I know I've said it before, but teachers are way the hell out of control with homework! Now, I'm not opposed to homework in general but the thing that kills me are the "projects" they assign where the kids have to get together in groups to do outside of school. Case in point: we're camping with the Scouts this weekend (first time in a long time!) and it's a really cool event The Boy is looking forward to. Last night (Thurs.) I get home from work and The Boy tells me his teacher assigned a huge group project that's due next Friday. This means he has to get together with the rest of the group this weekend and can't go camping.
Well, I just about lost my mind. I started cussin' and hollerin' about teachers and how inconsiderate they are. Do these people not realize something like this disrupts the life of an entire family? People have trips, vacations, family commitments, sports, and other children to worry about on the weekends. Having one of them slammed with an out-of-school project at the last minute is just plain wrong! I have no problem with projects. Make them individual ones where he can do the work on his own time. Group work should be limited to school time so that people have an opportunity to have an actual family life. Like most folks today, The Wife and I both work full time jobs and we don't get home until almost 6:00 pm. By the time we cook dinner, eat, take care of homework, clean up the house, take out the trash, etc. it's almost 9:00 pm (on a good night!). That leaves us (maybe) an hour a day to spend as a family. The weekends are crazy enough as is but they're the ONLY time I get to spend with my wife and son. I really resent teachers taking up that time with "projects" that mean The Boy is gone for 4-8 hours in a day! He already did one last weekend for a different class. It's friggin' insane!
Well, the good news is The Wife and I did a little creative scheduling after closely looking at the instructions for the project, so The Boy can actually go camping. (yay!) Of course, it means he's going to have to do a ton more homework this week but such is life. It still irks me though. I get the point that in the "real" world kids will have to work last minute projects on tight deadlines, etc. but that will come all too soon as it is. How about we let folks at least have their weekends free to be a family, eh? There's some "Family Values" that make some damn sense for once!
Ah well, done bitching now.
On other fronts: The Dog has been feasting on cat poop this week. Oh yes, there is no joy like sticking your hand in a puppy's mouth to see what she's chewing on and coming up with a palm full of masticated feline feces! Oh, the wonderful aroma of cat crap mixed with dog saliva is a joy I will carry with me through all my days! (yak!) It was friggin' vile beyond words. Of course, The Wife (who, BTW, was the one who told me to get whatever The Dog was chewing on out of her mouth. Accident? Hmmmm . . .) was so busy laughing her ass off at me, that she was no help whatever in the cleanup process. Oh, the WHOLE family was vastly amused by my adventures in kitty doo-doo! So, yesterday, The Wife (brilliant woman that she is!) empties the cat box and rather than walk the five steps to the garbage can with the bag (It was too cooooollllddd!) she drops it on the back porch, meaning to pick it up later. Well, "later" never came and The Boy let The Dog outside to take care of her own business and voila! What wonderful, tasy, morsels of chewy goodness did she discover? The bag of cat shit, of course! This time it was even better, since the crap was all nicely mixed in with cat litter. I'm thinking it was kind of like a peanut covered tootsie roll . . . all crunchy on the outside with a chewy chocolate center! MMMMMMM!!!! Good eats! Now it was my turn to laugh. I had nothing to do with the whole scene and refused to become involved. I'd done my time in ca-ca hell and I wasn't goin' back!
Nasty stuff. I will leave you with those lovely images as I head off for a weekend of sleeping in cold tents while the rain comes down by the bucket outside. Sadly, I'm going to love that . . .
Later!
4 comments:
Jim, I totally hear you about the schoolwork. My poor kids are up until 10:30 or so at night (they're 10 yrs. old!) because they have so much work, so many projects and never-ending tests to study for. From the amount of help they need with regular homework sometimes, it makes me wonder if anyone is actually teaching them anything - and this from a private school that we have to pay for! The schedule this creates makes it difficult to have any down-time so I can unwind after they go to bed. It' feeding my insomnia, too. Where have all the actual TEACHERS gone? This is some bad shit.
I think the teachers are doing administrivia, so they have to assign the homework they would have done in class.
Regarding our of class GROUP projects, this is insane. How can they reasonably expect kids to get together to get this done? What about the kids whose parents don't have transportation or who work odd hours?
I always hated in class group projects because someone never carried their weight to make things happen. Out of class would be even worse.
re: schoolwork. Teachers are under intense pressure by the government and by parents to make sure the kids receive "education". i have plenty of friends who are teachers or know someone who is and most realize the amount of work--and rules--governing kids are insane. but if they try to protest, they can kiss their job goodbye.
Hello,
My name is Lawrence Ross and as the author of three books, I began thinking about better ways to find new readers for my books, other than conducting book signings. I wondered why wasn't there a social networking site (think MySpace or Facebook) devoted to authors, book lovers, and the book industry? How come lovers of Stephen King, Anne Rice, Eric Jerome Dickey, and thousands of other authors, can't come to one site and interact with those authors and each other? From those questions emerged my new site, TheYack http://www.theyack.com
TheYack is the first social networking site devoted to books, authors and book lovers. I think TheYack will be a hit as authors have longed to combine a site where they can post a personal blog/website, with the interactivity of a social network. NPR, CNET, and Publishers Weekly are all covering the launch (yesterday, I opened the site for registration), and we're going to have authors such as Dave Barry, E.Lynn Harris, and others answering questions from our Yacksters. In addition, TheYack will have editors and agents who will be available to answer questions from those of you who are aspiring authors.
So if you're interested in supporting TheYack, please feel free to join today. It's free, it's fun, and you'll meet new friends. Also, feel free to forward this information about TheYack to any and everyone you think may be interested, and of course, any media. Whether you're interested in biography, chicklit, history, fiction or non-fiction, TheYack is your site for books and authors! Thanks!
TheYack: Where Book Lovers Love to Meet! http://www.theyack.com
Post a Comment