Helping kids with assignments
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is there an opportunity for those of you with kids to do each others home work...then you can honestly say you didn't do your kids homework
(sorry for the lighthearted derailment)
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I'll try to stop commenting too much, but one question I think is useful is: What have you been practicing lately in class?
Most teachers will be looking for students to show the skills they have been practicing with the extension of the student needing to go through most of the process by themselves, but in many situations kids don't really understand that the task is to do that (i.e., show that you've mastered shit you've been doing in class with lots of help) and think that the assignment is something that requires them to show new skills that they haven't any idea about.
A second thing I would always suggest is to ask your kid for the grading rubric - this should be given to students when they get the assignment (usually at least) and I think there is value in asking them to discuss what they think is required to get a certain grade, then aiming for that grade. So, for example to get an A grade, one part of it it may say 'draw on a range of legitimate sources' and you can hopefully get from your kid that they shouldn't use Wikipedia etc but should find higher quality sources. If kids can start doing that process with assignments that can start developing the regulatory skills that transfer across to real life - OK, I've got this task, I've got this much time, I can do this much with my existing skills, what is required for me to keep my job and not cause enough shit to get my boss in trouble (C grade), be unmemorable in a good way (B grade), get a good on you from the boss (A grade) or show that I'm trying to develop my skills to put myself in line for a promotion (A+) .
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Very relevant now. Just found out that he has an exam next week in which he has to write an essay. English not Humanities, but still need to have correct structure, intro, 3 points, conclusion etc. Obviously it would take James Bond levels of villainry to be able to do it for him this time. I guess the moral of the story is that they will be caught out in the end. This will be a test to see if he’s actually learnt anything. I really hope so but goddam it’s frustrating.
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@rancid-schnitzel
Do kids these days still have to hand in essay plans prior to the actual assignment? Apologies if already mentioned, you know, reading 🙄...
At A level stage (16-18) we would basically have to map out the essay in bullet point style, in order,no more than one side of A4 and then hand that in first. The teach' would then mark it and make suggestions to the order of points or any gaping holes etc. Kids who didnt get the plans done were always the ones who got lower marks, it just prepared you better.Maybe you help him at this stage? Just an idea.
I carried on doing this throughout Uni as it was pretty standard practice then, always left you with a handy revision sheet!
Re: helping kids with homework, I may or may not be a dab hand with a crayon... 😏 Can't help but speed up the colouring when she's on a go slow.
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My advice as a secondary school humanities teacher with 20+ years experience is to leave them to it. It is their work. In the long-term it will be their love of learning, their curiosity and their willingness to work independently which will drive their success more than anything else.
What you can do that will really help:
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Talk to your kids about their work and what they are studying at the moment.
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Make sure there are high-quality reading materials about the house. Buy books for your kids by their favourite writers or order them through your local library. Think about getting your kids a subscription to a couple of weekly/monthly journals that contain great writing about something they are interested in.
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Watch some high-quality documentaries or listen to some podcasts together. Talk about them afterwards.
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Encourage them to take risks with their writing and to enjoy it. Don't write the same piece twice. If their writing contains fluency, energy and wit, that's half the battle.
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Encourage your kid to have a mature attitude to feedback. Don't worry too much about marks outside national exams. Failure is a great teacher. Very few people are natural writers. For most writers, it is a skill learnt over many years. The more constructive but critical feedback you can get about your writing the better.
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@sparky said in Helping kids with assignments:
My advice as a secondary school humanities teacher with 20+ years experience is to leave them to it. It is their work. In the long-term it will be their love of learning, their curiosity and their willingness to work independently which will drive their success more than anything else.
What you can do that will really help:
-
Talk to your kids about their work and what they are studying at the moment.
-
Make sure there are high-quality reading materials about the house. Buy books for your kids by their favourite writers or order them through your local library. Think about getting your kids a subscription to a couple of weekly/monthly journals that contain great writing about something they are interested in.
-
Watch some high-quality documentaries or listen to some podcasts together. Talk about them afterwards.
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Encourage them to take risks with their writing and to enjoy it. Don't write the same piece twice. If their writing contains fluency, energy and wit, that's half the battle.
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Encourage your kid to have a mature attitude to feedback. Don't worry too much about marks outside national exams. Failure is a great teacher. Very few people are natural writers. For most writers, it is a skill learnt over many years. The more constructive but critical feedback you can get about your writing the better.
That is all good advice. Unfortunately it’s not what they get judged on.
You are pretty much describing my son. Had the effort and attitude but the system told him that he wasn’t that good. Luckily he hung on to the attributes and they serve him well in running his own business.
Could have easily taken the “scoring” feedback to heart and undersold himself. -
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As another person working in the "industry" I really don't think it's a good idea although I can understand why a parent wants to help out their kids.
But, there's lots of opportunities for tertiary students to cheat these days (including contract cheating - which is essentially what was done in this example) so you really do not want to normalise it in any way.
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Nah chuck em to the sharks. Little bastards learn quicker that way
Look, I recently taught my daughter some methods on how to algebra properly, and she's finally getting it despite "hating" maths.
I think taking them through what you've done is important the first couple of times, then walk back the help as fast as they can take it.
My wife recently rewrote significant portions of my daughter's creative piece, and unsurprisingly it was even wordier than the word limit she'd already breached
Top marks aren't the end of the world.
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Cheers for the feedback. Much appreciated.
Ultimately you want them to achieve their potential. My youngest is on an academic scholarship and should really be a straight A student. He learnt the Cyrillic alphabet for fun! He doesn’t even need to put in that much effort. But he has to be switched on and by God that is a daily struggle. Hope he grows out of it. It’s one of the reasons I don’t want him playing rugby. You have to be focussed and switched on when on the field. If not you can get badly hurt. He’s likely to be thinking about the symmetry of the ball or something.
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@r-l said in Helping kids with assignments:
@rancid-schnitzel
Do kids these days still have to hand in essay plans prior to the actual assignment? Apologies if already mentioned, you know, reading 🙄...
At A level stage (16-18) we would basically have to map out the essay in bullet point style, in order,no more than one side of A4 and then hand that in first. The teach' would then mark it and make suggestions to the order of points or any gaping holes etc. Kids who didnt get the plans done were always the ones who got lower marks, it just prepared you better.Maybe you help him at this stage? Just an idea.
I carried on doing this throughout Uni as it was pretty standard practice then, always left you with a handy revision sheet!
Re: helping kids with homework, I may or may not be a dab hand with a crayon... 😏 Can't help but speed up the colouring when she's on a go slow.
They have those but they make them so overly complicated these days. Dividing up into sections and subsections. But yeah I think it’s a good idea to get the bare bones established first and then ask him to fill in the rest using that template. Mind you he had that for the last assignment. Hopefully he’ll learn something 🤷🏻
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@rancid-schnitzel said in Helping kids with assignments:
Ultimately you want them to achieve their potential. My youngest is on an academic scholarship and should really be a straight A student. He learnt the Cyrillic alphabet for fun! He doesn’t even need to put in that much effort
That's the issue with kids in academia, sport, whatever: if they "just get it" they don't put in the work, and then someone with a better work ethic will likely overtake them.
I know because I was the same and still am 😬
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@nta said in Helping kids with assignments:
@rancid-schnitzel said in Helping kids with assignments:
Ultimately you want them to achieve their potential. My youngest is on an academic scholarship and should really be a straight A student. He learnt the Cyrillic alphabet for fun! He doesn’t even need to put in that much effort
That's the issue with kids in academia, sport, whatever: if they "just get it" they don't put in the work, and then someone with a better work ethic will likely overtake them.
I know because I was the same and still am 😬
True dat. How often do you hear that such and such had more talent but lacked the drive etc. As someone who wasn’t handed much of anything I kind of consider it criminal when such talent is wasted.
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@nta said in Helping kids with assignments:
@rancid-schnitzel said in Helping kids with assignments:
Ultimately you want them to achieve their potential. My youngest is on an academic scholarship and should really be a straight A student. He learnt the Cyrillic alphabet for fun! He doesn’t even need to put in that much effort
That's the issue with kids in academia, sport, whatever: if they "just get it" they don't put in the work, and then someone with a better work ethic will likely overtake them.
I know because I was the same and still am 😬
When it's so easy, why try?
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we had to help TR Jnr with an assignment over the weekend.
HE asks the question, we give ideas or things to think about, and he rattles off all the relevant stuff.
Getting him to write this down is the battle!
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@taniwharugby said in Helping kids with assignments:
Getting him to write this down is the battle!
has he tried dictating? Modern voice to speech is something really good compared to what was around a few years ago.
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@nzzp no, some subjects he is allowed to have someone sit with him for things and he talks and they write, he's always been great at talking!
Although, I am pretty sure his chrome book has that functionality, so will check it out.
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@taniwharugby should do, or use your phone and then edit. It's seriously good, and compare to older offerings is incredible!