AP CLASSES why so much homework?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Forget AP Classes, those are college level and expected to have a lot of work. Why is my freshman in History honors drowning in SO MUCH homework? Every weekday evening and most of the weekend is spent ONLY on finishing up History assignments. And no, the teacher does not give any time in class to work on hw. Kid manages to finish all the other classes hw during Study Hall and comes home and does only history work every day. I have a suspicion that the history teacher is deliberately overloading the hw so that the kids will drop down to lower level. The same teacher is teaching AP World also and I suspect they are trying to scare away the kids from AP World with too much work. Thankfully, the other teachers are giving normal hw.

+1 omg bless you. My poor kid is in the same boat. We have no idea why this teacher is assigning gobs of work. It is absolutely insane. My son is also spending hours on it. The sad part is the work is only for completion. The teacher doesn’t teach - just assigns reading (they read it outloud in class old school round robin style) and then they are given these ridiculous assignments that keep them busy the rest of the period. They cannot ever possibly be finished with them.

The teacher is teaching the kids how to study.

If your kid doesn't want to study and learn, then just scribble through the work and don't waste time making it correct.

I don’t agree that simply reading a text outloud in class and assigning work after that is teaching my child “how to study.” If there was a lecture or discussion, where my child had to take take notes, and then study said notes, that might be “teaching him how to study.” But assigning copious amounts of busy work with zero discussion is not it.

Is it possible that your kid is not relaying accurate information about what they are doing in class?

No. He is a straight A student and extremely truthful.

Also, I can see they don’t have any notes taken from lectures.

I guess your kid is lazy, or notes aren't important.

My kid learned the incredibly complex skill of note taking in middle school

Not at all, more like the teacher is lazy. Having kids read outloud the text during class time to kill time and then simply assigning independent work with no discussion? That’s the definition of lazy teaching.

Challenge for you. Call the school and ask to observe the teacher’s class.

I’m willing to bet the story your child brings home doesn’t match what is really occurring in class.

From my 20 years of experience teaching advanced courses in high school, I’m comfortable saying there aren’t many lazy AP teachers left. The 60 (or more) hours a week it takes to teach an advanced course is enough to scare the lazy teachers away. Those of us who remain are the work horses who unhealthily put our jobs over our own families and our own health.

You’re confusing me with OP. I’m talking about a freshman honors history class, not an AP class.

I still recommend observing the class. What students report is rarely what is actually occurring. I’ve witnessed that with my own children.

I forgot to add that the teacher posts a recap online anyway. This is one of those teachers that have been at it for 30 years and is not creative or engaging. It’s literally read outloud and then complete written activities independently. Oh and here’s a study guide with a bazillion terms - learn it on your own. Some of them aren’t even in the chapter.

What’s the problem? If you know that’s the teacher’s style, then you learn to work with it. I had tons of teachers in high school and professors in college who operated this way. I recognized the style and studied accordingly. I didn’t complain about it.

If you choose to complain, then choose to do something about it. I recommend becoming a teacher yourself since you have all the answers. (But then you’ll realize it’s a lot harder than you think…)

I was a teacher for FCPS, you dolt. I have a Masters from UVA.

Which means I can recognize bad teaching. There should absolutely be discussions in history. Note taking. Group activities. Not just read out loud the chapter and assign independent work. That’s the laziest form of teaching history.

Since you’re a former teacher, then I’m sure you’re aware that students often perceive things in a way that doesn’t quite reflect reality. Perhaps you shouldn’t take a student’s perception as fact.

Since you’re a former teacher, then I’m sure you’re aware that students need to acclimate to any number of different teaching styles. You mentioned he reads aloud. I assume your child is taking notes as he does? Why haven’t you helped your child figure out how to adapt to his teaching style? Wouldn’t that make more sense than complaining about it?

And since you are clearly a much better teacher than he is, why aren’t you in the classroom anymore? (And yay for UVA? Not sure why that matters at all…)

I have. I will continue to complain about it on an anonymous message board though. Not sure why that bothers you.

It doesn’t really bother me. I just don’t see the point of complaining, especially if (as you claim) you are already taking steps to deal with the problem. That’s all you can do, unless you want to step back in the classroom again and do it your way.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Forget AP Classes, those are college level and expected to have a lot of work. Why is my freshman in History honors drowning in SO MUCH homework? Every weekday evening and most of the weekend is spent ONLY on finishing up History assignments. And no, the teacher does not give any time in class to work on hw. Kid manages to finish all the other classes hw during Study Hall and comes home and does only history work every day. I have a suspicion that the history teacher is deliberately overloading the hw so that the kids will drop down to lower level. The same teacher is teaching AP World also and I suspect they are trying to scare away the kids from AP World with too much work. Thankfully, the other teachers are giving normal hw.

+1 omg bless you. My poor kid is in the same boat. We have no idea why this teacher is assigning gobs of work. It is absolutely insane. My son is also spending hours on it. The sad part is the work is only for completion. The teacher doesn’t teach - just assigns reading (they read it outloud in class old school round robin style) and then they are given these ridiculous assignments that keep them busy the rest of the period. They cannot ever possibly be finished with them.

The teacher is teaching the kids how to study.

If your kid doesn't want to study and learn, then just scribble through the work and don't waste time making it correct.

I don’t agree that simply reading a text outloud in class and assigning work after that is teaching my child “how to study.” If there was a lecture or discussion, where my child had to take take notes, and then study said notes, that might be “teaching him how to study.” But assigning copious amounts of busy work with zero discussion is not it.

Is it possible that your kid is not relaying accurate information about what they are doing in class?

No. He is a straight A student and extremely truthful.

Also, I can see they don’t have any notes taken from lectures.

I guess your kid is lazy, or notes aren't important.

My kid learned the incredibly complex skill of note taking in middle school

Not at all, more like the teacher is lazy. Having kids read outloud the text during class time to kill time and then simply assigning independent work with no discussion? That’s the definition of lazy teaching.

Challenge for you. Call the school and ask to observe the teacher’s class.

I’m willing to bet the story your child brings home doesn’t match what is really occurring in class.

From my 20 years of experience teaching advanced courses in high school, I’m comfortable saying there aren’t many lazy AP teachers left. The 60 (or more) hours a week it takes to teach an advanced course is enough to scare the lazy teachers away. Those of us who remain are the work horses who unhealthily put our jobs over our own families and our own health.

You’re confusing me with OP. I’m talking about a freshman honors history class, not an AP class.

I still recommend observing the class. What students report is rarely what is actually occurring. I’ve witnessed that with my own children.

I forgot to add that the teacher posts a recap online anyway. This is one of those teachers that have been at it for 30 years and is not creative or engaging. It’s literally read outloud and then complete written activities independently. Oh and here’s a study guide with a bazillion terms - learn it on your own. Some of them aren’t even in the chapter.

What’s the problem? If you know that’s the teacher’s style, then you learn to work with it. I had tons of teachers in high school and professors in college who operated this way. I recognized the style and studied accordingly. I didn’t complain about it.

If you choose to complain, then choose to do something about it. I recommend becoming a teacher yourself since you have all the answers. (But then you’ll realize it’s a lot harder than you think…)

I was a teacher for FCPS, you dolt. I have a Masters from UVA.

Which means I can recognize bad teaching. There should absolutely be discussions in history. Note taking. Group activities. Not just read out loud the chapter and assign independent work. That’s the laziest form of teaching history.

Since you’re a former teacher, then I’m sure you’re aware that students often perceive things in a way that doesn’t quite reflect reality. Perhaps you shouldn’t take a student’s perception as fact.

Since you’re a former teacher, then I’m sure you’re aware that students need to acclimate to any number of different teaching styles. You mentioned he reads aloud. I assume your child is taking notes as he does? Why haven’t you helped your child figure out how to adapt to his teaching style? Wouldn’t that make more sense than complaining about it?

And since you are clearly a much better teacher than he is, why aren’t you in the classroom anymore? (And yay for UVA? Not sure why that matters at all…)

The teacher writes a quick blurb about what was done each period on schoology. It’s exactly what my child reports to me. “We read this outloud and then we worked on…” All they work on is independent work/packets for each chapter. After they take turns reading outloud in class. This is the perfect example of a lazy teaching style, sorry. Reading outloud is not a lesson.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Forget AP Classes, those are college level and expected to have a lot of work. Why is my freshman in History honors drowning in SO MUCH homework? Every weekday evening and most of the weekend is spent ONLY on finishing up History assignments. And no, the teacher does not give any time in class to work on hw. Kid manages to finish all the other classes hw during Study Hall and comes home and does only history work every day. I have a suspicion that the history teacher is deliberately overloading the hw so that the kids will drop down to lower level. The same teacher is teaching AP World also and I suspect they are trying to scare away the kids from AP World with too much work. Thankfully, the other teachers are giving normal hw.

+1 omg bless you. My poor kid is in the same boat. We have no idea why this teacher is assigning gobs of work. It is absolutely insane. My son is also spending hours on it. The sad part is the work is only for completion. The teacher doesn’t teach - just assigns reading (they read it outloud in class old school round robin style) and then they are given these ridiculous assignments that keep them busy the rest of the period. They cannot ever possibly be finished with them.

The teacher is teaching the kids how to study.

If your kid doesn't want to study and learn, then just scribble through the work and don't waste time making it correct.

I don’t agree that simply reading a text outloud in class and assigning work after that is teaching my child “how to study.” If there was a lecture or discussion, where my child had to take take notes, and then study said notes, that might be “teaching him how to study.” But assigning copious amounts of busy work with zero discussion is not it.

Is it possible that your kid is not relaying accurate information about what they are doing in class?

No. He is a straight A student and extremely truthful.

Also, I can see they don’t have any notes taken from lectures.

I guess your kid is lazy, or notes aren't important.

My kid learned the incredibly complex skill of note taking in middle school

Not at all, more like the teacher is lazy. Having kids read outloud the text during class time to kill time and then simply assigning independent work with no discussion? That’s the definition of lazy teaching.

Challenge for you. Call the school and ask to observe the teacher’s class.

I’m willing to bet the story your child brings home doesn’t match what is really occurring in class.

From my 20 years of experience teaching advanced courses in high school, I’m comfortable saying there aren’t many lazy AP teachers left. The 60 (or more) hours a week it takes to teach an advanced course is enough to scare the lazy teachers away. Those of us who remain are the work horses who unhealthily put our jobs over our own families and our own health.

You’re confusing me with OP. I’m talking about a freshman honors history class, not an AP class.

I still recommend observing the class. What students report is rarely what is actually occurring. I’ve witnessed that with my own children.

I forgot to add that the teacher posts a recap online anyway. This is one of those teachers that have been at it for 30 years and is not creative or engaging. It’s literally read outloud and then complete written activities independently. Oh and here’s a study guide with a bazillion terms - learn it on your own. Some of them aren’t even in the chapter.

What’s the problem? If you know that’s the teacher’s style, then you learn to work with it. I had tons of teachers in high school and professors in college who operated this way. I recognized the style and studied accordingly. I didn’t complain about it.

If you choose to complain, then choose to do something about it. I recommend becoming a teacher yourself since you have all the answers. (But then you’ll realize it’s a lot harder than you think…)

I was a teacher for FCPS, you dolt. I have a Masters from UVA.

Which means I can recognize bad teaching. There should absolutely be discussions in history. Note taking. Group activities. Not just read out loud the chapter and assign independent work. That’s the laziest form of teaching history.

Since you’re a former teacher, then I’m sure you’re aware that students often perceive things in a way that doesn’t quite reflect reality. Perhaps you shouldn’t take a student’s perception as fact.

Since you’re a former teacher, then I’m sure you’re aware that students need to acclimate to any number of different teaching styles. You mentioned he reads aloud. I assume your child is taking notes as he does? Why haven’t you helped your child figure out how to adapt to his teaching style? Wouldn’t that make more sense than complaining about it?

And since you are clearly a much better teacher than he is, why aren’t you in the classroom anymore? (And yay for UVA? Not sure why that matters at all…)

I have. I will continue to complain about it on an anonymous message board though. Not sure why that bothers you.

It doesn’t really bother me. I just don’t see the point of complaining, especially if (as you claim) you are already taking steps to deal with the problem. That’s all you can do, unless you want to step back in the classroom again and do it your way.

Somebody early on in this thread started the complaint about freshman honors and I was piggybacking on it. If it doesn’t apply to you, don’t worry about it.

[Anonymous]

They have so much homework because AP classes are tied directly to the curriculum dictated by the college board. The only way for teachers to get through all of the material is to assign huge amounts of HW for many of the courses. APUSH is a prime example of this. My kid was assigned 20+ pages of pretty intense reading nearly every class. It was overwhelming.
As a teacher with 30 years in the classroom, I would argue that for most kids (there are always a few exceptions) APUSH, APBIO, and APLIT together is too hefty a schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Earning college credits through AP courses should be a similar workload as an actual college course. Nobody cares that your kid is overextending himself with after school stuff. That’s a choice. If they choose to take an AP course then they need to set aside the time to do the work.

What you do in an AP class is not supposed to be an imitation of a college class. You don’t even have to take an AP class to take the AP exam!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Earning college credits through AP courses should be a similar workload as an actual college course. Nobody cares that your kid is overextending himself with after school stuff. That’s a choice. If they choose to take an AP course then they need to set aside the time to do the work.

What you do in an AP class is not supposed to be an imitation of a college class. You don’t even have to take an AP class to take the AP exam!

This is why many colleges no longer accept the AP credits.

[Anonymous]

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:

Anonymous wrote:Forget AP Classes, those are college level and expected to have a lot of work. Why is my freshman in History honors drowning in SO MUCH homework? Every weekday evening and most of the weekend is spent ONLY on finishing up History assignments. And no, the teacher does not give any time in class to work on hw. Kid manages to finish all the other classes hw during Study Hall and comes home and does only history work every day. I have a suspicion that the history teacher is deliberately overloading the hw so that the kids will drop down to lower level. The same teacher is teaching AP World also and I suspect they are trying to scare away the kids from AP World with too much work. Thankfully, the other teachers are giving normal hw.

+1 omg bless you. My poor kid is in the same boat. We have no idea why this teacher is assigning gobs of work. It is absolutely insane. My son is also spending hours on it. The sad part is the work is only for completion. The teacher doesn’t teach - just assigns reading (they read it outloud in class old school round robin style) and then they are given these ridiculous assignments that keep them busy the rest of the period. They cannot ever possibly be finished with them.

The teacher is teaching the kids how to study.

If your kid doesn't want to study and learn, then just scribble through the work and don't waste time making it correct.

I don’t agree that simply reading a text outloud in class and assigning work after that is teaching my child “how to study.” If there was a lecture or discussion, where my child had to take take notes, and then study said notes, that might be “teaching him how to study.” But assigning copious amounts of busy work with zero discussion is not it.

Is it possible that your kid is not relaying accurate information about what they are doing in class?

No. He is a straight A student and extremely truthful.

Also, I can see they don’t have any notes taken from lectures.

I guess your kid is lazy, or notes aren't important.

My kid learned the incredibly complex skill of note taking in middle school

Not at all, more like the teacher is lazy. Having kids read outloud the text during class time to kill time and then simply assigning independent work with no discussion? That’s the definition of lazy teaching.

Challenge for you. Call the school and ask to observe the teacher’s class.

I’m willing to bet the story your child brings home doesn’t match what is really occurring in class.

From my 20 years of experience teaching advanced courses in high school, I’m comfortable saying there aren’t many lazy AP teachers left. The 60 (or more) hours a week it takes to teach an advanced course is enough to scare the lazy teachers away. Those of us who remain are the work horses who unhealthily put our jobs over our own families and our own health.

You’re confusing me with OP. I’m talking about a freshman honors history class, not an AP class.

I still recommend observing the class. What students report is rarely what is actually occurring. I’ve witnessed that with my own children.

I forgot to add that the teacher posts a recap online anyway. This is one of those teachers that have been at it for 30 years and is not creative or engaging. It’s literally read outloud and then complete written activities independently. Oh and here’s a study guide with a bazillion terms - learn it on your own. Some of them aren’t even in the chapter.

And you think a daily sub would do better?

It actually wouldn’t matter what warm body is in the class as all they do is read outloud and then complete written work independently. The course may as well be virtual now that I think about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have so much homework because AP classes are tied directly to the curriculum dictated by the college board. The only way for teachers to get through all of the material is to assign huge amounts of HW for many of the courses. APUSH is a prime example of this. My kid was assigned 20+ pages of pretty intense reading nearly every class. It was overwhelming.
As a teacher with 30 years in the classroom, I would argue that for most kids (there are always a few exceptions) APUSH, APBIO, and APLIT together is too hefty a schedule.

Oh no! 20 pages of reading for each class every night? That’s typical for non AP classes in most private school classes. The problem with little to no homework in public school is that when students actually do get homework, they freak out about it. My kids had hours of homework starting in 3rd/4th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Earning college credits through AP courses should be a similar workload as an actual college course. Nobody cares that your kid is overextending himself with after school stuff. That’s a choice. If they choose to take an AP course then they need to set aside the time to do the work.

What you do in an AP class is not supposed to be an imitation of a college class. You don’t even have to take an AP class to take the AP exam!

This is why many colleges no longer accept the AP credits.

Wait what

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe the classes your kid prior to these had little to no homework do this seems like a lot. My kid had hours of homework starting in 6th grade so he was used to it. Public schools don’t assign much to be done at home due to equity. It’s a college level class so expect a large workload.

I might add that this shows what happens when homework is virtually eliminated in elementary school. Even in AAP classes, it is pretty minimal. The students are not prepared for a more rigorous education. The irony is that those URM for whom "equity" is being forced do not benefit from this in the long run; many of them would be better off receiving more homework and harder coursework with an opportunity to excel and break out of whatever barriers FCPS attribute to race. Not all kids respond in the same way to opportunity, but the answer is not to take the opportunity away from all of them.

Ugh! Enough with the generalizations! URM does not equal low achieving. Low achieving equals low achieving, no matter the race or ethnic background.

PP to whom you are responding. Perhaps I could have been clearer, but my point was that there are URM kids who are willing and able to take on the challenge of more difficult course work and that they should be given those opportunities. That doesn't mean ALL kids of any background should be forced into AP classes or that AP classes should be made easier for anybody, but that education is an important leg-up for all racial and ethnic groups. I was one of those kids from a lower SES for whom education made all the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have so much homework because AP classes are tied directly to the curriculum dictated by the college board. The only way for teachers to get through all of the material is to assign huge amounts of HW for many of the courses. APUSH is a prime example of this. My kid was assigned 20+ pages of pretty intense reading nearly every class. It was overwhelming.
As a teacher with 30 years in the classroom, I would argue that for most kids (there are always a few exceptions) APUSH, APBIO, and APLIT together is too hefty a schedule.

Oh no! 20 pages of reading for each class every night? That’s typical for non AP classes in most private school classes. The problem with little to no homework in public school is that when students actually do get homework, they freak out about it. My kids had hours of homework starting in 3rd/4th grade.

I have one in public and one in private. Junior in public is taking 4 AP classes and is not freaking out at all. Adjusting quite nicely to the workload and keeping themselves organized all on their own.

8th grader in private has maybe 15-20 minutes of homework a few nights a week. Their school used to be notorious for giving tons of homework, but has drastically cut back in the last few years, following the general trend and also the complaining parents, who are far more vocal and likely to get their way if they feel like their kid has too much to handle.

[Anonymous]

I took AP lit in the 1990s. Of
Course there was a lot of homework - we had to read a lot of books. How could it possible be any other way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally, I’ve been pleased to see my junior finally has homework! She’s finally working
hard and learning to connect effort to outcomes.

Right! My freshman finally has some work to do at home. She was at Longfellow, which supposedly is rigorous, but they gave them gobs of free time to do HW in school, so she never had any at home. It's not that she wants tons of work at home, but she was frustrated at the very low pace of learning in every class except math and science. She's happy to finally be learning some substance in other classes like history b/c she's able to take an AP class. It's good for her to have some HW and learn how to manage her time with sports and music and social time. FWIW she said many kids spend free time in school playing games on their laptops or on social media, so it seems this is the cause of at least some kids having more work to do at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Earning college credits through AP courses should be a similar workload as an actual college course. Nobody cares that your kid is overextending himself with after school stuff. That’s a choice. If they choose to take an AP course then they need to set aside the time to do the work.

What you do in an AP class is not supposed to be an imitation of a college class. You don’t even have to take an AP class to take the AP exam!

This is why many colleges no longer accept the AP credits.

It is strange. I mean the AP test is about proficiency in specific subject at a certain level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Earning college credits through AP courses should be a similar workload as an actual college course. Nobody cares that your kid is overextending himself with after school stuff. That’s a choice. If they choose to take an AP course then they need to set aside the time to do the work.

What you do in an AP class is not supposed to be an imitation of a college class. You don’t even have to take an AP class to take the AP exam!

This is why many colleges no longer accept the AP credits.

Wait what

Some schools will take the credit in terms of letting you skip an intro course (often not a great idea) but most will no longer let you graduate a semester early. When APs started you were supposed to be able to get a full semester of college out of the way if you got a 3 or better on 3 or more exams. Then colleges realized they were both losing revenue and pushing kids into classes they weren't really prepared for. Now AP courses are just a way for kids to show they have taken a "RIGOROUS" set of courses. The exams aren't actually an admissions criteria and depending on the school may not be useful in any way shape or form.