Anonymous wrote:Copying and notes taking are 2 different things..

Anonymous wrote:Copying and notes taking are 2 different things..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With the new 2.0 curriculum, writing effects all subjects across the board. This is the 2nd year Math 2.0 has been introduced for High School and there is a lot more written explanations involved in Algebra 2.0 and Geometry 2.0 than under the old curriculum.

It is frustrating to see a child with 100% homework completion turn around and repeatedly fail the assessments. The teacher is not looking at the child's individual assignments before the tests so the "Practice and Prep" is useless. There are no online notes, textbook, or answer key for parents to even help their child at home.

When I went in for meetings to see what could be done and what resources could be gathered to help my child, the first answer is "perhaps this course is not right for your child." Did they realize my child was an A math student in the previous course at another school? What course do they think is suitable?

There are a number of serious problems in MCPS:

1) Teachers who cut corners with teaching - whether that is because MCPS micromanages them via meetings or they just clock out at 2:30 when school is dismissed doesn't negate the fact that their core responsibility for teaching the kids is being neglected

2) Lack of resources for parents and teachers and unequal resources throughout the county - some schools have more resources than others when it comes to the new curriculum; some schools get the training and materials while others are still waiting for instruction; there are no resources for parents to offer extra support for their child at home. This is a central office problem and no one from the central office is going to the schools to check whether schools are meeting the standards for the new curriculum. The Board of Education should be looking into why the central office is so hands off helping schools with rolling out a new curriculum and the Board of Education should be investigating whether students are better than before after 3 years of the 2.0 rollout.

3) Providing class notes. study guides, and answer keys is just good teaching practices, why don't all teachers do this? - At our high school, every classroom has a Promethean Board. This is a $5,000 piece of equipment that projects the teacher's presentation/work examples during class. Why aren't these computer files accessible online? Why does valuable class time get wasted for kids to copy down information that could easily just be given to them via the internet? For some kids, the act of copying is a mindless task that keeps them from being fully engaged in the instructional process. Couldn't the class run smoother and faster if the kids could just sit back and listen knowing that the notes will be provided as backup? If the notes were provided the night before or copied at the beginning of class, couldn't the kids do annotations on them during class? If teachers would utilize the Promethean Board to it's full capacity, wouldn't that free up class time for kids to start their homework and for teachers to go around answer individual questions and glossary check if the students are on track?

4) MCPS has turned into this oversized, wasteful government bureaucracy where people clock in and clock out but does anyone believe in its mission to teach kids? To say "I don't have time to look at every child's rough draft" or "I don't have time to check homework" or the central office doesn't make onsite visits to see what is happening in the schools are examples of the bureaucratic mindset in education. The goal is not to help students be successful and be prepared for life after high school but to punch in and punch out to earn their paycheck.

I'm sure there are many problems that other PP's can come up with so feel free to add to my list.

This is just wrong-headed and shows a lack of understanding about how the mind works/learns and how typical kids behave in class.

Writing is an important means of imprinting information in the brain. And it keeps kids focused on the task at hand.

Anonymous wrote:http://www.medicaldaily.com/why-using-pen-and-paper-not-laptops-boosts-memory-writing-notes-helps-recall-concepts-ability-268770

Anonymous wrote:With the new 2.0 curriculum, writing effects all subjects across the board. This is the 2nd year Math 2.0 has been introduced for High School and there is a lot more written explanations involved in Algebra 2.0 and Geometry 2.0 than under the old curriculum.

It is frustrating to see a child with 100% homework completion turn around and repeatedly fail the assessments. The teacher is not looking at the child's individual assignments before the tests so the "Practice and Prep" is useless. There are no online notes, textbook, or answer key for parents to even help their child at home.

When I went in for meetings to see what could be done and what resources could be gathered to help my child, the first answer is "perhaps this course is not right for your child." Did they realize my child was an A math student in the previous course at another school? What course do they think is suitable?

There are a number of serious problems in MCPS:

1) Teachers who cut corners with teaching - whether that is because MCPS micromanages them via meetings or they just clock out at 2:30 when school is dismissed doesn't negate the fact that their core responsibility for teaching the kids is being neglected

2) Lack of resources for parents and teachers and unequal resources throughout the county - some schools have more resources than others when it comes to the new curriculum; some schools get the training and materials while others are still waiting for instruction; there are no resources for parents to offer extra support for their child at home. This is a central office problem and no one from the central office is going to the schools to check whether schools are meeting the standards for the new curriculum. The Board of Education should be looking into why the central office is so hands off helping schools with rolling out a new curriculum and the Board of Education should be investigating whether students are better than before after 3 years of the 2.0 rollout.

3) Providing class notes. study guides, and answer keys is just good teaching practices, why don't all teachers do this? - At our high school, every classroom has a Promethean Board. This is a $5,000 piece of equipment that projects the teacher's presentation/work examples during class. Why aren't these computer files accessible online? Why does valuable class time get wasted for kids to copy down information that could easily just be given to them via the internet? For some kids, the act of copying is a mindless task that keeps them from being fully engaged in the instructional process. Couldn't the class run smoother and faster if the kids could just sit back and listen knowing that the notes will be provided as backup? If the notes were provided the night before or copied at the beginning of class, couldn't the kids do annotations on them during class? If teachers would utilize the Promethean Board to it's full capacity, wouldn't that free up class time for kids to start their homework and for teachers to go around answer individual questions and glossary check if the students are on track?

4) MCPS has turned into this oversized, wasteful government bureaucracy where people clock in and clock out but does anyone believe in its mission to teach kids? To say "I don't have time to look at every child's rough draft" or "I don't have time to check homework" or the central office doesn't make onsite visits to see what is happening in the schools are examples of the bureaucratic mindset in education. The goal is not to help students be successful and be prepared for life after high school but to punch in and punch out to earn their paycheck.

I'm sure there are many problems that other PP's can come up with so feel free to add to my list.