Another Rogue practice-- expecting that "rehashing" badly constructed or laughably inadequate curriculum will make things CLEARER to students.
So I had this surreal conversation with my child's German teacher about the fact that the CURRICULUM doesn't seem to actually, um...
support the content that is evaluated by assessments?
Interesting things that I learned during this conversation:
a) well, "fluency" isn't really the goal of second year German
b) there are interactive quizzes/games in each of the 3-4 lessons on large topics (like negations in sentences, for example-- covering no/not/none, or do not/don't-- which are case-dependent declensions complicated by three genders, a plural, and FOUR separate cases, all of which change the form and placement of the proper term) The little interactive games often feature a single noun and two or three of the four cases, none of which are EXPLAINED anywhere-- so perhaps 20 examples total, after which students are expected to be able to
apply this themselves to ANY case, ANY noun/sentence structurec) 15 minutes of instruction per week is, apparently "not ideal" but still should be workable, in light of b
d) No, the teacher is NOT aware of any supporting materials which might offer a motivated student some additional practice with grammar skills--
just do the flashcard/games again. 
(Okay-- neglecting for a moment here the fact that my DD pretty much CANNOT do this and hope to "learn" anything that she, being PG, already got from them the first time around... this is simply awful-- as a teacher, isn't it your JOB to be able to help students to select appropriate supplemental material when they ask??)
This class is a nightmare. DD also cannot drop it without having another option which is better-- and we've looked. The only options that she DOES have are all about like this.
I hate Pearson with an unfettered, overwhelming, throbbing PASSION right now. The notion that a few flashcards and embedded multimedia clips can "teach" all students what they need to know in a foreign language course, in order to
speak, read, and WRITE fluently... ... is just so unbelievably stupid.
The best, and most fundamentally jaw-dropping thing of all?
The teacher admitted that she has "not yet" covered any of the unit 2 material in her limited "class time" with the students. "heehee-- well, I guess that will be corrected as of Friday, anyway." Seriously?? My kid's grade just tanked in this class because she was expected to complete a major assessment on this material BEFORE you "covered" it. She was scrambling to LEARN the material. Stupid of us, I realize... clearly, she should just be memorizing or cheating.
Doesn't that seem just a wee bit unfair and bizarre to this teacher??
Apparently not.
If I seem somewhat bitter over this, it's probably because students in this course are ALSO
punished for using concepts beyond those 'taught' (I obviously use the term euphemistically). Thus my question about appropriate supplemental materials. I certainly don't want to teach my child any UNAUTHORIZED German and have her docked points for THAT, either...
So-- damned if you do, damned if you don't, basically? Alrighty then-- I guess we understand one another, at least. {sighhhh}
