Your opinion on my family's homework policy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any system that requires 3-4 hrs of homework per night needs to be fixed. I plan to limit the number of AP classes my kids take because I don't think kids should spend 3-4 hrs per day on homework after spending 6.5 hours in school. I see this as a race to nowhere. I hope at some point the school system will figure this out and cut back on the expected homework. I think sometimes teachers look at the homework they assign in isolation without considering what all the other teachers are also expecting.

AP and IB courses are supposed to be COLLEGE level courses ... I can't think of any college course where I didn't do outside reading/studying.

I have found in ten years of teaching, that when kids are spending that much time on homework, it is because they either are a) on social media or b) procrastinated and doing everything at the last minute. Students are pretty open about this.

When I was in college, I had much more free time than a lot of the high school kids in this area have. The parents push them into thinking that they have to overload on AP or IB classes in order to succeed. All I said was that I will limit the number of those classes my kids take. I said nothing g about not making them do the homework for the ones they do take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any system that requires 3-4 hrs of homework per night needs to be fixed. I plan to limit the number of AP classes my kids take because I don't think kids should spend 3-4 hrs per day on homework after spending 6.5 hours in school. I see this as a race to nowhere. I hope at some point the school system will figure this out and cut back on the expected homework. I think sometimes teachers look at the homework they assign in isolation without considering what all the other teachers are also expecting.

AP and IB courses are supposed to be COLLEGE level courses ... I can't think of any college course where I didn't do outside reading/studying.

I have found in ten years of teaching, that when kids are spending that much time on homework, it is because they either are a) on social media or b) procrastinated and doing everything at the last minute. Students are pretty open about this.

When I was in college, I had much more free time than a lot of the high school kids in this area have. The parents push them into thinking that they have to overload on AP or IB classes in order to succeed. All I said was that I will limit the number of those classes my kids take. I said nothing g about not making them do the homework for the ones they do take.

I think that is right -- so how many should they take?

[Anonymous]

^ My mistake, I misunderstood your message.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats, they think rules don't apply to them. Good luck getting them to pay their taxes.

A's and B's may not be good enough to get into a good college. Of course if all you aspire to is somewhere like JMU, you should be o.k.,

Oh, can it.

low expectations, sub-par results. College acceptance is so competitive, but I have heard there is one for everybody; i.e., the right "fit" and all. I wonder which school is the right fit for kids who choose which homework they will and will not do? Maybe put this on your application essay - why I picked and chose which homework I would do.?

Also a good thing to discuss in your future job interviews: "I simply ignore assigned tasks that I'd rather not do."

Or "I was able to determine and focus on the tasks that were a priority for achieving the end goal and not waste time on things that added little value." I'd much rather hire someone who can thoughtfully evaluate our systems and processes to find things that are inefficient/ineffective than someone who just follows along because that's what they've been told. I want thinkers, not lemmings, on my team. If something doesn't make sense, I want my team members to challenge it. If I disagree, we can discuss it, but I hope the discussion is more than "do it because I said so." I didn't hear anything in OP's description where the teacher provided arguments in support of homework for the A student beyond "it's disrespectful of me to not do it." If any manager in my organization justified having an employee do something based solely on respect for authority vs. articulating how and why it mattered in achieving our goals, they would be gone.

[Anonymous]

OP, thanks for your original posting. It's very thought provoking. In all honesty I love when new people come to the FCPSs and shake things up a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats, they think rules don't apply to them. Good luck getting them to pay their taxes.

A's and B's may not be good enough to get into a good college. Of course if all you aspire to is somewhere like JMU, you should be o.k.,

Oh, can it.

low expectations, sub-par results. College acceptance is so competitive, but I have heard there is one for everybody; i.e., the right "fit" and all. I wonder which school is the right fit for kids who choose which homework they will and will not do? Maybe put this on your application essay - why I picked and chose which homework I would do.?

Also a good thing to discuss in your future job interviews: "I simply ignore assigned tasks that I'd rather not do."

Or "I was able to determine and focus on the tasks that were a priority for achieving the end goal and not waste time on things that added little value." I'd much rather hire someone who can thoughtfully evaluate our systems and processes to find things that are inefficient/ineffective than someone who just follows along because that's what they've been told. I want thinkers, not lemmings, on my team. If something doesn't make sense, I want my team members to challenge it. If I disagree, we can discuss it, but I hope the discussion is more than "do it because I said so." I didn't hear anything in OP's description where the teacher provided arguments in support of homework for the A student beyond "it's disrespectful of me to not do it." If any manager in my organization justified having an employee do something based solely on respect for authority vs. articulating how and why it mattered in achieving our goals, they would be gone.

no, things you decided were of little value. We don't want to hire people who take this decision upon themselves. I hire people who do what they're told, not pick and choose among the ones they think are of value. Most employers tell you what the assignment is. The employees' job is to do it or they won't be around very long

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats, they think rules don't apply to them. Good luck getting them to pay their taxes.

A's and B's may not be good enough to get into a good college. Of course if all you aspire to is somewhere like JMU, you should be o.k.,

Oh, can it.

low expectations, sub-par results. College acceptance is so competitive, but I have heard there is one for everybody; i.e., the right "fit" and all. I wonder which school is the right fit for kids who choose which homework they will and will not do? Maybe put this on your application essay - why I picked and chose which homework I would do.?

Also a good thing to discuss in your future job interviews: "I simply ignore assigned tasks that I'd rather not do."

Or "I was able to determine and focus on the tasks that were a priority for achieving the end goal and not waste time on things that added little value." I'd much rather hire someone who can thoughtfully evaluate our systems and processes to find things that are inefficient/ineffective than someone who just follows along because that's what they've been told. I want thinkers, not lemmings, on my team. If something doesn't make sense, I want my team members to challenge it. If I disagree, we can discuss it, but I hope the discussion is more than "do it because I said so." I didn't hear anything in OP's description where the teacher provided arguments in support of homework for the A student beyond "it's disrespectful of me to not do it." If any manager in my organization justified having an employee do something based solely on respect for authority vs. articulating how and why it mattered in achieving our goals, they would be gone.

really? so what sort of an organization is this and what is the job, specifically?

[Anonymous]

I have a middle schooler in FCPS who has nowhere near 2-3 hours of homework a night. The most I've seen him do for a special project is an hour. He gets As and Bs on honors classes and does all his homework. If it's taking your kids that long, they aren't focusing.

[Anonymous]

Seems like certain states don't well-prepare their students who move here. The parents are shocked and blame the AdMV schools for being too hard or rigid, when in reality their old school was too lax and reliant on out-dated methods.

If most kids are finishing the hw in a couple hours and it takes your DC 4-5 hrs, the problem is with your DC. Either he is distracting himself with social media OR he is ill-equipped by his previous school system. Please don't ask us to water down the schools' expectations for all kids to make yours look like the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats, they think rules don't apply to them. Good luck getting them to pay their taxes.

A's and B's may not be good enough to get into a good college. Of course if all you aspire to is somewhere like JMU, you should be o.k.,

Oh, can it.

low expectations, sub-par results. College acceptance is so competitive, but I have heard there is one for everybody; i.e., the right "fit" and all. I wonder which school is the right fit for kids who choose which homework they will and will not do? Maybe put this on your application essay - why I picked and chose which homework I would do.?

Also a good thing to discuss in your future job interviews: "I simply ignore assigned tasks that I'd rather not do."

Or "I was able to determine and focus on the tasks that were a priority for achieving the end goal and not waste time on things that added little value." I'd much rather hire someone who can thoughtfully evaluate our systems and processes to find things that are inefficient/ineffective than someone who just follows along because that's what they've been told. I want thinkers, not lemmings, on my team. If something doesn't make sense, I want my team members to challenge it. If I disagree, we can discuss it, but I hope the discussion is more than "do it because I said so." I didn't hear anything in OP's description where the teacher provided arguments in support of homework for the A student beyond "it's disrespectful of me to not do it." If any manager in my organization justified having an employee do something based solely on respect for authority vs. articulating how and why it mattered in achieving our goals, they would be gone.

no, things you decided were of little value. We don't want to hire people who take this decision upon themselves. I hire people who do what they're told, not pick and choose among the ones they think are of value. Most employers tell you what the assignment is. The employees' job is to do it or they won't be around very long

I don't think I'd want my child (or myself) to be another cog in the wheel at your organization. Creativity and innovation should be encouraged, not stomped out by middling middle managers.

[Anonymous]

Well done, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like certain states don't well-prepare their students who move here. The parents are shocked and blame the AdMV schools for being too hard or rigid, when in reality their old school was too lax and reliant on out-dated methods.

If most kids are finishing the hw in a couple hours and it takes your DC 4-5 hrs, the problem is with your DC. Either he is distracting himself with social media OR he is ill-equipped by his previous school system. Please don't ask us to water down the schools' expectations for all kids to make yours look like the norm.

+ 1. We also had a bout this year where too much homework was drowning out other important extra-curricular activities. But rather than not doing the homework (which was graded BTW), we went to the asst. principal who said we could drop that class. I do not begrudge the assignment of homework in Math, English (in fact they don't do enough English and writing so sometimes I assign my own homework.).

[Anonymous]

I like your homework policy. I think it's really smart, and if I was your child I'd be happy and think my parent was smart and caring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Congrats, they think rules don't apply to them. Good luck getting them to pay their taxes.

A's and B's may not be good enough to get into a good college. Of course if all you aspire to is somewhere like JMU, you should be o.k.,

Oh, can it.

low expectations, sub-par results. College acceptance is so competitive, but I have heard there is one for everybody; i.e., the right "fit" and all. I wonder which school is the right fit for kids who choose which homework they will and will not do? Maybe put this on your application essay - why I picked and chose which homework I would do.?

Also a good thing to discuss in your future job interviews: "I simply ignore assigned tasks that I'd rather not do."

Or "I was able to determine and focus on the tasks that were a priority for achieving the end goal and not waste time on things that added little value." I'd much rather hire someone who can thoughtfully evaluate our systems and processes to find things that are inefficient/ineffective than someone who just follows along because that's what they've been told. I want thinkers, not lemmings, on my team. If something doesn't make sense, I want my team members to challenge it. If I disagree, we can discuss it, but I hope the discussion is more than "do it because I said so." I didn't hear anything in OP's description where the teacher provided arguments in support of homework for the A student beyond "it's disrespectful of me to not do it." If any manager in my organization justified having an employee do something based solely on respect for authority vs. articulating how and why it mattered in achieving our goals, they would be gone.

no, things you decided were of little value. We don't want to hire people who take this decision upon themselves. I hire people who do what they're told, not pick and choose among the ones they think are of value. Most employers tell you what the assignment is. The employees' job is to do it or they won't be around very long

I don't think I'd want my child (or myself) to be another cog in the wheel at your organization. Creativity and innovation should be encouraged, not stomped out by middling middle managers.

Refusing to do an assigned task is neither creative nor innovative.

[Anonymous]

OP, how do your kids' teachers feel about your policy? Do you think your kids are going to have a hard time finding people to write recommendations for their college applications?