Get Schooled

By V for Vendetta

September 27, 2006 02:25 PM | Link to this

No, they are wimps. End of discussion.

By decaturparent

September 27, 2006 02:27 PM | Link to this

High school? How about grade school! My kid has four projects due withing the next 3-4 weeks. She has had (in 4th grade)about 1.5 hours of homework a night this week, and there’s no sign of it letting up. She also has to work on her projects for several hours over the weekend.

I can’t imagine what high school must be like if this is elementary!

By Taxpayer

September 27, 2006 02:59 PM | Link to this

Young Mr. Williams has a very valid point. I don’t understand why students who attend school for 7 or 8 hours a day must then complete 3 or 4 hours of homework each night. Bring back study hall!

By Reader

September 27, 2006 03:08 PM | Link to this

I guess I shouldn’t have read this at the end of a long, exhausting day working at school, but …. Boo hoo. Can you hear my tiny violin as it plays “My heart bleeds for you”? Get real. … and anything else I might think up to add! The pursuit of excellence takes time. Check out your school’s grading scale; I’ll bet an ‘A’ means something like “excellent” or “superb.” If a student wants a high GPA (i.e., excellent grades) he will have to pay the price in time spent preparing. It does take a lot of balancing and learning to set priorities — but that’s what school is for: learning. It’s better to learn these lessons now, when the only price to pay is a loss in GPA points, a goal not made in soccer, parties not attended, etc. Adults out on their own who can’t set priorities and budget their time and other resources face much larger prices such as loss of home, loss of job, loss of relationships.

Aubrey, you are learning just what you’re supposed to in high school.

By Rodney

September 27, 2006 03:12 PM | Link to this

Please … I graduated HS in 1988 and I had homework every night! AND, I didn’t have the added benefit of the internet to aid me when doing reports, projects, etc.

These kids that are complaining about HS being too tough are in for a rude awakening when they enter the real world. In college and in the workforce, nobody cares if you’re tired or feel overworked.

Get used to it. I did. We all did. Lay off the extra-curricular activities and you may have some extra time on your hands.

By Taxpayer

September 27, 2006 03:22 PM | Link to this

Kids who aren’t involved in extra-curricular activities are told they won’t be able to show that they are “well rounded” on college applications. It’s not enough anymore to have a high GPA and high SAT score. Kids who want to go to the top colleges have to show involvement in community and school activities, too.

By Wah

September 27, 2006 03:31 PM | Link to this

A big fat WAH to those kids. Get a grip and get ready to enter the real world. I work 2 jobs and am a novelist. Between work, writing, 2 hour commutes, cooking dinner, washing dishes, straightening, and doing regular chores DAILY…I don’t want to hear one peep from these pampered kids. Georgia is almost LAST in this country as far as schooling goes.

Now shut up and go do your homework!

Brats.

By frank123

September 27, 2006 03:34 PM | Link to this

Agree with Rodney. The real world is tougher. Nobody cares.

I can’t believe you didn’t attend class. You really have to sprint to catch up if you miss class. You blaming others for not being organized? Look at yourself in the mirror.

By jim d

September 27, 2006 03:46 PM | Link to this

Wimps, V?

I don’t know.

Mine’s up at 5:15am every morning and off to school between 6:00-6:15 for weight training, catches a few classes and then off to wrestling practice for a couple of hours of work outs, gets home around 4:15, spends a couple of hours doing homework then cathes a nap before dinner, eats, then relaxes for an hour or more watching discovery chanel or the history chanel, might even give the old x box 30 minutes or so before off to bed. Except on Scouting nights when he skips dinner until after scouting activities for a couple of hours (sometimes a couple of nights a week and at least one weekend per month)

BUT HEY V you might be right. Guess we’ll find out what he’s made of when Wrestling season actually starts and he has one or two meets a week on top of everything else from October through the end of February.

Naw, already know and doubt you’d be able to keep up with him tottin a 40lb ruck over 50 miles of mountain trails on just one weekend outing.

By Rodney

September 27, 2006 03:48 PM | Link to this

My mother would NEVER have let me miss a class because I was too tired. When I complained about being tired (due either to my debate club activities or band activities) her response was “If your school-work suffers, you’re dropping something.”

I realize it is vitally important to be well-rounded in HS, at least to a college admissions board, but above all a great GPA and SAT scores WILL get you in more doors than a good scoring percentage in soccer or participation on a mock UN panel.

By Ernest

September 27, 2006 03:56 PM | Link to this

Gimme a break!!! If his career goal is to ask “do you want hot fries with that cold drink”, don’t put forth the effort being asked. Our children are competing in a global economy. Children in other countries are HUNGRY for the jobs and opportunities we formerly thought were exclusively ours. Don’t get me wrong, we will still need ‘burger flippers’ however it will come down to what he wants to do with his life.

I think I had a SET moment… just kidding SET… :)

By Jackson

September 27, 2006 04:02 PM | Link to this

Before you consider what it means to be overworked, here’s what I dealt with in high school:

I was in Track, Drama, Knowledge Bowl, Band (Symphonic and Marching), Scouts, AND a 25-hour-a-week job doing dishwashing at a restaurant. This was on top of a huge courseload at school (including AP-level courses and taking Russian for four years), and I had three hours of homework a night.

And this was only ten years ago. I still had time to play video games and learn how to program several different computer languages (which is my now my career, actually).

All I can say is if anyone’s complaining about 1.5hrs of homework a night, they should really consider what it’ll be like to be working 20 hours of unpaid overtime as a middle manager at some corporation. Life isn’t kind to those that whine about their workload. If anything, they should be even more “under the gun” when it comes to schoolwork, if they expect to succeed in society.

By Jackson

September 27, 2006 04:10 PM | Link to this

One thing I also forgot to mention:

I also did the most chores in the home (thereby — gasp — earning an allowance) and administered the school’s computer network for a couple of years (when the Internet first came to our school in ‘95).

This is why I agree with the ascertation that yes, we’re developing wimps in this generation. You either put up or shut up, and the world ain’t getting any kinder.

By Stinky Sullivan

September 27, 2006 04:14 PM | Link to this

GIVE ME A BREAK!!! High School students? All they have to do is go to school! And half of ‘em can’t even do that.

They don’t have a JOB. They don’t have a MORTGAGE. They don’t have CAR PAYMENT. They don’t have to pay off STUDENT LOANS or CREDIT CARDS.

I mean, COME ON. I can’t believe this is even a topic. When I was 18 I was up 24/7!!!

sS

By Yolanda

September 27, 2006 04:35 PM | Link to this

It all depends on the High School, you (mostly) sanctimonious morons! Guess your students go to one of those crappy schools, huh? My HS student spends 1.25 hours on the bus EACH WAY every day, then sports after school and never gets home before 6:30 p.m. With the overwhelming amount of work assigned, bed is never before midnight. That means less than 6 hours sleep a night.

That’s simply unhealthy.

I DARE YOU to try this at 14 or 15 years old.

And yes, most of us did a lot of things in HS, but I know I surely didn’t do 5 or more hours of homework a night, every night. Did you?????

By SET

September 27, 2006 04:43 PM | Link to this

If we had computers and wordprocessors in high school, maybe we would have had more time to work and fret about getting drafted into VietNam. As it was, we had to do the schoolwork without the technology and still work and fret about VietNam.

High School years aren’t supposed to be stress free. Get used to it kids!

By shannon

September 27, 2006 04:51 PM | Link to this

Today’s HS students are not overworked. They are over procratinators. When I was in HS (only a few years ago), we had all of the same tests and schedules and I was in the AP classes as well. I participated in 10 extra curricular activities, was in home coming court each year, hung out with friends, went to church and still did not go below a 3.0. I also passed all standardized tests, the first time. I studied throughout the year - not just when I knew I had a test coming up. I procrastinated as well, not to the point where I had any negative consequences. Pressure you will have all of your life and the sooner you realize, adjust, and thrive under it the better off you’ll be. SUCK IT UP!

By Jackson

September 27, 2006 04:56 PM | Link to this

Sanctimonious implies somehow we’re hypocritical (read Webster’s definition if you must); however, hypocritical I am not. I did my time (and then some) a decade ago, and I’m reaping the rewards today in a very comfortable career. And I’m under 30. It didn’t come easily.

That 1.25 hours in the bus each way sounds like a good time to study and/or do the easier homework. It’s a matter of maximizing time efficiently. Time management is perhaps one of the most important skills that high school should be teaching, but obviously it’s become somehow lost.

I got about 6 hours of sleep a night, truth be told, which isn’t entirely unhealthy at all given proper context. (Most adults even average 6 hours a night.) If a kid had their way without obligations, surely many would sleep even less under their own volition watching movies or playing video games.

What’s “unhealthy” here is the expectation that reducing one’s workload and/or entanglements in extracurricular activities would benefit anyone. If anything, top-notch schools look for these criteria specifically during the admissions process to ensure they’re not only getting a candidate with skills, but also one that’s ambitious and able to outpace the rest. To think reduction is a good idea would put any student at a distinct disadvantage post-graduation versus those who have already gone the extra mile to stack the scholastic and extracurricular odds of their admission in their favor.

By catlady

September 27, 2006 05:24 PM | Link to this

Cut out ALL extras, as well as TV/computer/nintendo for a couple of months until the “tiredness” and “stress” get better. Heck, cut them out for a couple of years!

By Dave

September 27, 2006 05:24 PM | Link to this

I find this rather humorous. It is about priorities. My senior year I was working 40hrs a week at McD’s to pay for the computer I bought, since my parents didn’t decide to get a computer until my senior year of college. I also performed in the orchestra and theater and still managed to get straight A’s. I rarely got home before 10 and had to do alot of homework over the weekends(I often had to ask for homework for the next week in advance). I did have to sacrifice a good bit of my free time, but that was my choice. I also had to be in bed by 10:30pm every night. I talk to kids today that have no curfew and no bedtime. It is no wonder some of them can’t stay awake in class. It comes down to prioritizing things. If you don’t get used to it in HS, you are going to be in for a rude awakening in college where late homework typically gets you a 0.

By Janine

September 27, 2006 05:29 PM | Link to this

DecaturparentMost elementary and middle school teachers are asked to avoid giving projects at the same time. ANd , in many [maybe most] middle schools the team teachers get together on assignements so the kids can do a good job on each. 4 projects at one time is really excessive, don’t you think?/!!I sometimes think that teachers today assign all those projects and all that homework in the early grades for show…so the parents can talk about how much their kids are doing. In my experience, very few of those projects are done entirely by the student. Parents are running around to get items, typing, giving all kinds of help.

By JustMe

September 27, 2006 05:33 PM | Link to this

Stress is a self-imposed emotion.

The amount of work is not unreasonable. However, there may be an identified need for time management. Little Johnny may need to put down that PlayStation or turn off the TV and work on his school project, for example.

Some of my students complain about homework. We sit down and I ask questions to find out their schdule (something that they have never done). An actual example: school ends at 3:20 PM. football practice starts at 4:00 PM. from 3:20 to 4:00 what does he do? play around - joke with friends. football practice ends at 5:30 PM and gets home around 6 PM. Dinner with folks soon thereafter. After dinner? watches TV for about 2 hours. Then, at 9 PM opens the books for homework. Spends 1 hour at most on homework before calling friends or going to their house for play time. Goes to bed around midnight. Then, cannot stay awake in class the next day.

Nice schedule, huh?

By Van

September 27, 2006 05:36 PM | Link to this

I cannot speak as to this kid’s perceived workload for high school. We all have obligations and responsibilities in the “real world” as many of the posters have stated, but please understand my opinion on one thing. Living in Atlanta can be a very taxing proposition in and of itself, given the congestion, traffic, etc. This is compounded with the American work ethic, where we chase money and the bigger house and miss what is really important in life, which is to be happy. My advice to this kid would be to ignore all of the chest pounders who are so proudly proclaiming how hard they worked or do work, and just understand that at the end of the day you have to be content with the person in the mirror. High school, like everything else in this world, is a game. Don’t take it too seriously. Study, graduate, and then decide what truly makes you happy and then try and do it. Don’t get caught up in the frenetic pace of this American way of life.

By catlady

September 27, 2006 05:47 PM | Link to this

Take away dating, time on the phone, driving ANYWHERE (even to school), eating out, any sports, TV, etc. Just school, homework, eating with family, going to worship service. Period. The stress will melt away very quickly. John Rosemond is onto something when he counsels folks with children having problems to put them to bed earlier, and watch many of the problems disappear! Parents ALLOW too many stressful/time-consuming things that may be important or interesting, but are not crucial. Simplify, simplify!

By decaturparent

September 27, 2006 06:03 PM | Link to this

Yep, I’m with Van. I don’t buy into the rat race in high school thing. I worked very hard all my adult life, graduated from law school with honors and busted by behind at a law firm for many years (60 hrs per week msot weeks) and now earned a very cushy mom-friendly lawyer position.

I didn’t need to put in 80 hours a week in high school to prepare for that. I had a very reasonable load and an activity or two. I managed to adjust to the stress of being an adult just fine… when I was actually an adult - not an adolescent. People forget that adolescents are still growing and they do need more than 6 hours of sleep. You do not need to kill yourself at 16 in order to be able to do so at 25.

I know things are different these days and kids have to adjust to the world because the world isn’t going to adjust to them. I still think this mentality is nuts, and one day there will be a backlash.

Janine - well, at least now I know I can go out and impress my kid’s neighbors with all his homework assignments. I knew there had to be a plus somewhere! For now, it’s off to the craft store to spend $50 or so on materials! ;)

By Clay

September 27, 2006 06:10 PM | Link to this

Wow…. so school is too hard now. Well I guess we better shorten then standards, again. Does anyone care that we are nearly last in the nation in education? I am sorry, and a hypocrite, but it takes work to raise standards and to accomplish goals. If anything we should raise the standards that the upper eschalon of students should have to meet.

By Brenna

September 27, 2006 06:28 PM | Link to this

Fatigue in high-schoolers is not a large problem. I am a recent high school graduate who took mostly AP and Honors classes during high school. The problem that the student mentions is that since the classes are preparing so much for standardized tests, the other material in the curriculum is being put as homework instead of classwork, since the time in class is used to help prepare for standardized tests. These tests eat up much of the classtime. Another problem is that the teenage body is wired to be awake at different times of the day than the rest of adults, and teenagers need more sleep than most of them get. Classes start an hour or two before a teenager is truly awake and functional to their best. However, school systems do not want to make the class day later, because it would interfere with sports practice, namely football. If the school systems would start later in the day then that would be a massive benefit to the test scores of teenagers that the nation is so concerned about.

By Lisa B.

September 27, 2006 07:05 PM | Link to this

I teach 4th grade. I assign classwork, homework and projects. Some students keep up well with everything, and have 20 minutes of homework in the evenings. Other parents call to complain that I “drown” their kids in homework. Of course, those are the kids who do not start work on class assignments til we’re finishing up and moving on, so they take home large chunks of classwork to complete at night in addition to homework. Being disorganized causes extra work in all aspects of life. Sorry. Get organized. I try hard to teach that, but some never get it.

Some of these exhausted high school kids would never keep up with the schedules some of my friends and collegues have mastered. Many of them, especially two-career couples with children, NEVER sleep 6 hours per night, while building careers, running households, and being highly-involved parents, and community members. Students may as well adapt to stress and busy schedules. It sure doesn’t stop after high school. Quit whining!

By James

September 27, 2006 07:11 PM | Link to this

I think it’s telling that some kids seem to be overworked (somebody above had it right - get used to it, your adult life will contain plenty of this), and yet scholastic achievement in this country gets lower every year. Today’s typical teen has virtually no knowledge of American- or world history, very little knowledge of geography, and many cannot, in fact, read. This, despite the fact that we pour more money per student into the public school system than ever before (and for those of you who complain that it isn’t enough, the federal education budget is larger than that of the Dep’t of Defense, INCLUDING the war, ironic because, under our Constitution, Uncle Sam isn’t supposed to have anything to do with education at all, but IS supposed to be providing defense). Now, how does one reconcile this?

By jim d

September 28, 2006 08:39 AM | Link to this

Ok, folks, can we look at it from a health point of view? I think we may be overlooking a bit of nature when it comes to being a teenager.

Teens are growing and require a bit more sleep.Personally I think I may have slept for an entire year somewhere between 15-17

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/27/1728_60579

By catlady

September 28, 2006 08:46 AM | Link to this

The argument that a previous poster made that you HAVE to have these outside activities to get into a “good” college begs this question: if you cannot keep up with it now, you will NEVER be able to make it at that good college.

I agree that the whole world has become a much more stressful place, for all of us. No one has a monopoly on that, and the teen will feel the real sting of it as an adult with the other adult worries. Having priorities is the way most of us cope with this deluge, unless we are among the super-competent (like some of those posting here) who CAN do it all!

(Some of the earlier posts)remind me of that great Monty Python skit about the Scottish industrialists who talk about how rough they had it as children (“we had to eat broken glass”, “we had to clean the road with our tongues),”WE had to Pay the mill owner to work”) and at the end they say “But if you tell the young people of today about that, they won’t believe you.”

I still say the original poster’s parents should take down the stress level by pulling back on all but the most basic activities, until he feels less stress.

By KA

September 28, 2006 09:02 AM | Link to this

I saw a lot of fatigue in my kids and in other HS students. My kids had heavy loads of AP and honors classes, so lots of homework and reading, and they were in extra-curricular school sports, clubs, orchestra and drama, and often did not get a good night’s sleep. Students with lighter class loads and no extra curricular school activities are often working part-time jobs of 20 hours or more and not getting a good night’s sleep either. And sitting too long in classes is tiring. One solution is morning RECESS and afternoon naptime!!!!

By jim d

September 28, 2006 09:10 AM | Link to this

Since there are a number of causes for fatigue, including stress, lack of sleep or interrupted sleep, depression, “mono,” chronic illnesses, low thyroid, and anemia I wonder if this young mans parents have had him checked by a doctor?

By catlady

September 28, 2006 09:10 AM | Link to this

Oh, and about the “parents should lessen the chores” argument: Nah. Helping with the running of the household, like eating and sleeping, should not be negotiable except for extreme illness. That is something that all members of the house, after about age 2, should be a part of. And not just for the getting the work done, but for the work habits, sense of contribution, and general mental health benefits that being a contributing member of the family brings. And in my simplified world, the FIRST thing “added back” after the teen was unstressed would not be going to the mall, driving self to school in Atlanta traffic, or band practice but it would be a regular volunteer (no pay) activity, like mowing the yard for the elderly lady down the street each week. Nothing like helping someone with real trouble to help you recognize what stress can really be!

jim d, I am familiar with the medical arguments about teens and sleep rhythms, but I wonder this: if it is medically based, how did our forefather young people make it? They had to get up and be active a lot earlier than many current teens. Have we just moved the hours back based on lifestyle choices (TV, IM, etc) and that is why teens seem to fare better sleeping later? I donno, just wondering how it holds up historically…

By KA

September 28, 2006 09:23 AM | Link to this

catlady and jim, I think the tired teens need to also examine their diets. Are they eating enough (or any?) fresh fruits and veggies, getting enough protein and vitamins? A fast food diet of saturated fats, sugar and starches will fatigue anyone. The movie “Superisize Me” demonstrated it dramatically.

By jim d

September 28, 2006 09:27 AM | Link to this

LOL Cat,

Not my forefathers but myself. I’ve hesitated to post this because I doubted if anyone would believe me.

BUT.

I was raised on a dairy farm (milking about 100 head) Got up very early to do chores every day, try 3:45am, went to school, worked an after school job at another dairy farm,(milking 250 head) getting home in time to do the chores again. did most of my home work in class or study halls though.

Had all my credits for graduation except for a 1/2 credit before starting my senior year. Senior year was a snap, only went to school for about an hour and a half every day because I hadn’t completed 2 required classes for graduation. (they actually use to let you do that back in the godd ol days)

By jim d

September 28, 2006 09:32 AM | Link to this

Karen,

That is also quite true.

I just wanted to point out to those that have called teens lazy that there are health reasons that they may appear so.

I do remember that as a teen I slept every minute I could. Now I know why, because at my age now I never sleep more than a couple of hours. (look what many of you have to look forward to in a few years)

By KA

September 28, 2006 09:41 AM | Link to this

jim, I agree. Aslo, our bodies repair tissue and grow while we are sleeping. Teens that are having growth spurts do need a lot of sleep to get bone and muscle cells produced.

By OldSchool

September 28, 2006 09:57 AM | Link to this

“What we have here is a failure to communicate…” clearly. Folks, I’ve said it before, there is TRUTH and there is KID TRUTH. Somewhere in everything a kid says is a vestige of the actual truth of the matter. Just as what we say to each other is colored even slightly by our own opinions and viewpoints, kids color their “truths” with a brighter more colorful palette.

I have no doubt that the young man and many others are stressed and tired. We can tell them to “get organized” and “manage your time better” until we are blue in the face but until someone actually teaches them those skills, they will likely just keep dog-paddling in circles.

Like many of you, I learned those skills in my youth because my parents not only expected me to manage my time wisely, they demonstrated those skills and reinforced them in me through their own careers and daily living. Our young people may not have living examples of those good skills in their lives. Unless you are willing to take on the task of raising every child with good time management skills and work ethics, then maybe you should take a step back and consider what you CAN do.

Volunteer to conduct workshops in time management or study skills. Encourage your own children to be selective in their afterschool activities- a few quality clubs/activities that they can fully participate in are far better than many they join in name only. Colleges do look at the extra curricular participation but it’s likely quality rather than quantity, and consistency rather than haphazard that they are interested in.

In my 33 years of teaching, I’ve found that HS students complain more about being stressed when they have a deadline looming. The majority of the time they have a handle on things and are rocking along quite well. If there is anything that I would like to see students change about themselves, it would be to do the assignment CORRECTLY to begin with and not just slap something down expecting a chance to do it over again.

So stop just a minute and ponder the concept of Kid Truth. It really is out there.

By catlady

September 28, 2006 10:00 AM | Link to this

Seems like the young man’s parents now have lots of good ideas of avenues to explore to help him with his stress. I hope they are reading this.

Here is a quick question: I believe he says he is stressed because of standardized tests. I am guessing HSGT and SAT/ACt? My children literally never stressed over any of those (maybe should have); they just went in and took them. Do other students stress over those tests?

My youngest daughter IS now stressing over the GRE physics exam because she wants to go to a certain graduate school, but I am telling her to become familiar with the test format, go take it, do her best, and forget it.

By Hmm

September 28, 2006 12:34 PM | Link to this

It’s not too much for the kids. I have a middle-schooler and he’s working homework 3-4 hours a night, without complaint. I need to help him use his time wisely, though. And, for god sake, without these “focus enhancing” ADD meds the kids abuse these days. I think, with some real focus, it would be 2 hours.

My biggest gripe with the homework is teacher specific. Some teachers are assigning big projects due the next day, sending the class scrambling for supplies. Other teachers don’t like kids working on other homework in their classes. If a kid’s already finished their Math class/homework, then why shouldn’t they be allowed to work on their Science homework. There’s no reason that I can see, this is a multi-tasking world. If they pickup a book and read, as the teacher suggests, they can just as easily pull out a textbook and study.

By luvs2teach

September 28, 2006 06:23 PM | Link to this

hmmm - if I had to venture a guess about a teacher’s disapproval of another subject’s work being done in class, it’s that the assignment for that class is NOT done - and yes, paying attention if there is a lecture and writing notes is an assignment!

If my kids are done with my work (and some of the brighter ones definitely finish early) AND I have nothing else for them to do (sometimes I have enrichment assignments for early finishers), then I have no probelm with a student reading or working on an assignment from another class.

What I do have a problem with though, is kids completing their math homework during a lab, or Language Arts during a lecture, etc. I’ve even had kids ask me for glue and scissors at the START of my class so they can work on a project due in another class. Unreal.

And if your child is telling you that the teacher won’t let them work on anything else, even if their work is fnished, then you might want to read OldSchool’s post about TRUTH and KIDTRUTH.

By SET

September 28, 2006 06:45 PM | Link to this

A co-worker has high school aged kids - she is shocked when she reviews the family cell phone bills and finds that her kids are having long phone conversations on their cell phones at midnight on school nights.

I don’t see overworked kids. I see kids that make schoolwork and sleeping bottom priorities over social life and playing. I don’t think there is a regular family dinner hour around here anymore. Maybe they take their meals with other kids? With the commute times we have in CA, some of the parents get home at after 8pm and leave for work at 5am. Kids usually (not always) go to local schools so they take their meals without the parent(s).

This is what it takes to have a nice house in the suburbs? Not like when I grew up.

Brave New World.

By WFC

September 29, 2006 10:50 AM | Link to this

School can be stressful. As a teacher and former coach I’ve seen it. However, as a father with a son who’s a high school basketball and baseball player and who also is an excellent student, the demands can be handled with focus and discipline.

By Hmm

September 29, 2006 10:52 AM | Link to this

luvs2teach - my kid has nothing to do with it, aside from being in the same classroom. This teacher readily admits she takes away work, gives 0 on quizzes, and 0 on classwork grades. It’s a 7th Math class, there are no lectures. The class is organized into small workgroups and assigned exercises out of the book. I don’t know what the teacher does all day, maybe she’s reading Get Schooled. The class is gifted honor student kids and she’s known for her anti-gifted, anti-accelerated bias.

Sometimes when a kid says something wrong, it really is wrong. There’s no truth vs kidtruth in this matter. The teacher’s kooky and the parents in the class know it. Two kids have been hit with this weird policy. If they are quizzing and they finish early, she expects them to check and re-work the problems for the remainder of the class. If the kids are doing group work and their group finishes early, she’s given them “enrichment” activities. They are instructed to only do these activities at school, not for homework, and the worksheets given are wordfinds, crosswords, write an autobiography, etc. Nothing Math-y, enriching, or digging deeper. She’s not teaching them, they’re teaching themselves in little groups because she’s determined to raise EQ. Then, if they finish their little classwork, she drowns them with busy work.

So even if a kid had the motivation to take care of some future homework, they’re stuck. It’s hell for gifted students who generally work and learn faster, smarter, and just want to do their thing. They come up with good solutions to help with their homework and a teacher blocks them. But, again, I want to stress, this is one teacher and not the norm. The other teachers in the grade(s) have no problems with kids doing this when their classwork is complete.

By Hmm

September 29, 2006 11:01 AM | Link to this

SET- that’s crazy about the phonebills. Kids priorities are definitely out of whack, but it’s a parent’s job to guide them to best practices and stick to them. To that end, since the mental chaos improves so much, it’s easier to remove those distractions like cellphones, game systems, tv, computers, etc. Usually that’s enough to help my kid see the error of his ways and regulate his own priorities.

By jim d

September 29, 2006 12:10 PM | Link to this

The solution to fatigue in high school is really quite simple.

Start at 11:00 am and go till around 5-5:30 pm.

A teens biological clock works a lot differently than that of a pre-teen so why not accomodate it?

Shoot I suspect a lot of teachers wouldn’t mind not being up before dawn to get ready for school either. What law says kids have to be in school prior to 7:00 am?

By Leia

September 29, 2006 01:07 PM | Link to this

jim d- one of the benefits (for me) of teaching high school students is my work hours!

If they ever decided on an 11:00 - 5:30 day - I’d go to middle school (ugh!), or teach online full-time.

By Gwinnett Teacher

September 29, 2006 01:09 PM | Link to this

jim d- That will never happen, because of sports and the fact that many high school students are babysitters for their younger siblings.

By luvs2teach

September 29, 2006 01:41 PM | Link to this

Hmmm - sounds like you got one of the ones that make the rest of us look bad :-(

Sorry - the original post sounded like broader generalization than that.

Shame that she’s teaching gifted kids - nothing like being unreasonable to drive the love of a learning a subject right out of someone!

I love when my brighter ones get their work done and can occupy themselves appropriately - I was a reader when I was in school, and I would get my work done as fast as possible so I could get back to my book - as long as I understood and had finished, there was never a problem, and that’s my philosophy for my kids, too.

It teaches them good time management, too - use “found time” as the books say.

By jim d

September 29, 2006 03:10 PM | Link to this

Gwin. Teach and Leia,

It was just a thought. If students are more attentive in the afternoons seem it might facilitate learning, improving those oh, so all important test scores.

By WFC

October 2, 2006 10:10 AM | Link to this

The worst thing about high school for me was that everything was geared to appease the “didn’t care” weak students. Cheer up, though, college was much different.

By OldSchool

October 2, 2006 10:15 AM | Link to this

jim dear, let’s just go ahead and insist that the future employers of our students offer them afternoon start times.

Students can adapt to whatever they choose to adapt. Their priorities are just different to what the adults in their lives expect.

By jim d

October 2, 2006 11:12 AM | Link to this

Old School,

No need to insist, Sweetie.

There are plenty of jobs out there for people that wish to work other than 9-5 EST.

With our global economy, communications and technology I forsee those options widening for many more.

I was simply pointing out there may be biological reasons that students appear to be worn out at school and offer a possible solution.