Marathon-ing It and The Issue of Homework

First and foremost, I really want to wish my good friend, Daisie, a VERY VERY happy birthday today! She is a wonderful person, full of amazing potential as a teacher. I worked with her for a short few years, but learned so much from her talent as a professional and I thank her so much for that. She will soon be a mommy (well, I guess you could say she already is) and start a new adventure in her life. So. . . . Happy Birthday Daisie!!!! :)


I've never ran a marathon. Sometimes I wish I could have done it. Back in my running days, I certainly think I could have made it through one. Well, for the past few evenings, about by 5-6pm I'm just utterly exhausted. Normally, I can get that way, eat dinner and feel much better, but it just hasn't helped. I have some dr. appointments that I've been putting off for fear of taking time off work, so they are coming up Friday and I'm just praying harder that I can make it through this work week. It'll be the longest week EVER with parent-teacher conferences until 8:30pm two nights. UGH!!!!


Here is a picture of the beautiful full moon for October:



Here are some pictures of my odd son, sad that KU lost so closely last night (ok, maybe just sad because I stopped pushing him in his wagon):









This was the wild hair after taking the stocking cap off:





So, I have a bit of a parent/teacher problem, and since this is parent/teacher conference week, I thought I'd share it here. Zachary had a homework assignment that he was supposed to fill out some comprehension (don't get me started about TRUE comprehension) worksheet and return it to class. Well, we saw him filling out his homework and just assumed that it got put right back in his bookbag.. . .but . . . things are CRAZY some (okay most) of our evenings and I guess it didn't make it back to school. We got a note home from the sub asking for that assignment. So, I searched all over our piles of papers and no such luck!!!! I'm NOT the type of mom to keep and scrapbook every little medial assignment and worksheet. I know there are those that do, and I wonder what the point is, but that's alright- agree to disagree! :) However, in the midst of throwing away piles of coloring sheets and whatnot in the boys' rooms, I'm wondering if the homework was in that pile! Then I start hyperventilating a bit (ok, maybe that is a bit drastic) but I'm very well aware of the consequences SOME children face when they do not return homework to school and my heart starts breaking for Zach because, in all honesty, I think it's my fault that he lost his homework. Yes, he should have been responsible for putting it back in his bookbag immediately after he was done with it. He knows fully well that his little brother is learning how to help out by putting things in the trash. So, I sent a note to school and I'm crossing my fingers that they have mercy on him.



However, as a teacher, I am in such as sticky situation with homework. And, since I'm saying that as a parent AND a teacher, I know fully well that some that read my blog will get offended with my "teacher" point of view and I possibly may face some reprecussions from it, but I still feel like I need to share it so you can see the dilima that I'm in. (And, yes, I know I misspelled dilima, but right now, I'm too tired to find a dictionary!) As a teacher, I expect students to be responsible. I send things home with them to practice, have signed, or to share with someone. However, I also know that some teachers punish students at the very beginning of the day for NOT bringing homework back to school. How would you feel if you got to work and you were immediately reprimanded by your boss? Brain research shows that emotion over-rides intellect in our brains, so when we're overcome emotionally (which would take more stress for some to reach that point) we can't focus all day, we're academically "checked-out"! Plus, as a teacher, I cannot control one little iota outside my classroom! I can hope, pray, wish, inspire, believe, and pray some more that things will happen and change for the good when students leave my classroom, but I have NO control over what they encounter when they leave my classroom and head home for the day! To punish a child for that seems harsh, rude, and a bit unexplainable! As a very big reading advocate, I tell parents to "read to their children" and I harp on kids to "read, read, read, read some more every single night," yet I know that many struggles go on at home with children need the right atmospheres to concentrate to read, yet hear arguing, fighting, siblings picking on them, dozing off for being tired. I also wonder how many teachers do the homework they're assigning! If you ask your students to read every night for 30 minutes, do you also do that or might you be too busy???? We're NEVER the best readers we can be. There is ALWAYS room for improvement and I think that sometimes teachers act "above it all".



Homework should be sent home as reinforcement. The teacher should have contact with parents to help them know how to help their child. However, to grade homework when you don't know what levels of support each student recieved seems a bit "off" the teacher ethics chart for me. (But, then again, this is only my thinking.) How do you know that Jimmy didn't pay his little brother to do the math because he's definitely more talented in that area? Why would you grade Suzie and give her a failing on the homework because she struggled through it by herself while she was trying to babysit her younger siblings? Homework just doesn't make sense to me unless there is a definite purpose for it and that purpose includes a darn good reason!



I have parent teacher conferences on Wednesday and am excited to hear what Zachary's been up to. I'm hoping to only wear my parent hat that night, but we'll see. I hate being in such an 'informed' dilima, because I feel like if I didn't have the teacher side of the issue, I'd just be a parent that didn't really care if homework was done or not and didn't worry so much about the reprecussions at school.