Elementary Reports

[mom2lydia]

My dd is 7 and in second grade. The teacher gave the class a report to write on animals and they had 1 month to do it in and it was done mostly at school other than the visual aid for their presentation. Well the final copies are do tomorrow and yesterday my daughter had to write the rough draft at home. The reason: the teacher didn't help the kids with figuring out how to manage their time. They had to do a graphic organizer for an "outline" which my daughter took almost the entire month to do because she added so many extra things to it over what the teacher put space for. My daughter wanted to be sure she put everything in the report she learned and understood about red pandas(her report topic). The teacher wasn't following up with the kids or helping keep them on track. When I asked at home about it my daughter would tell me they worked on it and what she had done. She realized yesterday that she only had 2 days to do the rough draft and final draft both and turn them in. This is the first report these kids have ever done, they are only in second grade and I had to teach my child at home about what they were being graded on because the teacher covered paragraphs and editing but didn't cover things like topic sentences even though that is part of the grade. To me it would have made much more sense to have given the kids seperate deadlines throughout the process such as on January 30 have topic picked, February 15 have graphic organizer finished, February 20 sloppy copy completed and class presentation ready, February 28 final copy due. They only had a start date, topic pick date, and end date. The teacher wasn't following up making sure it was getting done on time or anything. She basically turned the kids loose to do the project during class and not at home until this week other than research was allowed at home. Am I crazy to think that set deadlines through the process is needed when it's the first time the kids have had a large assignment with a month to complete the project? If it's primarily completed at school shouldn't the teacher be making remarks, comments, something to the kids before 3 days before the project is due when you tell the kids they have a nice start to the report? So frustrated and can't wait until the end of the year when we get a new teacher as it's been issue after issue with this teacher all year.

[SKL]

I feel your pain with the "issue after issue all year long." Yes, I think for 2nd grade, kids need a lot more guidance if they are supposed to produce something that complex. However, since it was mostly done at school, I would not now take ownership of the parts she kept from you. I would decide what is reasonable to expect for the time and instructions provided for the at-home part of the work, and have my daughter do that to the best of her ability.

 

In my view, as a general rule, the teachers should reap what they sow. If they are foolish about what they assign or how they teach, they should see the results (or lack thereof). If everyone does extra to make up for what the teacher didn't do, then the teacher will get the false impression that she did a great job.

 

Especially since the state of the red panda diagram and report will not impact your daughter for the long term.

[SKL]

I would not assume the teacher did not direct the daily work. It's quite common for students to listen to directions and then do their own thing.

 

 

You have a point here. I could see my youngest (stubborn free-thinker) intentionally going in the opposite direction of the teacher on something open-ended like this. ;)

[Arcadia]

If it's primarily completed at school shouldn't the teacher be making remarks, comments, something to the kids before 3 days before the project is due when you tell the kids they have a nice start to the report?

 

 

We had the animal report project in K, 1st and 2nd grade for our neighborhood school. For K, the teacher directed the work. From 1st grade, time was given in class to do it but the teacher is 'hands off' except to help when asked. The project was not graded for language arts, it was graded for time management.

It probably depends on school district. Here K is a transitional phase and more hand holding is given. From 1st grade, teachers start to give the students more ownership of their tasks. In fact parents are told not to help for projects.

 

[SKL]

We had the animal report project in K, 1st and 2nd grade for our neighborhood school. For K, the teacher directed the work. From 1st grade, time was given in class to do it but the teacher is 'hands off' except to help when asked. The project was not graded for language arts, it was graded for time management.

It probably depends on school district. Here K is a transitional phase and more hand holding is given. From 1st grade, teachers start to give the students more ownership of their tasks. In fact parents are told not to help for projects.

 

 

I was told that my kids (1st grade) were going to be working on a report specific to an animal of their choice. The kids chose an animal and then the class went to the zoo to see what they could learn. That was the last I heard of it (this was in the 1st quarter). I didn't even see the result of the work, let alone help with it. I'm not sure whether it was graded or not.

 

Then again, maybe it will resurface in the next few months . . . .

[Arcadia]

Then again, maybe it will resurface in the next few months . . . .

 

 

The teachers kept their class animal reports for showing on the school's open house. After that the reports were sent home. My neighborhood school teachers will send all stuff home on the last week of school.

[mom2lydia]

My daughter took it upon herself to do both copies of her report last night. She was so stressed out about it though that she sat for 2+hrs working on it only taking a break for dinner and a short break later. I encouraged her to just do one copy and the other today but she wouldn't have any part of that. She holds herself to A standards and doing things completely. She added way more to the graphic organizer than the teacher asked for. Her teacher has told me that she holds my daughter to higher standards than most in the class and that she sometimes gets a lower grade than someone else who turns the exact same work in because she knows and expects better from her than others. She also told me that it is because she expects to see her placed in the high ability class next year and wants to help prepare her. However as a result my child often comes home frustrated she had to rewrite something multiple times that others didn't because the teacher expects more though it hasn't been covered yet. I understand where she is coming from but at the same time it is frustrating to see my child upset about getting a B and not being told why she got a B when someone else next to her gets an A on the writing with the same mistakes.

[vonfirmath]

When we were growing up, I couldn't tell you what grades my fellow classmates got on projects and such. My parents encouraged me to do my personal best, and that was the standard I was held up to. I didn't get in trouble the one time I got a C, because I'd done my best in the class. OTOH, I could get an A and still disappoint them if I just skated through.

 

perhaps you could try that with your daughter, encouraging her to improve with every project and such, not just try to get a better grade than a classmate?

[Arcadia]

Her teacher has told me that she holds my daughter to higher standards than most in the class and that she sometimes gets a lower grade than someone else who turns the exact same work in because she knows and expects better from her than others. She also told me that it is because she expects to see her placed in the high ability class next year and wants to help prepare her.

 

Being held to a higher standards is very different from getting a lower grade for the same quality of work. Does the teacher also give lower grades for your child's report card or just classroom work.

Getting lower grades in the report card would mean more effort on your part as a parent to get your child into a high ability class next year.

My kids teachers push my kids harder, but they always get the grades they deserve on their report card. My older did get comments on the report card that say he could do even better but he still got his good/excellent grades.

[SKL]

Her teacher has told me that she holds my daughter to higher standards than most in the class and that she sometimes gets a lower grade than someone else who turns the exact same work in because she knows and expects better from her than others. She also told me that it is because she expects to see her placed in the high ability class next year and wants to help prepare her. However as a result my child often comes home frustrated she had to rewrite something multiple times that others didn't because the teacher expects more though it hasn't been covered yet. I understand where she is coming from but at the same time it is frustrating to see my child upset about getting a B and not being told why she got a B when someone else next to her gets an A on the writing with the same mistakes.

 

This is an interesting issue. I wonder what is the best way to explain this to young kids. My eldest has been called a "cheater" (by a 7yo classmate) because I had her do some class worksheets in advance, one-on-one, so she wouldn't bomb them in the classroom. The teacher then pressured me to stop helping my dd in this way. My thought was, can't we teach the other children to give struggling kids a little grace? Is it ever really fair to have a classroom full of very different children doing the same work? I don't expect the classmate to understand that he's a year older, has been hearing English for 2 years longer, and has had working eyes for 5 years longer than my dd. But I don't expect the teacher to succomb to pressure from 7-year-olds who have a very simplistic view of "fairness."

 

As for my other dd who is advanced, I wish she were held to a higher standard. Instead she is reprimanded for working ahead on her own. I actually think her grades would be better if she had some actual challenge. There are few things harder than "following along" with a class that is years behind you.

 

Since your dd seems very concerned about her GPA, perhaps it would help for you to try to de-emphasize grades if possible. Or show her some way to interpret the grades for what they really are. For example, comparing her to what a third-grader is expected to do.

[SKL]

When we were growing up, I couldn't tell you what grades my fellow classmates got on projects and such. My parents encouraged me to do my personal best, and that was the standard I was held up to.

 

 

Same here, especially at that age. My youngest also seems quite clueless as to who is getting what grades in school.

 

My eldest, on the other hand (the one who struggles) has the historical grades of all her classmates catalogued in her brain. One wonders how much better she'd do on her own work if she paid less attention to how others are doing on theirs. ;)

[AnIslandGirl]

 

As for my other dd who is advanced, I wish she were held to a higher standard. Instead she is reprimanded for working ahead on her own. I actually think her grades would be better if she had some actual challenge. There are few things harder than "following along" with a class that is years behind you.

 

This is exactly why I felt the need to step in and offer support to the GT students here! If a child has a learning disability, they are offered all the accommodations in the world (or so it seems around here), but the students that have a NEED for harder, more intense work are often left to their own devices.

[mom2lydia]

Being held to a higher standards is very different from getting a lower grade for the same quality of work. Does the teacher also give lower grades for your child's report card or just classroom work.

Getting lower grades in the report card would mean more effort on your part as a parent to get your child into a high ability class next year.

My kids teachers push my kids harder, but they always get the grades they deserve on their report card. My older did get comments on the report card that say he could do even better but he still got his good/excellent grades.

 

She still gets excellent grades on her report card and on most things in class. I check on her grades online each Friday since her teacher puts them in weekly. I do it not to see how well she is doing but to know if there is something she is struggling with that maybe got lost before I saw it. This has happened a few times but after I made dd aware I can check on her grades on the computer it hasn't happened. It helps me know what kinds of things to work on with her as well as make sure assignments are turned in which has on occasion been an issue. She has always recieved high marks on every report card so I think it's just that the teacher has her redo them to improve the papers.

[mom2lydia]

 

This is exactly why I felt the need to step in and offer support to the GT students here! If a child has a learning disability, they are offered all the accommodations in the world (or so it seems around here), but the students that have a NEED for harder, more intense work are often left to their own devices.

 

I agree and I have addressed the issue w/ the school but they don't receive the same funding for GT as learning disability. There are many laws in place for learning disabled individuals to receive equal education, which I totally agree with. However I feel we waste many minds of GT and turn them off to learning by not having to provide challenges for them to continue their education unless we allow them to skip a grade, which is not always ideal for all kids. I know it's not for my child at all as she is already one of the youngest in her grade with a birthday less than 2 months before the cutoff for her grade. Mentally she could do the work but emotionally she isn't ready to deal with all the things that go on in the higher grades, even if it is just one year. Last year her teacher was amazing at differintiating kids for different levels in every subject from reading to math even spelling. This year not so much. They get a little in math but that's it unless they need remedial help then they get it in all areas needed but not if they are ahead.