Monday, August 10, 2020

My Homework Reminder

My Homework Reminder The textbook Esmee’s class is using is simply calledEarth Scienceand was written by Edward J. Tarbuck and Frederick K. Lutgens. “The termsynergisticapplies to the combined efforts of Tarbuck and Lutgens,” says the biographical note at the beginning. By late afternoon, I am tired after filing a magazine article on deadline. When I arrive home, a few minutes ahead of Esmee, I consider delaying my week of homework, but then I realize that Esmee can never put off her week of homework. That is the advice of my 13-year-old daughter, Esmee, as I struggle to make sense of a paragraph of notes for an upcoming Earth Science test on minerals. In reality, it’s definitely the worst strategy for doing homework! However, I’ve found out that I can only try multitasking and not actually do it, as the studies show. I learned that doing research is also a skill much too late. When I couldn’t find relevant sources, I got so frustrated that often bought academic articles online, getting way out of my budget. My Personal Nerd said that every student faces this issue and it can actually be very frustrating (that’s for sure!). I suggested that parents’ meeting to discuss their children’s education was generally a positive thing; we merely chose to have our meeting in cyberspace instead of the school cafeteria. My daughter has the misfortune of living through a period of peak homework. This algebra unit, on polynomials, seems to be a matter of remembering a few tricks. The teacher was unmoved, saying that she felt the homework load was reasonable. If Esmee was struggling with the work, then perhaps she should be moved to a remedial class. I sneak in and grab her copy ofAngela’s Ashesand catch up on my reading, getting all the way to page 120. The hardship of too much homework pales in comparison with the McCourt family’s travails. Still, because we are sharing our copy ofAngela’s Ashes, I end up going to bed an hour after Esmee. Though I struggle with converting from standard notationâ€"for example, converting 0. My older daughter’s homework load this evening is just seven algebra equations, studying for a Humanities test on industrialization, and more Earth Science. After a few minutes, replies started coming in from parents along the lines of “Thank God, we thought we were the only ones,” “Our son has been up until 2am crying,” and so forth. Half the class’s parents responded that they thought too much homework was an issue. “Minerals have crystal systems which are defined by the # of axis and the length of the axis that intersect the crystal faces.” That’s how the notes start, and they only get murkier after that. When I ask Esmee what this actually means, she gives me her homework credo. It would be to be more confident about doing homework. I know the flow of homework never ends and if you don’t get it all under control, it becomes overwhelming very quickly. It often makes me feel like I’m getting so much work done at once. Over the next few months, the math teacher assigned a more manageable workload. My daughter now went to bed before 10 o’clock most nights. He disagreed, saying the teacher felt threatened. And he added that students weren’t allowed to cyberbully, so parents should be held to the same standard. As the person who instigated the conversation, I was called in to the vice principal’s office and accused of cyberbullying. The co-op board meetsâ€"and over my objections makes me secretaryâ€"before I can start on Esmee’s homework. It is now time for me to struggle with Earth Science. It was a revelation to me when the Nerd told me that procrastination is normal and even useful. The reason is that we as humans cannot focus the attention on one subject for a long period of time. At noon, my wife and I sit in chairs outside each classroom waiting our turn, sometimes for as long as 45 minutes. A student is supposed to be timing each conference, but the students often wander off, and the teachers ignore the parents’ knocking after three minutes.

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