Anonymous
Post 04/23/2018 09:49     Subject: Reading logs
Anonymous wrote:Classroom teacher here. I have had classes of kids unaccustomed to reading at all and the reading logs was one of the few ways I could get a sense of which kids were reading and which were not. The county has an expectation of 20 minutes per day. Thirty is better. How else would you suggest getting accountability? The teacher doesn't really have time to do a lot of show and tell. If a parent had come to me and said, my kid loves to read, but the reading log is detrimental to them, I would have removed that expectation from that child. But I had a whole classrooms of below grade level readers that never read. I understand it doesn't work in your circumstances, but teachers sometimes adopt solutions that may work for the majority of the class. I did a quick search of PGCPS and several reading log pages came up, including one from the reading office that had a bunch of reading log templates for teachers. My guess is the expectation is county level and the reading office sends out reading logs for teachers to use. Some teachers would feel these are mandatory.

It sounds like your classroom teacher isn't great though.


Thanks for the helpful information! I can see where the logs could be really helpful in the cases you just described. I wish the teacher was as rational and open to alternatives as you are. When I went in to talk to her I tried to come up with some other ideas but she just stared at me. It's a shame because this particular class is full of 12 TAG kids and the rest are the top achieving kids in the grade.

I have a lot of respect for the vast majority of teachers in PGCPS. The teachers our kids have had over the past 5 years have been so effective and professional especially considering the challenges that comes with teaching in a high poverty and high ELL school.

This lady is just a really bad apple but has tenure in the county so removing her from the classroom isn't as easy as it should be. That is why I have been documenting everything.
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2018 20:43     Subject: Reading logs
Classroom teacher here. I have had classes of kids unaccustomed to reading at all and the reading logs was one of the few ways I could get a sense of which kids were reading and which were not. The county has an expectation of 20 minutes per day. Thirty is better. How else would you suggest getting accountability? The teacher doesn't really have time to do a lot of show and tell. If a parent had come to me and said, my kid loves to read, but the reading log is detrimental to them, I would have removed that expectation from that child. But I had a whole classrooms of below grade level readers that never read. I understand it doesn't work in your circumstances, but teachers sometimes adopt solutions that may work for the majority of the class. I did a quick search of PGCPS and several reading log pages came up, including one from the reading office that had a bunch of reading log templates for teachers. My guess is the expectation is county level and the reading office sends out reading logs for teachers to use. Some teachers would feel these are mandatory.

It sounds like your classroom teacher isn't great though.
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2018 12:30     Subject: Reading logs



You do realize this is how DCUM works, right?

It's probably best for you to talk to the teacher/principal and complain about the reading logs rather than on an anonymous board. If I were you, I'd complain about the reading log grade being 35% of a grade. That's agains county policy. There are a lot of kids in this county who don't read at all. Reading at home is the only homework that actually does any good. Personally, I'd rather keep the reading logs (maybe simplify them) and get rid of all the rest of elementary school homework.


I've done this multiple times and it has gotten better....they used to have to do 2 reading logs a week, one for in class and one at home. She counts the logs as in class assignments and those are worth 35%. I have also complained about the amount of homework this lady sends home. Trust me, she knows and the Principal knows I'm unhappy about how she treats the kids.

I really didn't intend to complain on the board, I just wanted to get a feel for what was going on in the County with regards to reading logs. Other posters turned it into a debate when they started telling me I was complaining about nothing.
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2018 09:21     Subject: Re:Reading logs
Also -- my second grader had a lot of difficulty with handwriting. Just writing the title and author of the book and chapter of the book every day was a struggle for him. Adding a one sentence summary was painful.

At that age, I actually filled out a blank copy of each week's reading log for him. I had him dictate to me what each chapter was about, and I wrote it in a simple one sentence format very neatly.

Then he just copied everything I wrote onto the reading log. Yes, extra busy work BUT it was also handwriting practice. Which he obviously needed.
Anonymous
Post 04/22/2018 09:18     Subject: Re:Reading logs
OP, I'm not a fan of reading logs, but I am a teacher in high poverty schools in PGCPS and kids have plenty of access to books. Teachers have classroom lending libraries, the kids go to the school library, there are free book giveaways, etc. Access to books is not a big problem for filling out the reading logs.

When my own children had to do reading logs, they would read a book in a marathon session over the weekend. I'd just have them fill out "read an average of 30 minutes each day this week" in their logs, and sign that.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2018 22:51     Subject: Reading logs
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seriously? All the issues in PGCPS and this is what you focus on? Just don’t fill out the reading logs then.


You don't know me and your judgement is harsh. I do a lot of advocacy for students, teachers and families in the county. I'm active in PTA, I've testified at Board meetings, I raise money for uniforms, books, school supplies, principals lunch fund, volunteer at the school etc.

Just because there are big picture items seriously wrong with PGCPS doesn't mean that we should ignore the day to day hurdles that are going on in the classroom.

I would LOVE to not fill in the logs but for my fourth grader that would mean that she would fail reading as the logs account for 35% of the grade. The teacher is awful for a myriad of reasons. I am documenting everything and hoping that she will be removed before the beginning of next school year.

My point wasn't to debate reading logs, my point was to find out what other teachers/schools are doing in the county and see if there is some sort of norm.



What are your reasons for not wanting to do them? Honestly, I see a lot pg county students fail in comparison to others. They would only do good, doing the reading logs




1) They do not encourage my child to read at all. My child was already reading for pleasure and they don't read any more than they already were. It is a struggle to get my child to do it.
2) There is a body of research that shows basic reading logs are counter productive. There is no research that shows they are beneficial. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1098404
3) The type of log this particular teacher assigns is basically just busy work. It is a chore that no one wants to do and has no meaning.
4) I don't see what skills a basic reading log teaches to kids. If she wants to encourage reading she could have them discuss the books they are reading with each other or present a 2-3 minute book talk to the class when they finish a book, have them write a book report when they finish reading a book, use writing prompts with "I liked, I wondered, I thought".





Then why don’t you have your child discuss or present the book to you? You are complaining about nothing.



Thank you for your unsolicited opinion. What I complain about with regards to my child's educational experience is really none of your concern.

I asked for folks to share if their kids are required to do reading logs.

If anyone would like to share if their school requires a reading log I would very much like for you to share that with me.



You do realize this is how DCUM works, right?

It's probably best for you to talk to the teacher/principal and complain about the reading logs rather than on an anonymous board. If I were you, I'd complain about the reading log grade being 35% of a grade. That's agains county policy. There are a lot of kids in this county who don't read at all. Reading at home is the only homework that actually does any good. Personally, I'd rather keep the reading logs (maybe simplify them) and get rid of all the rest of elementary school homework.
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2018 17:18     Subject: Reading logs
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seriously? All the issues in PGCPS and this is what you focus on? Just don’t fill out the reading logs then.


You don't know me and your judgement is harsh. I do a lot of advocacy for students, teachers and families in the county. I'm active in PTA, I've testified at Board meetings, I raise money for uniforms, books, school supplies, principals lunch fund, volunteer at the school etc.

Just because there are big picture items seriously wrong with PGCPS doesn't mean that we should ignore the day to day hurdles that are going on in the classroom.

I would LOVE to not fill in the logs but for my fourth grader that would mean that she would fail reading as the logs account for 35% of the grade. The teacher is awful for a myriad of reasons. I am documenting everything and hoping that she will be removed before the beginning of next school year.

My point wasn't to debate reading logs, my point was to find out what other teachers/schools are doing in the county and see if there is some sort of norm.



What are your reasons for not wanting to do them? Honestly, I see a lot pg county students fail in comparison to others. They would only do good, doing the reading logs




1) They do not encourage my child to read at all. My child was already reading for pleasure and they don't read any more than they already were. It is a struggle to get my child to do it.
2) There is a body of research that shows basic reading logs are counter productive. There is no research that shows they are beneficial. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1098404
3) The type of log this particular teacher assigns is basically just busy work. It is a chore that no one wants to do and has no meaning.
4) I don't see what skills a basic reading log teaches to kids. If she wants to encourage reading she could have them discuss the books they are reading with each other or present a 2-3 minute book talk to the class when they finish a book, have them write a book report when they finish reading a book, use writing prompts with "I liked, I wondered, I thought".





Then why don’t you have your child discuss or present the book to you? You are complaining about nothing.



Thank you for your unsolicited opinion. What I complain about with regards to my child's educational experience is really none of your concern.

I asked for folks to share if their kids are required to do reading logs.

If anyone would like to share if their school requires a reading log I would very much like for you to share that with me.



That information would be doing what for you? You made up your mind it’s no good. Tell the teacher and be done with it
Anonymous
Post 04/21/2018 16:40     Subject: Reading logs
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seriously? All the issues in PGCPS and this is what you focus on? Just don’t fill out the reading logs then.


You don't know me and your judgement is harsh. I do a lot of advocacy for students, teachers and families in the county. I'm active in PTA, I've testified at Board meetings, I raise money for uniforms, books, school supplies, principals lunch fund, volunteer at the school etc.

Just because there are big picture items seriously wrong with PGCPS doesn't mean that we should ignore the day to day hurdles that are going on in the classroom.

I would LOVE to not fill in the logs but for my fourth grader that would mean that she would fail reading as the logs account for 35% of the grade. The teacher is awful for a myriad of reasons. I am documenting everything and hoping that she will be removed before the beginning of next school year.

My point wasn't to debate reading logs, my point was to find out what other teachers/schools are doing in the county and see if there is some sort of norm.



What are your reasons for not wanting to do them? Honestly, I see a lot pg county students fail in comparison to others. They would only do good, doing the reading logs




1) They do not encourage my child to read at all. My child was already reading for pleasure and they don't read any more than they already were. It is a struggle to get my child to do it.
2) There is a body of research that shows basic reading logs are counter productive. There is no research that shows they are beneficial. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1098404
3) The type of log this particular teacher assigns is basically just busy work. It is a chore that no one wants to do and has no meaning.
4) I don't see what skills a basic reading log teaches to kids. If she wants to encourage reading she could have them discuss the books they are reading with each other or present a 2-3 minute book talk to the class when they finish a book, have them write a book report when they finish reading a book, use writing prompts with "I liked, I wondered, I thought".





Then why don’t you have your child discuss or present the book to you? You are complaining about nothing.



Thank you for your unsolicited opinion. What I complain about with regards to my child's educational experience is really none of your concern.

I asked for folks to share if their kids are required to do reading logs.

If anyone would like to share if their school requires a reading log I would very much like for you to share that with me.

Anonymous
Post 04/21/2018 16:15     Subject: Reading logs
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Seriously? All the issues in PGCPS and this is what you focus on? Just don’t fill out the reading logs then.


You don't know me and your judgement is harsh. I do a lot of advocacy for students, teachers and families in the county. I'm active in PTA, I've testified at Board meetings, I raise money for uniforms, books, school supplies, principals lunch fund, volunteer at the school etc.

Just because there are big picture items seriously wrong with PGCPS doesn't mean that we should ignore the day to day hurdles that are going on in the classroom.

I would LOVE to not fill in the logs but for my fourth grader that would mean that she would fail reading as the logs account for 35% of the grade. The teacher is awful for a myriad of reasons. I am documenting everything and hoping that she will be removed before the beginning of next school year.

My point wasn't to debate reading logs, my point was to find out what other teachers/schools are doing in the county and see if there is some sort of norm.



What are your reasons for not wanting to do them? Honestly, I see a lot pg county students fail in comparison to others. They would only do good, doing the reading logs


1) They do not encourage my child to read at all. My child was already reading for pleasure and they don't read any more than they already were. It is a struggle to get my child to do it.
2) There is a body of research that shows basic reading logs are counter productive. There is no research that shows they are beneficial. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1098404
3) The type of log this particular teacher assigns is basically just busy work. It is a chore that no one wants to do and has no meaning.
4) I don't see what skills a basic reading log teaches to kids. If she wants to encourage reading she could have them discuss the books they are reading with each other or present a 2-3 minute book talk to the class when they finish a book, have them write a book report when they finish reading a book, use writing prompts with "I liked, I wondered, I thought".





Then why don’t you have your child discuss or present the book to you? You are complaining about nothing.