I don't want to be that parent. I don't want to be that parent. Oh, crap. I think I am.
This morning, I was surfing around Jonah's class website. The website is actually very nice. The teacher inputs the assignments daily. She also uploaded the major writing assignment for the year along with the grading rubrics. It gave me a good idea of what Jonah will do this year. The trouble is that I'm not very happy about it.
The big writing assignment this year is a Celebrity Book Report. Celebrities? Like we aren't already in a celebrity-happy culture? The school system needs to fuel it further?
For the book report, he has to answer some questions about the celebrity, including explaining why this person is famous (genetic bone structure?) and how they've worked to make the world a better place (introduced a catchphrase, "that's hot!"). Then they have to make a timeline, which is graded in part on well they create equal spacing between major events in their lives. They have to create a costume or their mothers have to do. And they need to print out a lot of pictures of the celebrity from the Internet. I would like to print out a picture of my head exploding.
My kid is in fifth grade. He needs to learn how to write an essay. He has to write a lot. He has to read tough books and understand them. He has to learn about important people, not celebrities.
So, what does one do about this? Complaining to the teacher doesn't do anything. This project is done by the entire fifth grade class. It's part of their standard curriculum. Complaining to the principal doesn't do much. She's been told to do this kind of project by various experts and the school board. Getting elected to the school board doesn't do much, because by the time you're able to make change, your kid is already done with school. Supplementing at home is hard, when your kid's time is used up by making costumes of Derek Jeter. Moving is expensive. Homeschooling requires a parent with a different skill set then myself.
Suggestions?
Apt. 11d 
work with him on picking a celebrity of whom you approve. I can’t wait to see your pix of the Ben Bernanke costume you make for him…
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She’s been told to do this kind of project by various experts and the school board.
It all comes back to consultants and the ills they cause.
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What dave s. said. If you get a couple other moms to go along, Jonah can avoid the trash can or detention for his impersonation of Stephen Hawking.
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I third Amy and Dave. Al Gore is a celebrity. Barack Obama is a celebrity. Heck, he can do Angelina Jolie and focus on her charity work.
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If you want to stop that type of assignment without being “that parent”, you want to go the way far in the other direction. Have your son pick a celebrity whose life could not be made acceptable for a 5th grade classroom (drugs, sex, violence, or, ideally, some combination of at least three of those). Then contrive for this information to get leaked to the administration, school board, and whichever parents are most likely to use the phrase “When I was young, we didn’t have problems like this.” I’m guessing they would shift the assignment to “World Leader” book report or something like that.
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Teachers are in a bind: they need to hold the attention of the maximum number of children. So they resort to things that are likely to hold their attention: celebrity, finance, marketing, sports, &c. I like the suggestion that famous politicians or famous scientists or writers or famous business executives (Bill Gates) are celebrities.
The costume part is a problem (since school projects that implicitly enlist parents are a problem). If you want to rouse rabble, find a set of annoyed mothers and have them start keeping receipts. Color prints are something like a quarter a page. Then there’s the costume. Get them all for each assignment, then have the kids turn in both the assignment and the total cost. If the teacher gets annoyed but doesn’t take action, start sending copies of the receipts to the principal, then the school board, etc.
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Modify the project for Jonah, to include the learning imperatives you think are important, and still make it work with the school’s assignment.
Our kids (3rd grade) do what they call a “wax museum” project that seems similar to yours. They pick an important person (rather than a celebrity), read biographies, learn about the person, write a report, and then pose as that person in the school hallway (yes, costumes). My daughter has been dreaming of this project for 6+ months. She loves it, and the wax museum (posing) is a big part of the draw. It will serve real learning, too.
There’s no reason the celebrity can’t be someone who’s famous for more than his bone structure and has actually done something important. The equal spacing rubric can be worked with, as needed.
In the school’s defense, I’ll say that rules that apply to college students don’t apply to elementary school students. My daughter gave a report (2nd grade) on roadrunners. She wanted to use a roadrunner puppet as a foil. We thought that was pretty silly when we saw it, but it was a big hit for them.
Things change as you transition from 3rd to 5th (they should, anyway), but some amount of fluff is appropriate for these kids, and complaining about it is a bit like the stodgy old profs complaining about the flashy powerpoint in your presentations.
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Hell inna handbasket.
(I love MH’s idea.)
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I still remember last week’s post on skipping Obama’s speech at the school. It makes me think that administration is easily swayed be fear once someone gives them enough of a suggestion that they can start imagining how the local reporter who hates them would write the story.
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I was *that* parent a couple of times, but not until middle school. And I got nowhere. After you posted this, I went looking for Steph’s assignments (also in 5th grade). I couldn’t find any information. There’s a web site, but it’s not filled in at all, which I find very typical. Sigh.
The costume part is what I would find most egregious. Even assuming I’m at home, not everyone has the skill to make a costume.
You know, I have been meaning to blog this, but one of the things that annoys me about the PTO is that they have nothing to do with curriculum. We never discuss assignments or the appropriateness of classroom activities. All we do is raise money, which buys the parts of the curriculum that have been cut–arts, music, and often reading and speech specialists. It would seem that the PTO would be a good place to discuss these things. I dunno. Maybe I’m crazy.
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I agree that good guidance in the selection of a “celebrity” is a key here, as is, perhaps requiring that all images and points on the timeline be well researched and documented (each one chosen for how it contributes to an argument / narrative about the person’s life and accomplishments, accompanied by a well-formed paragraph with well-structured, grammatical sentences).
You could also, perhaps, make a case for a couple of paragraphs on why the particular costume was chosen….
Though I must say, checking to see if other parents are as annoyed by the cost in money and parental time would be a useful strategy. You can’t be THAT parent if there are a bunch of you.
I like MH’s idea, too. Sneaky. Cynical. Possibly very effective.
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OK. I’m taking suggestions for the least appropriate celebrity for Jonah’s book report. Billy Idol during the cocaine years? Iggy Pop? I’m fond of the how-are-they-still-standing celebrities, like Keith Richards.
Laura/Geeky Mom, I have a conspiracy theory that the PTO/PTA is really a way of distracting the involved parents from the really important stuff. If you’re really busy with the bake sale, then you don’t notice the curriculum.
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MH’s idea would fail, and Jonah would suffer for it, as, I suspect, both Laura’s know.
Boy, I wouldn’t want the PTO to be involved in designing curriculum, and that’s one of the things that would induce me to run from a school.
Are they actually going to get graded on the costume? As I’ve pointed out, our assignment (it hasn’t been assigned yet) involves a costume. But, I expect my daughter to come up with it, and if she decides that a sign describing who she is is a sufficient costume, that’s what I’ll let her do. In our school, I have high confidence that the teachers will not grade or value costumes that don’t show independent thought/input on the part of the student (i.e. the astronaut costume purchased from the costume store). The kids will still want to do them, just like they like to dress up for halloween.
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Any famous nudists? Costume would be very easy. “Madam, I’m Adam.” Palindrome! It’s a math lesson! Plus you could “teach the controversy” about any number of things. The socially constructed nature of appropriate attire; historical readings of religious texts; the possibilities are endless.
For timeliness, Jim Carroll’s probably going to be tough to beat. Drugs and male prostitution in high school; punk rock was probably his version of cleaning up his act. Bonus: J’s friends each get a role in the recital of “People Who Died.” Send the therapy bills to whoever put this thing into the curriculum.
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MH’s idea would fail, and Jonah would suffer for it…
Same thing happened with a different Jonah when I advised that he not bother with going to Nineveh.
I have yet to deal with school administrators as a parent. My son’s first day at a real school was today. He’s in pre-school, but the school runs through 8th grade. (Also, today was his first time taking a leak in a public toilet because he’s just now tall enough.)
I’m sure there are better ways than I suggested, but I’m guessing that the principal could be prompted to issue guidance about what constitutes a ‘celebrity’ that would push the assignment in a more useful direction.
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I suggest Cliff Burton, original bassist from Metallica (tragically killed in a tour bus accident). But then that shows my age.
Next suggestion: any young person with the temerity to try for fame *without* the rock band/modeling career/professional sports crutch. 😉
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@laura, I think I agree with your conspiracy theory. I am semi-involved in that I’m the new PTO webmaster–long story. And so, I’ve been going to meetings where we talk about wrapping paper.
@bj, given what I’ve seen about most of these people’s attitudes, I’m not sure I’d want them involved either. I think I’m going to have to go to a school board meeting, which I hear are really boring.
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How about “Smiling Bob” from the Enzyte commercials?
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Kids write more and they write better when they care what they’re writing about (often it’s themselves). I suspect that the celebrity topic was selected in an attempt to engage the kids, which is not a bad thing.
My suggestion: Encourage Jonah to pick a person he genuinely wants to know more about. Share with him the definition of “celebrity” and encourage him to think beyond the normal roster of rock stars and sports heroes. Jonah likes history, and one could make a reasonable argument that Leif Erikson and Joan of Arc are celebrities. (Of course, you need to be prepared to help him defend this if necessary; I’d consider it a bad sign if it were.)
Help him figure out how to get the most out of the assignment and how to make it work best with his interests. Otherwise, it’s going to be a really long year (school career) for both of you.
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“Boy, I wouldn’t want the PTO to be involved in designing curriculum, and that’s one of the things that would induce me to run from a school.”
bj,
I think you are selling yourself and other parents short. You’re a highly-educated researcher and I bet you are well worth listening to on the subject of science education. I bet there are some pretty high-powered professionals at your kids’ school (doctors, lawyers, engineers, software designers, other medical researchers, academics, etc.), just as there are at my kids’ school (which started out as a free homeschool co-op run by university faculty wives). There’s potentially an amazing (free!) pool of expertise with regard to figuring out what kids need to know for being successful in high school and getting into college and various professions. Why is it self-evident that schools ought to ignore parents’ expertise and keep them thinking about wrapping paper and candy?
“@bj, given what I’ve seen about most of these people’s attitudes, I’m not sure I’d want them involved either. I think I’m going to have to go to a school board meeting, which I hear are really boring.”
But isn’t there a good chance that the penny ante subject matter itself drives away people with deeper concerns? You might get much better results if you had a curriculum committee for each subject area with membership both from the school faculty and administration and several parent experts. The math professor or a programmer might sit on the math committee, a professional writer or editor could sit on the English committee, a native Spanish or French speaker might be on the foreign language committee, Laura’s husband would go on the history committee, and I’d put bj on the science committee. You could drink coffee and eat cookies once a month and look at textbooks and instructional videos and software.
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I see this assignment (as with much of curriculum) as a definition of the minimum standards. Minimum standards can’t be what our kids are capable of (assuming that our kids are pretty capable). It’s our responsibility to make sure that our kids meet their standards, rather than the minimum at the school (the school should help with this, but, I do realize that a lot of schools fail in individualizing to this degree). And, they have to stay out of the way — not put barriers in place that prevent a kid from doing more than the minimum.
But, the minimum can’t be the average of kids who can do a lot. Even at my child’s school, which I’ve already said is selective, the minimum standard is lower than my daughter’s standard. She works to her own standard, so it hasn’t been an issue for us, that the minimum is lower. But, if there’s another kid at the classroom, who is capable of working to the same standard, but isn’t? That problem can’t be solved by raising the minimum for everyone to that level. It would weed out too many other people. And, my gut tells me it would be wrong.
The minimum might be low for everyone — that’s a curriculum battle. But, if the minimum is just too low for a subgroup of children, a curriculum change isn’t the answer. Customization is, and the parent and child have to make it happen.
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“I bet there are some pretty high-powered professionals at your kids’ school (doctors, lawyers, engineers, software designers, other medical researchers, academics, etc.)”
Yeah, but hardly any of them think that they’re better at designing curriculum than the teachers. As a specific example, our school has a jaw-droppingly fabulous 4-5th grade science teacher. She’s amazing, truly amazing. And, I have nothing to say to her on science curriculum for 4-5th graders, and a lot to learn. I also have nothing useful to offer on how to teach Kindergartners to read.
Mind you, our school is pretty fabulous all around, so my experience might not reflect the real world. But, if it didn’t, say the 4th grade science teacher wasn’t very good, I still wouldn’t think that my expertise would be particularly useful.
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I just remembered that Katharine Beals (AKA Lefty) of Out in Left Field (oilf.blogspot.com) had a related post:
http://oilf.blogspot.com/2009/09/myths-about-left-brain-schooling.html
Beals points out the perversity of the fact that while art instruction is dying, kids are more and more expected to produce things like posters and costumes in other subjects. Expecting performance without first providing instruction is not kosher and it amplifies existing inequalities caused by differences in family resources, parental education and access to extracurriculars (for instance, actual art instruction).
And for you, bj:
http://oilf.blogspot.com/2009/09/must-secondary-school-biology-be-boring.html
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To Laura/Geeky Mom’s thought about the PTO’s involvement with curriculum and bj’s reticence, I think it depends on what one means by “involvement” and also by “curriculum.” The trick is to get parents’ input without allowing vocal but unreasonable factions take over and work against the best interests of all the kids (this fits with the whole Obama controversy of last week).
But I do think that parents’ areas of expertise are a vastly underused resource for schools. In some ways, it’s a practical issue. How do you effectively harness the knowledge and skills that parents have and render that into usable plans for the classroom?
Never having been to a PTO meeting, but having done a lot of tutoring and my student teaching in NYC public schools, what seems most useful to me are stand-alone lesson plans and activities developed by parents using some basic guidelines given by teachers or administrators. I would have really welcomed the help, for instance with alternative plans that I could use with kids who’d mastered a skill before the rest of the class, or plans to use in the awkward day or two before a vacation. I did them myself, but it’s an area where different perspectives or approaches can be a relief for both kids and teachers.
I think the two Lauras should propose and organize this at their next PTO meeting. Let me know how it goes!
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It kind of makes me long for the days when teachers were working to make quality topics interesting, rather than trying to pick easily interesting topics.
I think this points to the danger of consultants really: you do get the kind of quick results you are paying for (look! kids and teachers self-report that they are more interested!) but I’m not sure you end up with the kind of actual education you want.
No advice as to how to address it though, other than trying to guide your son around the quality of his subject, sources, and writing.
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Suze – re: kids write more when they have a topic they care about. Two problems with that: 1)Jonah is not actually given an opportunity to write much at all. He is given a worksheet to fill in. He has to answer very specific questions with five or six lines under it. That’s not enough writing for a 10 year old. 2)Can we expect any less from kids? Kids can be interested in Einstein, Twain, Lincoln, Alcott, if someone describes them to them. 3)I do think this is catering to the bottom level, as bj said. And I have to figure out how to get around this.
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That is an invidious project. So much superficiality in the marking scheme that’s been emphasized and so little sense of why this person’s important beyond just being famous. I know we’re encouraged to find ways to get kids interested in schoolwork by bringing in people such as sports and media stars as subjects, but isn’t that at least then tied to actual reading and writing?
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I agree that a broader definition of celebrity includes a variety of people with interesting lives and important ideas–but the project is not leading kids in this direction, it’s lending itself to vapid, dumbed-down research projects that kids will undertake on the internet by reading celebrity gossip. The research component is what would concern me the most, since they’re unlikely to locate well-written materials or learn to use library resources. Maybe it’s worth being “that parent” and expressing (politely, gently) your concern that at this stage the students need to be prepping for middle-school demands in writing and research.
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I work full time in order to pay private school tuition for two kids. Private school/paying tuition means your input means more (and I have serious doubts that anything centering on “celebrity” would make it out of the gate at my kids’ school). And, having done both the public and then the private school in a well-regarded public school district, I would bet that the PTO at the private is run far more like a business, with far less input from the looney-tune factions (the real “that parent”s).
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I’m late to the party, so the only thing left to say is extremely tangential:
In what way is this a book report?
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Ah, Laura, I’m not going to make you feel any better about this, but my son did that same assignment last year… in second grade. It seemed more or less appropriate for that age group, and the word “celebrity” wasn’t used, so several of the kids did reports on presidents and other historical figures.
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Paul Robeson, Harry Hay, Harry Bridges, Emma Goldman, Norman Thomas, Sara Grimke (hows that for obscure), Oliver Cromwell, Jesus (Christ, that is), God, Satan, you get the idea. (Go for Sarah Grimke, she was really great).
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How about going as little Pavlik Morozov? That’s plenty disturbing (although highly educational), and you don’t need an elaborate costume.
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“Homeschooling requires a different skill set . . . ”
Is that a copout? Seriously, time on your hands, strong feelings about education — you sound like the perfect candidate to me! And the best way to get things done is to have too much to do, so maybe that book is more likely to get written if you have a kid or two to educate, too (as if you aren’t doing it already — all you’re giving up is the day care :0). I’m homeschooing three and revising a book this semester . . . .
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“He is given a worksheet to fill in. He has to answer very specific questions with five or six lines under it. That’s not enough writing for a 10 year old.”
Do these rinky-dink assignments contradict the notion that supplemental instruction is not possible because all the time is taken up by bogus-book-report kinda stuff.
Not having kids myself, is it both that children have too much to do, and the assignments also demand too little? Busy work for miles?
Cuz that sucks.
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I have serious character flaws that would make me a lousy homeschooler.
The kids are assigned a particular state; their celebrity must be someone who is from that state and is contemporary. If you get NJ, then you’re stuck with Jon Bon Jovi or Judy Blume. Not joking. [head exploding]
I was just checking out the curriculum at my SIL’s private school. They’re doing projects revolving around the Greek Myths and the Immigrant Experience. I just mentioned the tuition cost to Steve. [steve’s head exploding]
PhanScrib – Good to know, but your comment made me vomit slightly in my mouth.
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What about some kind of extra-curricular activity? My mom started up a Junior Great Books group for us in middle-school when she saw what reading we were assigned. And I know that one group of parents has had success in our extremely mediocre school district by doing a kind of book club with their kids where they looked at the work of major philosophers (this was in high school). Surely something on the elementary school level could be put together?
Anyway, I think that as long as they like to read and are reading independently of school, they will be fine. Good luck
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Laura,
Don’t you get Springsteen, too?
My 2nd grader is going to be studying Hammurabi this week as part of their unit on Mesopotamia. This year is “Ancient Civilizations.”
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BRRUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCEEEEEEEE!
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In fifth grade, we had the opposite problem. My daughter was given the assignment to write about a historical figure. Kids chose Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt.
My kid chose Grace Kelly. Sigh. At least she was dead.
Though now that kid is sophomore in 3 AP classes, one English, one history, so I guess it didn’t hurt her.
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Steven Speilberg, Steve Forbes, Meryl Streep, Mary Higgins Clark, Bruce Springsteen, James Gandolfini (I really want to see the Sopranos presentation suitable for grade school), General Norman Schwartzkopf, Buzz Aldrin, David Copperfield (what kid doesn’t like magic), and — I hate to say it — Martha Stewart. Tons more out there. I think the approach of finding someone you want your child to learn about and still falling within the criteria given is the best approach. Just one more opinion
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It’s okay not to want to do it, but all homeschoolers have character flaws. If you can parent reasonably well, and if you have opinions about education, you can homeschool. Of course, not seriously considering making a change means you can consider to whine about the public schools, a hobby you may not want to give up.
Honestly, I’m not second guessing my decision today when the discussion here is about finding a celebrity that doesn’t make you puke for a school report.
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Speaking up for Steve here, please let’s consider his health and stress level before committing to private school! There are other ways to solve this problem. And I at least would rather see you be “That Parent” at least once before you accept Steve’s head permanently exploding.
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Seems like there are two issues here- the celebrity issue and the output of the project. Re the celebrity angle (which I actully agree with you on BYW), maybe the teacher is just tring to make it more attractive to kids- if they have to do research and create a timeline maybe kids would be more engaged if it could be a basketball star or someone they are interested in. As to the actual work entailed in the assignment and the end product, you are right that they need to learn how to research, analyze and write and 5th grade is not too soon.
Overall I have to say that Sid Vicious gets my vote.
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Is Jon Corzine not a celebrity to people who aren’t finance geeks? He’s the first person that comes to mind for me on “Famous person from NJ.”
This is why I so like the model of school I grew up with. It spent a minimal amount of time very effectively, and so there was no fluff, and plenty of time for out-of-school learning. (15 hours a week of instructional time, and work to take home was rare.)
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My sixth-grade biography subject was Diana Spencer. (This was the 1981-1982 school year. She was a celebrity, no matter how many “biographies” were already being written.)
There was no costume involved, thank God.
What will the other parents in your class do about this? What are the costume standards? Practically speaking, I’d rally my friends and make sure we all agreed to put the minimum amount of extra work into this necessary.
And I’d write a letter to the principal and the superintendent pointing out how poorly this project meets NJ educational requirements for fifth grade. CC a NJ State Board of Education official or two, if you’re feeling ambitious. If NC has all this complicated language about the amount of writing kids are supposed to be doing at different points, I have to believe NJ does, too.
No, the letter probably won’t make a difference in terms of classroom content. But it’s more satisfying than costume-making.
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I’ve been THAT parent just a couple times and the experience was enough to make never speak up again. I once questioned a geography assignment on Africa in my daughter’s 6th grade class and ended up with a sarcastic “thank you for your concern” reply signed by the teacher with an M.Ed. after her name – just in case I questioned her expertise.
I’ve also been on the PTO bandwagon — after a few years of the volunteering sucking the life out of me, I walked away and have never looked back. I agree with Laura, PTOs are a way of distracting parents from the important stuff.
I’d ask the teacher (quite nicely) how the celebrity angle of the project came about. Maybe the school has had a bad experience in assigning a generic biography assignment. Last year my son’s class had a biography book project and I volunteered to facilitate a small group discussion. One kid in my group picked Vladimir Lenin. I was impressed until I asked him if he thought Lenin had any influence on politics of his time and he said “no, I don’t think so.” He had no idea who Lenin was before he picked the book AND, unfortunately, no idea after. His costume and project, on the other hand, looked great!
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Scholarship! I’ll pick him up in the morning and drive him to school! Send Jonah to me, although it might ruin our relationship when I’m his English teacher in 7th and 8th grade. We can keep that as our little secret.
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Dude. You should get him to be assigned to Wyoming so he can get Dick Cheney. He’d look great in a baldy costume and looking angry. Pity the kid who gets Iowa.
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“One kid in my group picked Vladimir Lenin. I was impressed until I asked him if he thought Lenin had any influence on politics of his time and he said “no, I don’t think so.” He had no idea who Lenin was before he picked the book AND, unfortunately, no idea after. His costume and project, on the other hand, looked great!”
That is so sad.
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What? I would have guessed the whole point of choosing Diana Spenser would have been the costume. Or, was she actually assigned as a subject? I’ll admit that if my kid came home with Princess Diana as a research subject, I’d probably freak out a bit. On the other hand, something could be made out of even that project.
(And, she would get to wear the princess costume. She’d complain that Spenser was blonde, though.)
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Pity the kid who gets Iowa.
Does James T. Kirk count?
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So many Iowans to choose from! John Wayne, Donna Reed, Andy Willims, Ashton Kutcher. Then again, given the slim pickins of this century, we’ll take James T. Kirk.
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That’s right, Tina F. Stick up for the home state.
Laughing at the teacher who insisted on putting the letters after her last name. Did you put your doctorate in education after your last name? Do you have them call you Dr.?
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I agree with all the suggestions to help choose your “celebrity” wisely!
I also want to chime in re: the PTO/curriculum question. I was very involved in the PTA at my kids’ elementary school (to the point of serving as president for a year). We did have opportunities to discuss actual school issues (curriculum, etc) with the principal at meetings, and I would have felt comfortable bringing this up, as a parent, at one of these meetings to start a discussion, and the feedback would have been considered. As a PTA, I don’t think we were relegated to bake sales to distract us from the real issues. Sometimes I do think the school administration was less than enthusiastic about parent input, though.
I also served 3 years on the School Site Council. As basically the board of directors of the school, this group of parents, teachers, staff and the principal was chartered with overseeing curriculum, specifically via the school plan which is mandatory for any school receiving state and federal funds. I would highly recommend any parent interested in affecting change in your school to consider school site council.
As for the costume – I HATE it when projects include costumes. If it’s that important, teach the kids to sew their own!
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1)” answer some questions about the celebrity, including explaining why this person is famous…and how they’ve worked to make the world a better place… “(Sounds very scripted. Fill in the blanks, connect the sentences, and there’s your report. The rest of the project demands more attention.)
2) “a timeline, which is graded in part on well they create equal spacing between major events in their lives.” (How? Is Kelly Clarkson’s childhood worthy of attention?)
3) “They have to create a costume or their mothers have to do.” (ah, creativity! Whether it’s the student’s or the parents is beside the point. A great chance for SAH moms, or crafty grannies, to even out the odds. VERY squishy for grading. Your child will lose points if you allow him to do it himself. You should require him to do it himself, but there is a cost.)
4) “And they need to print out a lot of pictures of the celebrity from the Internet.” (Internet research? Although plugging a name into Google Images isn’t very deep.)
How long is the book report? As I look at this, it’s 3/4 NOT writing. The timelines will be posted on the classroom walls. Printing out the pictures will take a great deal of time, as will creating the poster. (There is a poster, isn’t there? If your son isn’t into calligraphy, printing out pretty fonts makes the poster much neater.) The costumes will be displayed in class, probably while reading the book report. In my opinion, this is a waste of class time. Multiply a 3 minute report by 25 kids, add in 3 minutes for students to get out of their seat, and don costumes, you’re looking at at least 2 days of lost instruction.
Protesting this project will get you absolutely nowhere. The more worrying aspects of the project are, why is this thought to be appropriate for his entire grade? Are many students so entirely disconnected from academics that researching the life of Beyonce would be a step up? More to the point, is this the academic high point of the year? What happens next year? Can you access the curriculum for sixth grade? Classroom pages may tell you much more about how vague guidelines are met.
How much test prep does your school do? I’m an older parent now, and I’ve watched it seep into the public school classroom.
It’s a question of expectations. Does your school track? If so, you may be very happy, once the tracking begins, if the honors classes are academically oriented.
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A certain number of public schools are excellent, and will remain that way due to their demographics. Some questions to research about your public school system.
Does your school track? In which subjects? Do not assume that the high school tracks. How is placement into tracks determined? The best, in my opinion, would be a combination of academic performance, standardized test results, and teacher recommendation, with the option for placement into a higher level upon a parent’s request. I’d far rather see a school which encourages students to try more challenging courses, than one which restricts access.
Access may be restricted due to budget concerns. This is not a temporary problem. If it won’t be solved in the next three years, you should take that into account.
Are courses in the program of study really offered? If they don’t have enough students to take AP Calculus senior year, that’s a huge warning sign. Check that they offer the courses, and it’s not “if enough students sign up.” If they don’t have enough students in the pipeline for AP Calc, they won’t be offering it. It can be fine for your son to take advanced courses as an independent study, if he’s the type who will thrive working independently. Some school systems will do it, some won’t. Flexibility, on the part of the administration and guidance office, is important.
Warning signs? Look up the most recent report by the authority responsible for accreditation. Note any problem areas. Has the school addressed those problems? How many study halls does the typical student carry in her schedule? Does the administration push students to add study halls? Are they stunned that any student would want to take more than 1 AP a year? (Happened to a relative.)
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I have one more thing to add to stranger’s excellent advice–what does the math tracking look like? Think about which math course you want Jonah to be taking senior year and work backwards to what he needs to be doing each year. As I understand, some schools have an unannounced math placement test in 6th grade that decides math track. If a child winds up in the wrong math track (i.e. most of them), it is literally impossible to take calculus as a senior. Not everybody needs calculus, blah blah blah, but you want to at least keep the option open.
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(1) The teacher might indeed be lazy or ridiculous, but is it possible that this is a subversive way to get the kids to see things critically? Is it possible she’s tricking them by using what/who they find enthralling? Yes, it is loathesome that our culture worships at the shrines of Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus et al, but it does. (Who among us has never ever bought “People” or watched “E.T.”?) If this assignment gets them to see one of the celebrinonsensities in even a slightly detached and analytical way, it will have taught them something important. In my opinion, learning to observe and think is THE point of education, more than almost anything else.
(2) Have you actually talked to the teacher? Don’t you think most teachers went into the profession because they wanted to instruct and not because they wanted to be tools of administrative or bureaucratic silliness? It seems to me a discussion would be worth a try.
(3) If you conclude that there is no salvaging seven more years in public school, surely the expense of private school would be necessary and acceptable though unpleasant? A mortgage isn’t fun but if you want to own a house it’s a necessity. Are there alternatives near you besides the one you mentioned? What about Montessori?
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Yes, Anne. I set up a meeting with a teacher for next week. I’m sure the teacher is a perfect nice, smart person. I do think that the system is putting pressure on teachers to assign lower-level work. I don’t think the point of the assignment to have them critique our celebrity culture, as much as it a way to try to get lower performing students writing. That’s a fine goal, as long as all the assignments aren’t geared to the lowest level.
Jonah’s school tracks for math. He’s in the highest class, so no worries there. I’m just a big believer in writing proper essays and am worried that his program is dumbed down this year.
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If it’s anything like our local middle school, a grade-wide project is just that. The team of teachers decides the project and the grading rubric. All classes receive the same assignment materials. The teacher doesn’t have wiggle room, because it’s not “her” assignment. Questioning an assignment is also very tricky. It frequently comes across as personal criticism.
Private schools are a mixed bag. Some are wonderful, some are fine, and some are…not. It’s also a question of “fit” as much as anything else. If it has a sports-mad culture, and the parents are primarily trophy wives, it may not be a good fit for you. One friend looked at a day school for her son in a town inhabited by lawyers. He came home, after a day shadowing a student, relating that the students had played lawyer-type games at recess. That would not have been a good placement for a budding engineer.
If you like your SIL, and your in-laws have similar values, their school may be a good place to start. If private schools begin in the sixth grade in your area, now’s the time to investigate them. (That may be a good project for your energies.)
Don’t forget to factor in the pragmatic side of things. How will you get everyone where they need to go, at the right time? After juggling several schools at once, I would favor a “good-enough” school, if it were close and had a number of families who would carpooling duties, over a “splendid” school which might stress the family’s schedule. Schools begin and end during rush hour. Winter is coming, as is the flu season.
If you would consider sending a child to a Catholic school, that’s a great place to start. Local charter schools might also be possible.
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“Jonah’s school tracks for math. He’s in the highest class, so no worries there.”
You did mention that earlier, but it totally slipped my mind. Is everything else looking good? Science, social studies, etc.?
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Sometimes, a parent who works at a private school receives a rebate on tuition for their children, or even forgiveness of tuition.
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I vote with all the ones who said pick someone who is a “celebrity” but for good reasons… I was thinking Hawking because I was finally watching a special about him I’d dvr-ed a while back last night, but there’s all kinds of unconventional choices that still have to be considered “celebrities”
For that matter I’d go with a modern day author rather than someone likely to be in People Magazine – but then again, thats cause if I was a parent of a boy I wouldn’t be able to resist dressing him up as a miniature Neil Gaiman for a project, lol =)
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