Science Fair Projects #rant #school

I have to grumble a bit.  We've had a (relatively) hard year this year at school.  Nothing we haven't (so far) been able to handle, fortunately.  Then you add on science fair projects.  I can see science fair projects for those kids that are motivated and like to do them.  Those that need extra grades to help out their grades, too.  But, for a general population student to be required to do science fair projects is a bit much (my opinion).  Not only does it add to the load for a student that is already struggling, it's a major annoyance to the parent who ends up having to help (and pay for supplies).

I understand the need for kids to learn all about scientific procedure.  I can see the need for them to see how these things are done.  However, requiring it of students that are otherwise never going to use it goes overboard.  Sadly, I can state that my child, who used to love science, has come to dislike it.  I can only hope that at some point in the future she ends up with a teacher who can possibly help her overcome the dislike.

ARGH

This is how I feel lately.  With getting my son situated in school (today is his first day, should have been yesterday), getting my daughter situated in school (so far relatively painless) and trying to do everything I'm expected to do with work.  Everything else seems to be going by the way side and not getting very far.  The house is a mess, etc etc etc.  So, excuse me if I take a couple of days to recoup my senses and get back on a regular posting schedule.  Hopefully, everything will settle down next week.

Tech Talk Tuesday

A usability study is one where you take a product and put it in front of a sample of potential users and find out just how well it does (or doesn't) work. This is especially important when it comes to testing computer or software based products so that kinks and issues can be resolved BEFORE releasing it to your actual audience. Unfortunately for my kids, I don't think ANYONE performed one of these for the interface they're using for school.

I find the interface klunky and kludged. The "parent" or auditor interface is such that if you have multiple students, you have multiple accounts. It's not possible to put the interaction into one place for all students under one parent. Not to mention the fact that the data provided is not reliable enough to depend on when you need it. Instead, the parent must log in to each student's account and see what the student sees to find any information.

The student interface starts out looking cool, with a graphic that should send them to the media center, help desk and more. From there, though, it looks like a frames based html interface using text linking to more information. Something I was creating twenty years ago in college (scary thought that). To get to material, the student must first go to the subject, then to the 'checklist' to find the important assignments. We were told not to depend on the calendar option as it wasn't reliable. This means scrolling down through a long list of assignments to get to the one you are looking for.

From there the student follows various text links to get to the lesson and information they need. To submit an assignment, they go to a "dropbox" link, scroll down through a list of assignments, click the appropriate one and upload a file. Quizzes/Tests are under another link.

For a parent wanting to confirm that their student has submitted a file, the system supposedly sends "confirmation" email to the student. This means that the parent must log in to the student's email account and either a)set up a filter to forward this information, or b)remember to log in to check it on a regular basis. It does not allow you to enter a second email or to change the one it has by default.

If the parent does not want to mess with the email, then they must log in to the student's account. They must follow the same steps as the student to find the list of assignments (which teachers recommend you print weekly), then they must go to the dropbox area to see if it has been submitted. This has to be done separately for each subject the student has.

The entire process is annoying and klunky. For the student, but for the parent as well, the interface can be hard to initially figure out and get right. The lessons (to me) look like they're kludged together. I've had it pointed out to me, though, that I'm spoiled by the k12 interface. That may be so, and k12 has it's own issues, but I would think a lot of issues could be simplified and corrected with a good usability study before they ever sent it out.

Monday Musings

So I've decided that while the school has definite issues to work out, at least half of my issues are my own. My main problem is that the school isn't exactly what it was advertised. Part of that is due to the lack of enrollment that they expected this year (at most around 85 students total for middle school), so they had to change some of what was originally planned. The variety of students they received within that enrollment, I think, is more than they figured as well. As such, with only 4 teachers for the entire MS, things just aren't happening.

I suppose that because my son has had such problems, it has colored my view against a lot of it. Though, hearing some of the other parents complain of the same thing, means it isn't just me. Most of those I'm hearing from, though, are also former GCA parents. We got used to one thing at GCA and expected a hybrid school (the one advertised) and didn't get it.

My son hit 8th grade hard, with teen issues already. Then having to adjust to an entire new system didn't help. From there top it with the problems the school is having in managing the students they have and it was a major catastrophe.

Math for my son has always been easy. From K-8 math, he blew through the material. At GCA, he developed bad habits that we're working to break. At GOC, he was finally CHALLENGED by the material. Given the attitude he started with, this was not a good thing. Add in the fact that he started the semester off taking a HS level math class and was expected to learn the material on his own (with no teacher support) built on the problem. The school has since started having one of the HS math teachers actually TEACH the lessons when he's on campus for labs, which is an improvement. It's not a fix, as that's only one day a week. You can't teach all of the material in one day, much less support the material they're learning. So, the math falls to my husband to teach when my son has issues. It was this that had us leaving GCA (partially) last year. Those that know me know why, but I'm not able to teach my son math. It's very counter productive for me to try. So, when GOC advertised that we'd have all the help we needed, the teachers would teach, not the parents, we fell into a trap. We're recovering, though my son's grades suffered in the mean time.

I'll give several of my kids' teachers credit though, they've always been upfront and have had no problem letting me know when there's a problem. Given the way everything else has gone, I appreciate they're taking the time to DO THEIR JOB and help me help my student.

So, I have an attitude problem and it's coloring most of what I see and do. It's gotten fairly extreme when it comes to my kids (particularly my son) and their school. I keep my mouth shut (mostly) to keep me from saying something I might regret later.

With the schools now offering open houses to prospective new parents, I'm not sure I can recommend the school or not. I'm not unbiased, I can't give a neutral review. For anyone that might be looking, I'd say take it all with a grain of salt and be willing to take on the bulk of helping your child learn. If you can manage that, then it may just work for you. For me, next year is all up in the air. My son will head to HS, my daughter will still be MS. I'll have some decisions to make, we'll see how those come out.

Parental apathy

As the end of school wraps up I find myself annoyed with some parents. I try to help them (and their students) stay on track, but I'm finding a good number of parents just don't care. They want a free set of books to go with the free curriculum and then to be left alone. Of course, that means that half of them have students doing no work and half that have students that have figured out how to cheat. If you point it out to some of these parents you either get "ok, I'll get on that" [and nothing happens] or messages to leave them alone. It's a public school,folks, we can't leave you alone. Not only are you doing a big disservice to your kids, you're going to end up in trouble with the school or BOE. I find it frustrating that so many parents are looking for alternatives to regular schooling, but all they truly want is to not school their kids at all. It's not fair to your kids and it's not fair to those kids who might actually BENEFIT from being at GCA. So, as school winds down I find myself more annoyed than frustrated, please don't take it personally if you catch the edge of it. Likely it's not aimed at you. :)

Frustration abounds

Blame it on the pollen, but I've found myself overly frustrated with just about everything lately. My family (various reasons), the pets (typical pet stuff), me (for being frustrated), work (no surprise there), etc etc. I know the causes of just about everything, but it hasn't helped my reactions. I was looking forward to spring break to at least get away from the school stuff, but the only part I'm getting away from is the work side of it. My kids will have to do some school work over the break. We'll also have 2 cars to get fixed during the week (oi).

I'd slow down, but I'm not sure how much slower we can go. School has requirements, work has requirements. Home is about the only thing I can slack off on, but even that hits a bad point. (Especially when I have a child that's not mine telling me my house is a disaster.)

Of course there's always the money issues. We've had those for a while and most days I can see the progress. I think that just looks bad because everything else looks bad. Then again, when I'm given the cost for my son and I to test for our new belts in June, I have to shudder. Everyone wants my money (including me).

So, of course it comes down to how to handle the frustration. I have no clue. I took off from my family for a little while last Saturday and went out to the Home Show. It was interesting, but not overly helpful. Sunday I got outside and worked on the yard (therapeutic in it's own way). I guess I'll just handle it as it goes and wait for my new plants to come in. Then spend a week outside with a headache (due to pollen) and get everything planted. Maybe when I'm done it'll all have gone away.

Parents & Virtual Schools

So, I'm still on my soap box about virtual schools. With all the debate going around about charter funding and the rest, it won't quite leave my brain. Today's soap box is about parents and technology.

If you're going to send your child to a virtual school, you need to have at least as much knowledge about computers as your child. It works even better if you know MORE. At GCA, they assume that you have at least a base of know-how that includes how to send/receive email and how to use an internet browser. Fortunately, from there K12 helped GCA create a series of videos that parents can watch that will teach them how to use the system itself.

You cannot, though, expect your child to know everything and then to be completely honest with you about what they're doing. As I pointed out before, there are no totally perfect children. If your child can pull something over on you and get away with it, they will. This applies to school, too. You, as the parent, have to be able to log in and check up on your child. Whether that is maintaining communication ONLINE with your teacher or checking that work is actually done ONLINE, doesn't matter. The key is the word ONLINE.

The school may ship the books (and possibly even the computer) to you, but the teachers and technical support are elsewhere. They will provide you with the tools to learn (ie: the videos from K12), but you have to USE the tools to be effective.

In the end, not only do parents have to HELP their child learn, they have to be able to use the same tools their child is using.
Keep that in mind before you enroll your child in an ONLINE charter school.

Going to a Virtual School

There's something I've noticed pretty consistently when I talk with new parents. It's that they didn't realize just how
much work there actually is when their child is attending a virtual school. They tend to think that they'll have their kids sit down and log in, then they can go do whatever around the house needs doing. Or they can go to work while their kids "attend school". Not so. Unless you have the world's most perfect responsible child (and no child is completely perfect), then they'll get distracted, or get lost, or just not want to work. It happens to all of them. So, it becomes the parent's responsibility to make sure their child is actually doing the work they're required to do. The parent has to check in with the teachers to make sure the child is on track. The parent, occasionally, has to grade the work so that it can be virtually turned in. At GCA, the parent has to enter the attendance hours based on the work the child has completed that day.

For the most part, it sounds fairly easy and straight forward. It also seems very self evident, especially for the younger kids. It's a gray area for most parents of middle school kids. The kids are older, they're more responsible, they need just as much monitoring (though perhaps a bit more leeway is given).

A BIG thing that parents discover is just how much their child really DOES NOT KNOW. Many don't seem able to handle that. Many struggle with finding out how to get their child to learn. They have to find out what methods do and do not work for their child. They have to find out ways to help their child succeed. Teachers are there to help, but the onus is on the parents for the bulk.

Parents that are enrolling their children in a virtual school have to realize it's not as simple as it sounds. It's more hands on than you expect, but the rewards of the process can be huge.

Give Aways - Ack

So, I finally ran my first give away/contest on my blog. It started on the 9th and I closed it with a drawing on the 13th. It was an interesting experience and not one I'm sure I'll repeat. It's not that it was "difficult" to do. The thing itself was simple. I'm given some thing to give away, I post the info on my blog. I then let the readers take over. I used random.org to pick a comment number and thus the winner. I let the winner know. Give away over as far as the blog side is concerned.

What bothers me is the detail. The rules that need to be lain out ahead of time. It's easy to get lost in the rules and keep wanting to add to them to make sure all the bases are covered. As a mom, I don't have time to evaluate all the rules. So, I think the next time, if there is one, I'll make sure whoever is giving me a prize gives me the rules too. That way, if it's not done to spec, they can't complain. (Not that they did this time, but still..)

Then there's the coordination of getting the prize to the winner. In theory, this can be easy. In reality, nothing ever is. Of course, timing is everything. If people have a time line to get the prize to folks, they need to make sure that they're on top of it as well. Of course, as the person running the give away, I have to make sure *I* have time to stay on top of it. Me? Time? REALLY?

At any rate, it was an interesting experience. I'll have to think harder about it before I do it again.

How to title this.. hmm..

I've been reading Ron Clark's book "The End of Molasses Classes". I hadn't intended to actually REVIEW it, but it does make me ponder a few things. I have to admit that it's great hearing about all the cool things he and his school are doing for the kids. Most of his points, though, seemed more common sense to me. It's a shame that someone has to actually write down things that parents should know. I'm not sure where we took a turn from helping our kids to either over controlling (doing their work for them) to over permissive (no controls whatsoever). I do know that when I was growing up, my parents made sure I had the tools I needed to succeed, but then let me do it on my own. They also were certain to punish me (we had a switch bush outside, not far from the porch) if I overstepped my bounds.

I'm not going to debate corporal punishment. The extremists on both sides already have way too much fun with that. I will state, though, that used wisely it can be a good thing. Do I spank my kids? Not really. I don't have a need to. They know that if it comes to it, I WILL spank them and they'd prefer that to not happen. My children also know that actions have consequences and they're usually good about thinking things through before acting. For the most part, I'm spoiled. I have really good kids that hang out with other good kids.

Back to the book, though. I loved reading about Mr. Clark's enthusiasm for teaching kids. I wish more teachers had it, or had a way to follow through with it. Usually we find it in public school in our new teachers. Those that a friend of mine and I call "shiny like a new penny". Then you wait and give them some time and you watch the shine dull. It's a side effect of the way the community expects them to be. They're the new day care centers for the kids. The parents drop them off at school, expect teachers to parent them AND teach them, and then expect to only have to feed them and put them to bed at night.

I'm not a teacher. I went the route of substitute for a while to see if I wanted to go through the state program to become one. I decided after a year that while teachers have my utmost respect, I can't be one of them. Did I see those parents that I mentioned? Absolutely. I saw those that had no clue what to do with a child in the first place. I also saw those that were very active in their child's life. Public schools run the gamut. They aren't capable, though, of doing what Mr. Clark mentions without some major overhauls.

So, would I recommend the book? I honestly don't know. As I said, it was fun reading about the things that have happened over the years with his students. It's great to know there's a school like his that is doing so well. I find it fantastic that he's trying to influence teachers by having them visit. I, personally, didn't find his advice helpful. That's likely because I'm already doing most of it without thinking about it. I would hope, though, that maybe some other teachers will read it and maybe they can help start the revolution our public schools need.

Sad realizations..

1 - I do not love my bank. Unlike the commercials, my bank gives me no reason to love it. We're still trying to get the house refinanced.. because they've taken so long they now have to 'recertify' the appraisal (which killed our house value when we got it). Since then one house in the neighborhood went up for sale as a bank-owned foreclosure and another for significantly less than ours was appraised at. MAKE IT STOP!

2 - I have to monitor my son more closely than I thought with school work. 'Nuff said.

3 - Volunteering at the Aquarium while schooling at home is very difficult.

4 - I worry about people I don't know. Waiting to figure out of a soldier I sponsor is ok as one package I sent came back unclaimed. Waiting to see if the rest of it comes back. Only good side is that he's not listed on the DoD site as deceased (not that that's a guarantee).

5 - I love my work out classes, but they're not enough to get me back in shape. I've even changed my diet. Gotta make more changes.

Okay. Self-pity party over (for now). I think I'll go have a chocolate martini.

Get Ready.. Get Set..

Tomorrow's the deadline for picking out our new governor as well as other positions in the state. I have to admit, I'm not impressed by anyone, particularly the democratic and republican candidates for governor. I'm seriously considering voting libertarian just because I really DON'T like Barnes OR Deal. I can't say I'm affiliated with ANY party any longer. Back in HS and college, I considered myself republican.. then I switched to democratic.. now I'm an independent who will vote based on who's running and has my respect.

As to the other candidates, we have to look at Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, Insurance Commissioner, Ag Commissioner, Public Service, School Superintendent, Secretary of State, Labor Commissioner, US Senate, etc. If you're not sure who's on your ballot, you can go to http://www.sos.ga.gov/mvp - which amounts to a 'my voter page'. Enter the info requested and it'll bring up the details.

Rant on..

Hopefully you've already thought of all of this, if not, make sure you take a look and become an EDUCATED voter. It really rots my teeth when people tell me "I didn't know any of them so I just randomly picked". Then they can't remember WHO the picked and they want to gripe about who wins. Come on people! Get a grip! Educate yourself! Do the novel thing and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

Rant off.

No! You can't have my money!

So, along with everyone else in the world, we're trying to keep our money to ourselves, or at least pay off the debt so that we can have it all later. We've started the home refinancing thing twice already (long story) and have discovered that thanks to reappraisal, we have no equity left. ARG. Not to mention that our property taxes went up this year.

State Farm sent us our newest bills for our cars and I've decided they're asking for too much. So I started getting quotes for different carriers. So far I really like Liberty Mutual.

I have coupons out the wazoo trying to keep my regular grocery costs down. We haven't bought any unnecessary 'stuff' in a long while (common sense there). Love the fact that shopping at Kroger I get gas discounts (thus keeping gas cost down).

I've been answering surveys until I'm sick of them (though I'll still do them) on the off chance I'll either a) build up enough 'points' to get something I want or b) win a prize. I'm entering contests online. If my receipts have a 'answer a survey/enter for a prize' I've been doing that too. I can honestly say I've won a few things from entering online contests, just nothing 'big'.

Other than getting one of those 'work from home' jobs or doing home-party sales, I think I've done about all I can do for now. It's annoying, though, that despite my best efforts we're not getting ahead. I can only hope that at some point in the future all of this WILL make a difference and we can keep our own money.

Termites anyone?

I've mentioned on facebook that my parents' home has termites (I mentioned it here as well). It's disappointing because before my folks moved out, they had refinished the floors in the house, including replacing termite damaged floor and getting it treated. So, apparently either the company didn't find this infestation at that point, or they came back. Either way, we're having to get it repaired again.

This is wall trim (which is about a foot high starting from the floor) under a window. The hole is there because we actually pushed on the wood to see how bad the damage was.

A zoom in of the hole

This part is the most disappointing. This is the worst hole on the floor itself. This is old heart of pine wood that was original to the house. Not a portion that was originally replaced. There are several other places on the floor where damage is evident as well.

It's all disappointing in that I had a tenant at the house that just wasn't observant enough to report it to me. His comment was that he had a carpet/rug on the floor and didn't see it. Of course, he also didn't see where they'd cracked a couple of tiles as well in the front entry way. So, now I see about getting it fixed before we put a new tenant in the house. Next time, I'm either going to have to insist on no floor rugs, or that they/I lift them monthly to check the floor.

New resident

I was tracking down a cat yesterday, when I was surprised by an unusual sight in my bathroom. I wasn't sure if I was crazy, so I went into the bathroom and it disappeared. I wandered back a while later and saw this guy peeking out from under the toilet. How in the world he/she got there, I haven't a clue. To say the least, I'm mildly perturbed that he showed up there. My daughter, though, was thrilled. She's relocated him to her tank which has been waiting for a lizard. Ta da! Free blue tailed skink (missing most of its tail). Hmph. From my upstairs bathroom, of all places.

Firefly (lack of) Support

I got a Firefly Mobile gloPhone for my kids some time back. I put it on the pay as you go plan with the understanding that (I thought) they'd send email when it was time to put more money in the account, etc. Apparently that doesn't happen and I forgot all about it. So last month, I logged in to the account, only to be confused as the phone wasn't showing up. So I filed a trouble ticket and forgot about it again.

My son went on a scout camping trip this past weekend and took the phone with him. He and his ride left camping a bit early due to weather. When they tried to use his phone to call me to let me know, it wouldn't call. So, later Saturday afternoon I started exploring the firefly website again. The phone still doesn't show up under my account, there are no error messages and I still haven't received a response to the original trouble ticket. I went searching for a solution and found that I'd have to file another trouble ticket. Note; They don't put their 800 number anywhere easy to locate and by the time I found it, I had to wait until today to call.

As best as I can figure, at this point, they'll tell me that I'll have to purchase a new sim card, reactivate the phone and then put it back on a pay-as-you-go plan. For all the effort, I could go to Wal-mart and purchase one of the generic AT&T pay as you go phones instead and get better service.

We'll see how long it actually takes them to respond to the second trouble ticket and in the meantime I think I'll explore other options.

Thought of the Day

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. Mark Twain

With all the budget cuts that are going on, you have to wonder what's going to happen with the school your child attends. We know that programs are being taken away (those considered non-essential) from the kids. Then they're working on cutting teacher pay, more furlough days, longer school days, etc etc. What we as parents have to decide what's truly important to us as far as our child's education goes and then we have to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Random Ravings - Manners MATTER

I was watching some show the other day (don't remember which) and they were talking about how bad behavior has become the 'norm'. It's definitely apparent, even looking at kids in the elementary schools. I keep saying that I really don't like 5th grade. True, I have a 5th grader. Quite a few 5th graders (taken by themselves) are tolerable. As a group, though, they are very rude and have little consideration for others.

When I'm in a regular education 5th grade class, I've noticed that the kids really don't want to listen. They constantly talk when an adult is trying to give them instruction. Then, because they didn't listen, they don't know what they're supposed to work on. TESTS as a rule, are an INDIVIDUAL's job to do. It's not something you're going to consult with your neighbor on and expect the two of you to pass.

Now, I know that kids are going to try to get around whatever they can get around. But it becomes a problem when they consistently are rude and inconsiderate to the point that substitutes won't agree to work in their class room. That or the teachers/staff have to make sure that they get a 'strong' sub to make sure their class behaves. It says something when teachers have to go out of their way to make sure their students perform.

I'm apparently one of the few parents who actually take the time to drill into my children's brains that manners MATTER. The kids my kids hang out with are fairly well behaved as well. It shows to the point that there are very few kids I'll allow to stick around my home for an extended period of time (like a sleep over).

"Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people`s bad manners." H. Jackson Brown, Jr

Fish Frustrations

My poor daughter. She has wanted her own fish tank for a while. We're on our third attempt. We set up one small tank and got her a beta. The beta lasted for about a month, so we tried again. The next fish didn't last much longer. After a while, we decided it might be the tank and got her a different tank, different set up. Again, her fish didn't last. We decided her tanks were cursed and passed it off to a family member for a non-fish purpose. I was later informed that the tank was cursed, they couldn't keep anything alive in it either.

So, I got her a GLASS 5 gallon tank, new lid and a penguin filter. We set it up, ran it for at least a week before getting her any fish. Made sure it was nicely balanced first. Got her two mollies (they're hardy fish, she should do fine with those). Within a week BOTH mollies were dead. From the appearance, the filter was just too strong for them. So.. my fault.

Went back to a smaller filter, a good one rated for smaller tanks. Again, we set it up and had it run for a week before getting her any fish. We went Saturday out to PetSmart and got her an Angelfish. The fish was basically dead by evening.

ARGH! I say... ARGH!

I'm not an inexperience fish tank owner. I had an 80 gallon freshwater tank for around 10 years. Very little problems with my tank, in face ended up with all of my fish out growing my tank, including the pleco I had. My son has a small 2 gallon tank that has been running for several years as well. He currently has a guppy that's been in it for a year. No problems there.

So why is it that my poor daughter can't keep a fish alive? What's the difference between her tank and the others we've had? I don't know. I honestly can't say what's different. I just know that it's driving me batty.

Comcast

When the comcast guys came out last week to work on our cable service, I knew they were confused by how long it took them to come up with a fix. Their 'fix' was to replace all the outside cabling and installing an amplifier on the outside of the house. Now, I didn't think to look outside after as they'd already said they'd have someone come bury the new cable within 10 days of them having been there. I went out the front door for the first time since they were here this morning to watch my kids get on the bus. I discovered that their amplifier is plugged into the outlet on my front porch. That is NOT acceptable. When they come to bury their own line, they can come with an electrician and do that the right way. I'm not giving up my outlet on my front porch (of all things) for their plug. Annoying and it detracts from the appearance of my porch.

The plug on my front porch. The amplifier and dangling cables on the side of my house.

My husband says it's probably not worth worrying about as he plans to order AT&T's Uverse for us. Hopefully, he'll do that in a more timely manner than COMCAST with their stuff.