Another school day of video games

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

My college Freshman has classes where everything must be handwritten. All assignments, all essays, all exams. Hopefully this handwriting-to-defeat-AI is just a blip, but I wouldn’t bet my kids college success on it. Kids need to learn legible handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

My college Freshman has classes where everything must be handwritten. All assignments, all essays, all exams. Hopefully this handwriting-to-defeat-AI is just a blip, but I wouldn’t bet my kids college success on it. Kids need to learn legible handwriting.

The constant games in ES has been goiing on for years and its harmful but saying Chromebooks shouldn't be issued till 10th is absurd too. Kids will always find a way to cheat, and they can just use AI and then hand write it. Teachers need to change their teaching methods for the new technologies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

This is absurd adn the reason this is, is because of the poor curriculum where there is little writing, few papers, few textbooks even though teachers have them, etc. Maybe look at what you are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP sounds like the sort of parent who doesn't let their kid play video games at home. It makes sense that their kid would binge on games at school whenever he has the chance.

NP here and when I complain the school blames me for allowing video games at home. You blame parents for not allowing them.

It’s almost like what parents do at home doesn’t matter and the Chromebooks themselves are the problem.

+1. It's much easier to blame parents than deal with the rot in the system, but parents aren't the problem.

The pivot to screen use in elementary is the root of the problem, everyone knows it, but it will take years for public schools to go back to pen and paper, if they ever do. So in the meantime, parents need to adjust expectations. Video games in school are going to happen to a certain extent, depending on the teacher and the kid. What are you going to do outside of school, as the parent? Before screen use in schools, it's not like schools taught more stuff. It's just that kids wasted their time in other ways...

Bullshit. If you look at the results, schools obviously taught more and taught more effectively before the introduction of Chromebooks.

And maybe I'll be tilting at windmills, but I'm not going to "adjust my expectation" that schools provide effective instruction and not video games.

This. Encouraging to hear from PP that Pyle is going in the right direction; we should encourage other MCPS schools to follow.

Yes but another example of Bethesda kids getting a much better education! Highly educated parents want their kids to learn and demand things. Sad other kids won’t get the same !!!

Meh, we save the money and teach them ourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

I agree with this. There is no need for Chromebooks before HS. How have they improved education. Kids are coming into HS knowing way less than before Chromebooks. English, Math, Science - all subject teachers need to reach the basics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

I agree with this. There is no need for Chromebooks before HS. How have they improved education. Kids are coming into HS knowing way less than before Chromebooks. English, Math, Science - all subject teachers need to reach the basics

Correction: reteach the basics. Kids have alarming gaps in their foundational knowledge these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

What grade are they issued in MCPS?

My kindergartener doesn't have a Chromebook assigned to him that he brings home or keeps in his desk or anything, but he had his login info (which includes a random 8 digit number) memorized by November, if that tells you anything...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

This is absurd adn the reason this is, is because of the poor curriculum where there is little writing, few papers, few textbooks even though teachers have them, etc. Maybe look at what you are doing.

If you read my statement you should be able to understand that my chief complaint against Chromebooks is the fact these kids have completely forgotten how to actually write because every thing is typed. I did not mention anything about the curriculum or what they are learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

My college Freshman has classes where everything must be handwritten. All assignments, all essays, all exams. Hopefully this handwriting-to-defeat-AI is just a blip, but I wouldn’t bet my kids college success on it. Kids need to learn legible handwriting.

The constant games in ES has been goiing on for years and its harmful but saying Chromebooks shouldn't be issued till 10th is absurd too. Kids will always find a way to cheat, and they can just use AI and then hand write it. Teachers need to change their teaching methods for the new technologies.

I am not even worried about cheating or AI. I am more concerned that most of these kids handwriting looks like it was written by chimpanzees with Parkinson’s disease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP sounds like the sort of parent who doesn't let their kid play video games at home. It makes sense that their kid would binge on games at school whenever he has the chance.

NP here and when I complain the school blames me for allowing video games at home. You blame parents for not allowing them.

It’s almost like what parents do at home doesn’t matter and the Chromebooks themselves are the problem.

? I don't believe you, because that doesn't make any sense. However, the previous point does make sense, because kids who feel deprived often go out of their way to access TV/video games when they don't get it at home.

Chromebooks ARE the problem. But this isn't likely to change any time soon, so you'd better deal with it. I provided enrichment at home, because no primary school, public or private will ever cater to precocious kids. By secondary, the whole screen issue went away because when kids are in advanced classes they do actual work, which means that when they have free time, nobody begrudges them some goofing off.

PP here and even if you don’t believe me, that’s the meeting I had with the principal at the middle school. She expected me to be able to get my kid to stop playing video games on his Chromebook in the school building, even though I didn’t control the device/ the WiFi and I wasn’t physically there. Suggesting that the school shouldn’t give him a device that wasn’t safe meant that I was a rich white jerk refusing to parent her child (who has strong grades and no discipline issues). He only plays games after he finishes his work which takes about two seconds in most classes and six seconds in the two enriched/accelerated classes offered.

We do enrich at home, actually. That’s why middle school is boring and games are more fun (although both those things would probably be true anyway). But that doesn’t solve the fact that the middle school is an actual waste of time, and removing Chromebooks or reducing use would help at least make it more engaging.

[Anonymous]

Why can’t there at least be an option for no screens until kids master reading, writing, handwriting, arithmetic, polite behavior, and other basic k-8 skills? People who want their kids to be on screens can choose that and those who don’t can choose the no-screen option.

[Anonymous]

If schools were run like they were 80-100 years ago, the kids wouldn’t survive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t there at least be an option for no screens until kids master reading, writing, handwriting, arithmetic, polite behavior, and other basic k-8 skills? People who want their kids to be on screens can choose that and those who don’t can choose the no-screen option.

As the teacher who posts in here all the time i will chime in. We teach using the chromebooks but offer paper alternatives to any student who prefers that. Probably 10% of my kids will choose paper. The only real issue is that paper copies can be lost and damaged. For that 10% of kids who do paper work, half of them will lose the assignment before the due date. There will also be the handful who attempt to gaslight us into believing WE lost it. The Chromebooks just take all of the human error and risk out of assignments which is nice.

I am sure there will be people here who will immediately jump in and claim its an excuse and that I need to somehow be a better teacher and have better plans to prevent 15 year olds from being irresponsible and trust me we have tried. We have given students binders and folders that I bought with my own money. We have required them to return their paper assignments to a class bin for safe keeping until they can resume the next day. Short of stapling it directly to their chest, i am not sure of anything else i can do to “teenager-proof” these paper assignments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

My college Freshman has classes where everything must be handwritten. All assignments, all essays, all exams. Hopefully this handwriting-to-defeat-AI is just a blip, but I wouldn’t bet my kids college success on it. Kids need to learn legible handwriting.

The constant games in ES has been goiing on for years and its harmful but saying Chromebooks shouldn't be issued till 10th is absurd too. Kids will always find a way to cheat, and they can just use AI and then hand write it. Teachers need to change their teaching methods for the new technologies.

What is really within the teacher’s control?

I’m curious to know what kids are doing on chromebooks in early elementary and why they are necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a teacher here in MCPS and I think Chromebooks shouldn’t be issued until like 10th grade at the earliest. I can’t issue pencil and paper work anymore in 9th grade because 80% of the kids are incapable of writing small and neat enough to fit more than 4 words into a space designed for like three sentences. Probably 50% cant write anything actually legible.

What grade are they issued in MCPS?

My kindergartener doesn't have a Chromebook assigned to him that he brings home or keeps in his desk or anything, but he had his login info (which includes a random 8 digit number) memorized by November, if that tells you anything...

Does your kid get lunch at school? He needs that number for that.