Anonymous wrote:Hi. This is the OP. Well, we have made it so far with power, for which I feel very fortunate.

I just want to clarify that I have no beef with kids having to turn in their papers, projects and take tests upon returning to school on Wednesday. What I primarily objected to was that the teachers' emails said no exceptions would be given if power went out and work requiring internet therefore couldn't be completed. It's a moot point for us now -- DC has completed everything required for wednesday. I was very worried we would lose power today, though. In the last storm in July (which occurred about 1 week after we moved here, btw) we did lose power like many others for several days. That was my fear. At this point I don't care. If power goes we are ready for it.

My basic point remains that the school/county/whomever it is that makes up the rules, could have had a uniform policy about how to handle the work if power outages occurred. I just feel that is the right thing to do so that kids don't have to stress unnecessarily about getting their assignments in on time.

Wishing everyone a safe night in the storm.

I'm not the OP, but I think her point is well-taken, though many posters seemed to miss it. See highlighted sentences above. It's also worth noting that her original post was around noon on Monday, when most of us in MoCo were basically waiting around to see when we would lose power. (As you'll recall, heaviest winds were predicted for Monday evening into early Tuesday.)

FWIW, I'm the parent of two college students and a high-schooler. They are not slackers -- my oldest are both students at Ivy League schools. All 3 attend/ed a demanding high school, and we are grateful that their teachers helped them to develop a strong work ethic and good time management skills. That said, when the power goes out, teachers need to be reasonable. I think that's all that OP was asking. And, also FWIW, in our experience, generally speaking the teachers who have teen and young adult children do seem to have a better sense of what can reasonably be expected of students.

Anonymous wrote:Were these things originally due on Monday? If so, your child should have had them done and ready to roll for Monday morning, long before there were any power outages.

YES! This is exactly the point. OP's child probably procrastinated on stuff that should have been done over the weekend.

Anonymous wrote:So the boy knew that the assignments were due on Wednesday. He had plenty of time to do the assignments. Then school was cancelled for two days. He had two extra days, all day long, to complete the assignments.

Most ridiculous thread in history.

+1
Most kids in MCPS, where OP lives, had power or battery power for computers. Study for tests the old fashioned way if you have to.
This is just a ridiculous rant. My high schooler had tests and projects due this week and they were still due on time. She was just happy to have the extra time. She WORKED for two days. FWIW, the first quarter in her private school already ended. So, this was not about teachers trying to get grades in.
Time to untie the apron strings and let your high schooler grow up.

So the boy knew that the assignments were due on Wednesday. He had plenty of time to do the assignments. Then school was cancelled for two days. He had two extra days, all day long, to complete the assignments.

Most ridiculous thread in history.

No one has explicitly mentioned this, but to what degree are the attitudes of the schools (and by extension, the teachers) influenced by the pressures they are under to produce data demonstrating their kids are meeting educational standards?

I have to believe this is an important piece of the puzzle. Teachers have very difficult jobs, as they must balance the needs of their students with the directives of their administrators. The system is flawed. It's not usually the teachers' fault. The problem is bigger than that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nonsense. What about the 2 days off our children have enjoyed. You want 2 days off and postponement of tests and assignments? You give and inch and they take a mile.

Hooboy. This phrase when uttered by an incredibly unionized public servant is particularly hard to take. Perhaps you (the teacher) should be forced to Skype the lesson plan during the hurricane? What did you as the teacher do during your 2 days off? Oh, and of course you will be expecting to be paid for the days that you sat at home eating Cheetos alone. "2 days off that your children enjoyed..." What are they, employees? It's as if you feel they should be punished for any idle moment they aren't driving your little ball of data forward.

I did indeed eat Cheetos - while working on HW assignments with my oldest. And I answered emails from colleagues and students regarding planning issues (I co-teach) and assignments.

I ran errands on Monday before losing electricity, and now that we're on generator (still w/o electricity), I am catching up on some other work I have regarding grading b/c grades are due.

I have a colleague who worked straight through the two days b/c she has a heavy AP chemistry load.

Who are YOU to question our professionalism? an angry mother who wanted to "shelter" her child from responsibility?

Please - spare us the lecture, genius.

Personal anecdote trumps data, pp, etc. *sigh* If only real life and pp's life were to line up exactly the same, always then she could make the world as truly perfect and flawless and "time managed" as she is!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nonsense. What about the 2 days off our children have enjoyed. You want 2 days off and postponement of tests and assignments? You give and inch and they take a mile.

Hooboy. This phrase when uttered by an incredibly unionized public servant is particularly hard to take. Perhaps you (the teacher) should be forced to Skype the lesson plan during the hurricane? What did you as the teacher do during your 2 days off? Oh, and of course you will be expecting to be paid for the days that you sat at home eating Cheetos alone. "2 days off that your children enjoyed..." What are they, employees? It's as if you feel they should be punished for any idle moment they aren't driving your little ball of data forward.

I did indeed eat Cheetos - while working on HW assignments with my oldest. And I answered emails from colleagues and students regarding planning issues (I co-teach) and assignments.

I ran errands on Monday before losing electricity, and now that we're on generator (still w/o electricity), I am catching up on some other work I have regarding grading b/c grades are due.

I have a colleague who worked straight through the two days b/c she has a heavy AP chemistry load.

Who are YOU to question our professionalism? an angry mother who wanted to "shelter" her child from responsibility?

Please - spare us the lecture, genius.

PP, my kids did their assignments. For some families there can be other contingencies in the storm prep and subsequent power loss that cause a delay in getting an assignment done.

And you might want use a napkin to wipe that cheetos dust and faux outrage spittle off your chin.

This is the best you can do?

and after all of the pompous preaching . . .

Anonymous wrote:I am right there with you OP. Teachers are often single and do not have a typical family unit. They have no appreciation for the actual stresses that teens face within their family unit. They seem to view children as isolated bits of data that they can plug into their models. These models are often unrealistic and dehumanizing. If I have one more 25 yo single, childless "earth science" or "world history" teacher regales me with their theories--or the clever: "they have a choice, they can take the "F" and not do the assignment". You are bad teachers if this is your approach. Your students are adolescents, not miniature adults.

LOL!

Where is your DATA supporting that most of us are single w/o a "typical" family unit?

You are one hell of a crackpot, PP!

Thanks for laugh! I hope in your case the apples fall FAR from the tree b/c hon, your tree is decaying.

What an idiot you are!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nonsense. What about the 2 days off our children have enjoyed. You want 2 days off and postponement of tests and assignments? You give and inch and they take a mile.

Hooboy. This phrase when uttered by an incredibly unionized public servant is particularly hard to take. Perhaps you (the teacher) should be forced to Skype the lesson plan during the hurricane? What did you as the teacher do during your 2 days off? Oh, and of course you will be expecting to be paid for the days that you sat at home eating Cheetos alone. "2 days off that your children enjoyed..." What are they, employees? It's as if you feel they should be punished for any idle moment they aren't driving your little ball of data forward.

I did indeed eat Cheetos - while working on HW assignments with my oldest. And I answered emails from colleagues and students regarding planning issues (I co-teach) and assignments.

I ran errands on Monday before losing electricity, and now that we're on generator (still w/o electricity), I am catching up on some other work I have regarding grading b/c grades are due.

I have a colleague who worked straight through the two days b/c she has a heavy AP chemistry load.

Who are YOU to question our professionalism? an angry mother who wanted to "shelter" her child from responsibility?

Please - spare us the lecture, genius.

PP, my kids did their assignments. For some families there can be other contingencies in the storm prep and subsequent power loss that cause a delay in getting an assignment done.

And you might want use a napkin to wipe that cheetos dust and faux outrage spittle off your chin.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nonsense. What about the 2 days off our children have enjoyed. You want 2 days off and postponement of tests and assignments? You give and inch and they take a mile.

Hooboy. This phrase when uttered by an incredibly unionized public servant is particularly hard to take. Perhaps you (the teacher) should be forced to Skype the lesson plan during the hurricane? What did you as the teacher do during your 2 days off? Oh, and of course you will be expecting to be paid for the days that you sat at home eating Cheetos alone. "2 days off that your children enjoyed..." What are they, employees? It's as if you feel they should be punished for any idle moment they aren't driving your little ball of data forward.

I did indeed eat Cheetos - while working on HW assignments with my oldest. And I answered emails from colleagues and students regarding planning issues (I co-teach) and assignments.

I ran errands on Monday before losing electricity, and now that we're on generator (still w/o electricity), I am catching up on some other work I have regarding grading b/c grades are due.

I have a colleague who worked straight through the two days b/c she has a heavy AP chemistry load.

Who are YOU to question our professionalism? an angry mother who wanted to "shelter" her child from responsibility?

Please - spare us the lecture, genius.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nonsense. What about the 2 days off our children have enjoyed. You want 2 days off and postponement of tests and assignments? You give and inch and they take a mile.

Hooboy. This phrase when uttered by an incredibly unionized public servant is particularly hard to take. Perhaps you (the teacher) should be forced to Skype the lesson plan during the hurricane? What did you as the teacher do during your 2 days off? Oh, and of course you will be expecting to be paid for the days that you sat at home eating Cheetos alone. "2 days off that your children enjoyed..." What are they, employees? It's as if you feel they should be punished for any idle moment they aren't driving your little ball of data forward.

Actually at my DDs private school they did do some kind of Skype class during snow days a couple of years ago - maybe it was snowmaggedon, I can't recall. And they had specific homework assignments for the days off school in many of their classes, I think at least one of the teachers sent them a special homework packet to complete.

Anonymous wrote:Instead of making excuses for adolescents with poor time management skills who cannot get their assignments in on time even with an extra 48 hours of free time; please go ahead and enable them. The problem with our adolescents are the parents and lack of parenting (a role that begins well before these kids become adolescents).

How many kids do you have again? oh that's right, zero. How old and bitter are you about this? Extremely.

Anonymous wrote:Nonsense. What about the 2 days off our children have enjoyed. You want 2 days off and postponement of tests and assignments? You give and inch and they take a mile.

Hooboy. This phrase when uttered by an incredibly unionized public servant is particularly hard to take. Perhaps you (the teacher) should be forced to Skype the lesson plan during the hurricane? What did you as the teacher do during your 2 days off? Oh, and of course you will be expecting to be paid for the days that you sat at home eating Cheetos alone. "2 days off that your children enjoyed..." What are they, employees? It's as if you feel they should be punished for any idle moment they aren't driving your little ball of data forward.

Instead of making excuses for adolescents with poor time management skills who cannot get their assignments in on time even with an extra 48 hours of free time; please go ahead and enable them. The problem with our adolescents are the parents and lack of parenting (a role that begins well before these kids become adolescents).

I am right there with you OP. Teachers are often single and do not have a typical family unit. They have no appreciation for the actual stresses that teens face within their family unit. They seem to view children as isolated bits of data that they can plug into their models. These models are often unrealistic and dehumanizing. If I have one more 25 yo single, childless "earth science" or "world history" teacher regales me with their theories--or the clever: "they have a choice, they can take the "F" and not do the assignment". You are bad teachers if this is your approach. Your students are adolescents, not miniature adults.