At least we are getting a few glimpses of the sun. But it’s mainly very very dark. For those with good eyesight – you can just see our friendly mole has taken a shine to our neighbours front lawn.

I guess sunshine amongst the darkness is a good way of summing up this weeks school at home project. I think it’s week 7 but I’ve lost any real grip on time.

Some lessons continue to work well. This week PE managed to bring in new exercise routines and somehow find a way of getting the kids to practice cricket fielding skills, in the garden. The teachers have embraced the heaps of resources on the internet. It’s amazing how many coaches and sports stars have uploaded fun things for us mortals to do at home. It also helps that the games teachers are engaging positively and with a real sense of humour with each pupil.

A subject like maths continues to use existing online national teaching resources to run the lessons. Online teaching lessons are followed by online questions. The class teacher keeping an eye on progress and tailoring the online lessons to each child. It’s reflecting how the class operates when the schools are open. It works so well and it does raise the question – can maths become a fully home based lesson when schools start again.

Then the darkness….

We still get lessons which are so formulaic. Here’s some text read it and then answer these questions. The approach never changes. It’s the same approach which is used for each lesson in the classroom. Ok it might work for some kids but for many it just won’t. Talk about trying to make a lesson as dry and boring as possible.

You then get the lessons where content and the knowledge a pupil has is seemingly not assessed. Marking just focuses on spelling mistakes and handwriting neatness. Interestingly the actual English Language subject is one subject which doesn’t use this approach. Some of the most brilliant and talented people I have met seem to have the worst grammar and spelling skills. Surely a pupils understanding of the subject matter must count for something.

Then you come to human nature. Teachers are not robots, they are just like the rest of us. We have those people we like and appreciate. We also have those we don’t get and probably don’t treat as fairly as others. Son has two teachers who just don’t get him. Whatever he does he never seems to get any positive feedback or credit. This week he submitted a piece of work for one of these teachers. I checked it with the marking scheme and his answer definitely went way beyond the standard answer. All the additional marks on offer were definitely covered in his response, and more. The actual teacher marking was predictably distinctly underwhelming. Purely highlighting the negatives. As Son pointed out

No point working harder for this one as it really doesn’t make a difference. Always going to be a C- regardless of the work. I must be the only kid in the class not to get a house point all year from this teacher.

So yep it’s been another dark and light school week. Bring on week 8 (or whatever number it is)….

88 thoughts on “Week whatever”

  3. Older Daughter had an English teacher like that. She brought home a test that was marked “F+” what the hello kitty is that?? You failed, but you failed really well??

    We (ex & I) requested a meeting with him. We wanted to know if Daughter was causing problems in class. Suddenly, after the meeting, she was getting “B”s on all her papers.

    It’s too bad you haven’t been able to make his school see reason.💌

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  7. My 7th grader has been chasing me through the house with her devices asking for help with various projects. Frankly, I don’t remember grade 7 to be so…difficult. 😛 And I have a University degree!

    Honestly I’m glad to be done with school. But while sequestered in lockdown I can’t seem to escape school… 😉

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  8. What a bummer to have a teacher who can’t recognize a student’s efforts and progress and commend that. You son mentioned house point and I thought of Hogwarts… is that an actual thing?

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  9. I swear Tember’s school is so beyond what is being provided to any other student that I have read about or spoken to parents about. So progressive. They work with the student not opposed to student. They do not believe that students should be spending hours upon hours on school work. Just before Spring Break (the school has its own youtube channel) the principal put out a message. That students should spend no more than 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day on school work. The rest of the time they should be spending time with family. Helping with things around the house. It blows my mind how much is being expected of students and their parents at this time. Hugs to you and son. 🙂

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      3. Nooooooooooo! It is 2020 our children should not be learning the same things we did. Learning should be universal but how children are taught needs to change. When I see how Tember is excelling at home learning I realize he works better on his own. With his own way of doing things. I love the way he is blossoming and learning. I seriously wish more schools were like his.

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  10. First I have to say the photo is lovely. What a pretty place to live, sun or no sun.
    Secondly I admire your sons tenacity despite far less than stellar teachers, well that one particular teacher anyway.
    Meyeldest went to school with the children of several teachers and became very competitive with them. In the long run it was good for her. The youngest was the opposite mostly because of teachers comparing her to her sister. She gave up and it took everything I had to get her to graduation. Both girls had one particular teacher who seemed to be just putting in time until he could retire. He was awful. I had a couple of run ins with him. At one point he grew annoyed with youngest daughter in class and called her stupid. WELL you can about guess how well that went over with me. I spoke with the principal of the school and she advised me to put it in writing. I did. Anyway not lo g afterward there was a parent-teacher night to discuss progress reports. They had it set up in the school gym. Parents lined up to speak with each teacher. He looked up and noticed me in line. I have to admit I enjoyed watching him squirm. I had brought my daughter with me so there could be no he said she said nonsense. So, we finally are standing in front of him and before I said a word he starts apologizing. I was less than impressed but I was civil and told him it was my daughter he needed to apologize to. He did. I don’t remember much else but the way my girl walked out of that gym with her head held high.
    The thing is this guy was often belittli g his students and had no business teaching in the first place. That kind of abuse has no place in the classroom. I normally admire teachers in general. I know it cannot be easy to teach classes full of various types of personalities. However, there are some who seem to have a gift for it while others simply do not.

    In my opinion bad teachers are like substandard tools. They do not get the job done and cause nothing but stress and frustration.

    Sorry about the long comment.

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    1. Talking to some of these teachers they seem to fall into different camps. A couple have just been not very nice. Some just have had no training in autism and dyslexia. And some have been great teachers but they just seem worn out by the constant government interference and paper work.

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      1. Such a frustrating situation for you and your son. I have friends who are teachers and I do sympathize with them. It’s too bad even the best ones get burned out by unnecessary red tape and government interference.

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  12. Wow!!! That sky is beautiful! Look at that storm coming! Nice photo!

    My daughter has a teacher like that too… they are everywhere. You get some amazing ones and you get some really sucky ones.

    I even had a teacher who didn’t like me lol… just one… I don’t like her either – hated her lol… she was so mean, and I was quiet always did what told… she was just mean.

    At least you don’t have that teacher too much longer… when does school end for your people? Ours normally ends at the end of May beginning of June… but it’s been cancelled rest of school year for us… no graduations nothing. We still doing school … but is winding down – report cards coming out and then done… summer vacation begins for my people soon 🤨 lol

    Well anyway glad he’s home with you – it’s sounds happier for him. Then he only has to have that teacher is small online doses lol ✌️

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      1. Yeah my daughter would get attached to some of her teachers too, I guess that’s to prepare you for the world? But I’ve always wondered why a teacher can’t be with you through all years – wouldn’t that be better in all ways?

        My daughters 5th grade teacher was like a 2nd mom to her ❤️… we loved her!!! Oh end of year was awful!! We wanted to keep her … but you have to let go… so I guess good life lessons trying to instill? Sucks though – I agree

        And the just getting used to new people every year – it’s hard … you get comfortable and get attached and then nope next 🤨 so yeah that sucks

        I did it myself as a kid. We moved so much I never had a chance to settle in? Was always change – just how was. I had no choice

        I don’t do that to my kids. All 3 have attended same schools… but we still get attached and comfortable every year lol … we still do it even though I know gonna be hard at end of year 🤨

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  14. That is quite a photo . Took me back to you wonderful area of the planet. These tiny villages I loved seeing. School will soon be out for the summer and I hope your boy gets shot of these teachers who are so unencouraging. You re right they are not robots, they do bring personal things, alas, that is just life. And often there’s just no rhyme nor reason to it. But your son really doesn’t need that.

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      1. Well, may he find his way to what he wants. He is a smart, clever boy and I fully get him wanting to prove people wrong cos he sounds as if he is nobody’s fool and that he would be a good friend too.

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      3. Oh Gary, the worst thing about being a parent is worrying so much more than they do and seeing the things they cannot see, then having the pieces of them handed back to you on a plate for you to repair. And it’s also taking that step into the unknown because sometimes they will find their way in a very different way.

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      7. And so you should. I have always held to line from an old song. ‘ I saw you stumble, you watched me fall.’ It’s about parenthood and very true really. (It is not the Feargall Sharkey song.) It’s a prety well unknown one. For me it is that bond you know. And only the two of you know it. But it is also about trust and repair.

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  15. I will trade you half our sun for half the clouds in that pic!

    You made me realize that read/Q is the problem I’m having with my current class.. there was no effort to tailor it to real life situations, which is pretty pathetic for a class on computer programming!!

    I never gotten into History… all memorization of stats – dates, names, locations… not brought to life till recently. I recall being insanely envious of a friend at another school, who’s teacher would point out which historic figures were gay. It was around 1980 and being gay was scandalous… which made history far more interesting!!
    I, on the other hand, wrote a paper on the US involvement in the Vietnam War being about economic rather than

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    1. … economics rather than people’s rights. The topic came from my hippie English teacher. I had no opinion but was a good student. I got about a billion bonus points and the comment, “it’s clear this was more than a paper, it was a cause for you!” Nope!! To this day, the most I can tell you about that war is memories of the famous helicopter scene on tv, a refugee plane flying over our house, and stories from coworkers who were refugees.

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      2. That’s horrible!!
        I can’t recall going to historical sites – but, then, there aren’t a lot to be found around Anaheim!

        We went to the Starkist Tuna Factory, which put me off tuna forever (it wasn’t gross… it was from the overwhelming smell). It would have been great if they’d included some info about the area having been a Japanese fishing community that was raided, with citizens sent to detention camps, in WWII. But we weren’t taught about that in the 60s/70s.

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  16. It’s funny (and helpful) to hear the kids talk about their teachers. They each have one teacher that is not helpful and even a little rude to them. But in other classes they will tell me that particular teacher likes them but is rude to one of their friends. Great job surviving another school week!

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  18. That is a gorgeous shot of those ominous clouds. Those large buildings…are they people’s homes or are they some sort of apartments?

    Speaking of spelling, when I have done research on ancient music, the spelling of words back then… The lyrics, if provided, “resembles” English but, not totally. “U”s & “V”s are interchangeable (like Greek), there are “E”s in strange places…double “R”s where one is sufficient. Grammar nazis should read old texts. And, anyone that wants to stand on pronunciation should listen to a Scotsman, carefully. It’s in there, somewhere…you just gotta pry it out with a crowbar.

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      9. I’d rather have the weeds. It’s my understanding that if you feed moles and/or voles Juicy Fruit chewing gum (do you have that over there?), it gums them up…pardon the pun.

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  20. When I was young, I had an amazing teacher. Back then, at the lower levels, we had the same teacher for all subjects. In a class of approximately 30 students, she knew each student’s strengths and weaknesses. She said that if a student didn’t understand something, she needed to find a way for them to learn it. We all adored her. The other teachers looked down on her because she had less education than they did.

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