and mandating in-class writing. My high school students get far too distracted by technology and / or they use it as too much of a crutch. Laptops will be out rarely and only when their use is an actual benefit to the lesson, like database searching.

It’s important to learn when and how to appropriately use technology. I think we’ve gone overboard in its use, however, and some students are now incapable of functioning without it.

Old school isn’t always the way. Kids need technology skills because it’s 2023 and not 1986. That’s where the future is headed. It’s better to teach them how to properly utilize technology than ban it for textbooks that haven’t been updated since the 90s.

I’m the PP. Trust me, students are getting technology skills. The problem is that’s ALL they are getting. Yes, it’s 2023. They need to use Google and databases, etc. I happen to believe they should also be able to use a book and a pencil. They should also be able to think through a problem instead of merely finding an answer on some website.

Know what kids are doing with their computers? If it’s math, they can take a pic of the problem and the app does all the work for them. All they have to do is copy the work and answer down. If it is paragraph or essay writing, they use Chatgpt. Foreign languages are all about Google Translate now, so there’s no need to learn the vocabulary.

I’m all for using technology as a tool. Call me old fashioned, I guess, but I feel students should be able to do a couple of things on their own… like writing a coherent paragraph or participating in a debate with their own thoughts and not regurgitated Google finds.

I doubt I’ll get a single parent complaint. I actually anticipate I’ll get a ton of parent support.

All they are getting? They can’t even type. Yes, they use technology… they are terrible at it for the amount of time they are on it. Cursive isn’t the future… they need to know how to write an email.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College freshman here. We absolutely don’t use physical textbooks. Everything is online. Sorry to the extremely angry dinosaur here but that’s the truth.

I was curious so I asked my daughter (college junior, biochemistry major) and she said that ~2/3 of classes used textbooks, and almost all of her STEM classes.

DP…. Engineering junior here. All of our textbooks are online. Only on this hell site bc MoCo parents are wild and it’s entertaining to watch the train wreck.

I admit I didn’t ask if they were online textbooks or physical; probably online. I personally don’t see any issues with online textbooks; can’t remember the last time I use a physical reference book. I thought the issue was no textbooks; either online or physical.

[Anonymous]

My daughter just got back from a college Study Abroad semester in Spain. Her professors all used textbooks and they cost only about $20 each. Nice system!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

All they are getting? They can’t even type. Yes, they use technology… they are terrible at it for the amount of time they are on it. Cursive isn’t the future… they need to know how to write an email.

I'm not sure email is the future, either.