Erynn voices some concerns that I am sure many of you share in her blog entitled School Projects. And, even though I am the evil one dishing out much of the work, I too think this issue is a concern. Specifically, I do not think that most teachers consider exactly how much students have to do in all their other classes, and I don't think teachers make a great enough effort to schedule their projects so that such overlap is avoided. But before I start in on that issue, I must also note that 90% of students procrastinate, so the only reason it seems so bad is because they wait until the last minute on all those projects and then have to finish them all at once. If they would work on them a bit at a time, they wouldn't suffer nearly the stress.
So, in my own defense, let me offer this: I realize that in (traditional) English classes this term, we are doing not only Romeo and Juliet, but also research papers. Because we are working on them at the same time, and because I have already handed out all the requirements for both projects, many students feel overwhelmed. Trust me: take it one step at a time and it won't be so bad. In fact, most of the work for both projects can be finished during class time. The problem is the number of students who don't do that because they look at the far-off due date and think, "Well, I'd rather just relax during class. I'll work on this in the quiet of my own room over the weekend." (But then they don't actually do so.)
To put it in simple terms, I am trying to do what I believe a good teacher should do, which is keep students informed of what is going on in the class. "Here is what is going to happen and when." By giving out the schedule so far in advance, it forces me to stay true to my promises, and wise students will recognize that spread out over the course of two months, a project and a paper are not all that much work. The same is true of our honors class: It's all online, with the schedule laid out at the first of the term. (Also, it's voluntary.) The problem that Erynn addresses, however, is that I am not the only teacher doing this. And here's where I go off on a rant:
Our school used to require only ONE research project of ninth graders during the first term. The English department just took the dates outlined by the social studies department and students were allowed to write their research paper on whatever the social studies project was about. One set of source cards, one set of notes, one outline, a project for geography and a paper for English. Sounds good, eh? The problem was that we weren't really working together. The social studies department had different requirements as to how students should take notes or do outlines, and they often required students to work with topics that were not exapnsive enough to turn into a four-page paper. Also, the social studies department set all the due dates, and the English teachers just tried to work around them. This did not always work very well because not all students had the same social studies and/or history teachers. Due dates conflicted; students became confused; teachers went crazy. Then, to top it all off, parents started to complain about students having to do so much work with one topic (that they were often not very interested in). So, we bagged it. It was a great idea in theory, but it didn't work in practice. And I think the students were ultimately the ones who suffered most for the reasons Erynn mentions.
But then came the fall play, traditionally a Shakespeare dinner theater. And the Christmas concerts for band, orchestra, and choir, not to mention the frantic nature of the holidays. Oh, and basketball tryouts. And applications for the National Honor Society. And auditions for the school musical (which doesn't open until March, but which will consume the lives of all the drama students for the next three months). And MESA. And Science Olympiad. And...and...and.... See the problem? The school tries to offer plenty of activities to get all different sorts of people involved, but maybe we've gone too far. The motivated folks (like all of you) seem to be into everything, so you really feel the crunch when you couple school projects with all the extra-curricular stuff.
I understand how you feel. I really do, but what it comes back to is this: there are certain things that the law says you have to learn by the time you leave 9th grade English, and in order to get through all of those things, we have to work on them dilligently and consistently throughout the year. The same law applies to science, math, and social studies. The extra-curricular stuff is fun, but the core classes are the reason you're here. And this is the reason we made Honors English optional. So many "honors" students are so involved in so many other things, that I had students getting ulcers and having nervous breakdowns. Sometimes you have to make a choice. You can't do it all.
So, I know exactly what Erynn means about the projects, and it is something I think about all the time throughout December. But the choice always comes back to the students: How bad do you want to participate in __________________ (you fill in the blank)?
*<%^) MRT
So, in my own defense, let me offer this: I realize that in (traditional) English classes this term, we are doing not only Romeo and Juliet, but also research papers. Because we are working on them at the same time, and because I have already handed out all the requirements for both projects, many students feel overwhelmed. Trust me: take it one step at a time and it won't be so bad. In fact, most of the work for both projects can be finished during class time. The problem is the number of students who don't do that because they look at the far-off due date and think, "Well, I'd rather just relax during class. I'll work on this in the quiet of my own room over the weekend." (But then they don't actually do so.)
To put it in simple terms, I am trying to do what I believe a good teacher should do, which is keep students informed of what is going on in the class. "Here is what is going to happen and when." By giving out the schedule so far in advance, it forces me to stay true to my promises, and wise students will recognize that spread out over the course of two months, a project and a paper are not all that much work. The same is true of our honors class: It's all online, with the schedule laid out at the first of the term. (Also, it's voluntary.) The problem that Erynn addresses, however, is that I am not the only teacher doing this. And here's where I go off on a rant:
Our school used to require only ONE research project of ninth graders during the first term. The English department just took the dates outlined by the social studies department and students were allowed to write their research paper on whatever the social studies project was about. One set of source cards, one set of notes, one outline, a project for geography and a paper for English. Sounds good, eh? The problem was that we weren't really working together. The social studies department had different requirements as to how students should take notes or do outlines, and they often required students to work with topics that were not exapnsive enough to turn into a four-page paper. Also, the social studies department set all the due dates, and the English teachers just tried to work around them. This did not always work very well because not all students had the same social studies and/or history teachers. Due dates conflicted; students became confused; teachers went crazy. Then, to top it all off, parents started to complain about students having to do so much work with one topic (that they were often not very interested in). So, we bagged it. It was a great idea in theory, but it didn't work in practice. And I think the students were ultimately the ones who suffered most for the reasons Erynn mentions.
But then came the fall play, traditionally a Shakespeare dinner theater. And the Christmas concerts for band, orchestra, and choir, not to mention the frantic nature of the holidays. Oh, and basketball tryouts. And applications for the National Honor Society. And auditions for the school musical (which doesn't open until March, but which will consume the lives of all the drama students for the next three months). And MESA. And Science Olympiad. And...and...and.... See the problem? The school tries to offer plenty of activities to get all different sorts of people involved, but maybe we've gone too far. The motivated folks (like all of you) seem to be into everything, so you really feel the crunch when you couple school projects with all the extra-curricular stuff.
I understand how you feel. I really do, but what it comes back to is this: there are certain things that the law says you have to learn by the time you leave 9th grade English, and in order to get through all of those things, we have to work on them dilligently and consistently throughout the year. The same law applies to science, math, and social studies. The extra-curricular stuff is fun, but the core classes are the reason you're here. And this is the reason we made Honors English optional. So many "honors" students are so involved in so many other things, that I had students getting ulcers and having nervous breakdowns. Sometimes you have to make a choice. You can't do it all.
So, I know exactly what Erynn means about the projects, and it is something I think about all the time throughout December. But the choice always comes back to the students: How bad do you want to participate in __________________ (you fill in the blank)?
*<%^) MRT
posted by MRT at 8:31 AM
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