Can I Vent....:-(

[Homeschoolmom3]

See if I am unreasonable and if any others feel the same way.  My son has been taken an online class this year where the cost was $700!  The whole year every writing assignment has taken at least a month to get comments back on and the comments are very few.  I have heard that she apologizes to the kids in class often, but how are the kids going to grow and learn from their mistakes if they have three writing assignments assigned before she even hands back the first paper. I think they had her do too many classes and therefore is not able to keep up.  We won't be going back next year which is a shame... So frustrated...anyone feeling me here?   :willy_nilly:

[Luckymama]

That is horrible! I'd be one ticked-off person grrrrrr

 

I can understand a 3-5 day turn-around time depending on the length, but a month is ridiculous.

[Homeschoolmom3]

I would even be happy with 2 wks.!  :glare:

[MarkT]

One week turnaround would be maximum acceptable.

No excuses.  You paid good money for a high school class. Ask for a partial refund.

 

Make sure you ding this course if people ask about it!

[OnMyOwn]

That stinks. It seems to be a common problem with writing classes. It's bad enough if they take a long time to grade it, but then if there aren't many comments, it really can be a disappointment.

[Homeschoolmom3]

That stinks. It seems to be a common problem with writing classes. It's bad enough if they take a long time to grade it, but then if there aren't many comments, it really can be a disappointment.

 

This actually was a History/Lit class with a writing component. A writing teacher comes in the class 2-3x a month and goes over grammar, writing, style etc.  Then assigns about 2 writings a month.  The problem is not getting any feedback before another assignment is due.  How are they supposed to know how they are doing?  :-/  All I wanted was some feedback before another was due.  It was not worth the money we spent, that I am sure. 

[regentrude]

This is unacceptable.

Prompt and constructive feedback is the most basic good practice of education.

You should  complain to the provider; they must adjust the teaching load so that teachers can manage timely feedback. Quite possibly they got greedy and gave the teacher too many students.

Edited February 27, 2016 by regentrude

[Arcadia]

:grouphug:

If the teacher is overworked, would logging a complaint get the teacher some help?

We have 3-5 days turn around for my oldest essay class and the instructor apologised when he hit 5 days due to a computer glitch uploading feedback onto the student system.

[fourisenough]

See if I am unreasonable and if any others feel the same way. My son has been taken an online class this year where the cost was $700! The whole year every writing assignment has taken at least a month to get comments back on and the comments are very few. I have heard that she apologizes to the kids in class often, but how are the kids going to grow and learn from their mistakes if they have three writing assignments assigned before she even hands back the first paper. I think they had her do too many classes and therefore is not able to keep up. We won't be going back next year which is a shame... So frustrated...anyone feeling me here? :willy_nilly:

Would you be comfortable naming the provider/course for the benefit of others planning for next year? If not, will you PM me?

[DebbS]

That is completely  unacceptable.  In addition, I wouldn't have my kids take a course where they could not improve upon their writing based on the comments while the essay is still fresh in their minds. This is how you become a better writer.

 

Having to do writing assignments before receiving comments from the last isn't going to improve the students skills at all and in fact would be very discouraging.

[Paula in MS]

This actually was a History/Lit class with a writing component. A writing teacher comes in the class 2-3x a month and goes over grammar, writing, style etc.  Then assigns about 2 writings a month.  The problem is not getting any feedback before another assignment is due.  How are they supposed to know how they are doing?  :-/  All I wanted was some feedback before another was due.  It was not worth the money we spent, that I am sure. 

 

I think I know who you are talking about from the description.   These writing assignments are not really graded for writing.  They are mostly graded for completion and go toward a discussion grade.  I always pull up the teaching notes and make sure my daughter follows the instructions fully.  She has nearly always gotten full credit.  Because I paid for a literature/history class, not a writing class, I'm not as worried.  As far as I am concerned, adding the writing instruction was just an extra that they added to help them with these discussion paragraphs.  I don't think writing instruction was originally part of the class.  At least, it is not in the course description.  I just consider it added value.  Without it, we would have no clue how to structure these papers.  Nearly every paper is set up the same, so with feedback from one, you should be able to figure out what they are looking for.  It might also help to read through the discussion boards to get an idea of what everyone else is writing.

[Homeschoolmom3]

I think I know who you are talking about from the description.   These writing assignments are not really graded for writing.  They are mostly graded for completion and go toward a discussion grade.  I always pull up the teaching notes and make sure my daughter follows the instructions fully.  She has nearly always gotten full credit.  Because I paid for a literature/history class, not a writing class, I'm not as worried.  As far as I am concerned, adding the writing instruction was just an extra that they added to help them with these discussion paragraphs.  I don't think writing instruction was originally part of the class.  At least, it is not in the course description.  I just consider it added value.  Without it, we would have no clue how to structure these papers.  Nearly every paper is set up the same, so with feedback from one, you should be able to figure out what they are looking for.  It might also help to read through the discussion boards to get an idea of what everyone else is writing.

 

I am not sure if you are certain about where I am talking about and I don't want to totally put down the school so I have kept that private.  Just was hoping to see if I was being unreasonable in my requests. 

 

My son's assignments are graded and are not always the same in content.  I talked with the administration BEFORE signing him up for this class because I wanted to make sure that it was comparable to what my older son had taken several years before.  They explained the writing assignments where exactly what I was expecting and that part has been accurate.  It is the feedback of the papers that have been so late!

 

Thanks for everyone's thoughts though!!

[Homeschoolmom3]

Would you be comfortable naming the provider/course for the benefit of others planning for next year? If not, will you PM me?

 

I hate to put a negative comment on a school over one incident. I will PM you though.  Thanks!

 

[Homeschoolmom3]

:grouphug:

If the teacher is overworked, would logging a complaint get the teacher some help?

We have 3-5 days turn around for my oldest essay class and the instructor apologised when he hit 5 days due to a computer glitch uploading feedback onto the student system.

 

Thanks, I am going to address it again.  I hope it doesn't cause problems on her end but it is just getting ridiculous.  From the responses I think it is safe to say I am not overreacting.  :-)

 

Thanks everyone!

[Targhee]

you are right they can't utilize feedback to improve with that turn around time. I too would be frustrated (especially at that price!).

[Paula in MS]

I am not sure if you are certain about where I am talking about and I don't want to totally put down the school so I have kept that private.  Just was hoping to see if I was being unreasonable in my requests. 

 

My son's assignments are graded and are not always the same in content.  I talked with the administration BEFORE signing him up for this class because I wanted to make sure that it was comparable to what my older son had taken several years before.  They explained the writing assignments where exactly what I was expecting and that part has been accurate.  It is the feedback of the papers that have been so late!

 

Thanks for everyone's thoughts though!!

 

I'm going to send you a PM. 

[Hot Lava Mama]

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by Hot Lava Mama

[Janeway]

I hate to put a negative comment on a school over one incident. I will PM you though.  Thanks!

me too. PM me too.

[Tsuga]

One week turnaround would be maximum acceptable.

No excuses.  You paid good money for a high school class. Ask for a partial refund.

 

Make sure you ding this course if people ask about it!

 

Agreed.

 

Also, comments need not be "negative" generalities. They can be specific, e.g.

 

The course covered the topics we needed but we did not get feedback in time to make corrections and learn from mistakes during the course. The feedback was pertinent but delays kind of broke the feedback loop.

 

---

 

People need to know that. The instructor can address it if they want, in the course description.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Can you PM me too since I am looking at high school classes for my ds.

[Paula in MS]

Agreed.

 

Also, comments need not be "negative" generalities. They can be specific, e.g.

 

The course covered the topics we needed but we did not get feedback in time to make corrections and learn from mistakes during the course. The feedback was pertinent but delays kind of broke the feedback loop.

 

---

 

People need to know that. The instructor can address it if they want, in the course description.

 

The problem is that it is not the class instructor that is having the problem.  The problem is with the writing "tutor" for the class, if that is what you want to call her.  She just pops in briefly every other week, gives an assignment, talks about expectation, and pops back out.  She is the one grading the discussion papers and is behind.  The OP is not really naming names because she is trying to be fair to the actual instructor, who is amazing, and probably had no input on who the writing person was going to be for his class.   It's just a situation where you can't really bash the whole class because I don't think the instructor has any influence over the writing instructor at all, so his hands are tied.    

[Paula in MS]

Agreed.

 

Also, comments need not be "negative" generalities. They can be specific, e.g.

 

The course covered the topics we needed but we did not get feedback in time to make corrections and learn from mistakes during the course. The feedback was pertinent but delays kind of broke the feedback loop.

 

---

 

People need to know that. The instructor can address it if they want, in the course description.

 

The problem is that it is not the class instructor that is having the problem.  The problem is with the writing "tutor" for the class, if that is what you want to call her.  She just pops in briefly every other week, gives an assignment, talks about expectation, and pops back out.  She is the one grading the discussion papers and is behind.  The OP is not really naming names because she is trying to be fair to the actual instructor, who is amazing, and probably had no input on who the writing person was going to be for his class.   It's just a situation where you can't really bash the whole class because I don't think the instructor has any influence over the writing instructor at all, so his hands are tied.