Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums High School Finally today was the last day of finals.

I agree with your statement there and I've written as much in this forum previously, however, a degree in education prepares someone to teach much better than having taken few or NO credits in educational practice as is the case with the mass majority of college professors, I think that's pretty much a given.

Most of the REALLY good educators I know would also agree-- and I've seen it too often to discount it as anecdote; good teachers can be shaped, but they cannot be MADE. It's an inborn trait. Some people have it, and others don't. What's a real shame is that teaching programs don't put teachers into teaching settings SOONER in their college careers. In STEM, at least, and frequently in other disciplines as well? You're IN the classroom teaching sections of students from your first terms as a graduate student. It's called being a T.A. and it's how most graduate programs function. I was in a graduate program where Gen Chem was a MACHINE-- and there were 25 T.A.'s for that class alone. All graduate students. By the end of that first year, it was already clear who had it and who didn't.

So yes, I did get training in educational and classroom practices during my years in graduate school. Not everyone does, I suppose. But then again, at least we know more about the subject than someone with a secondary teaching endorsement does.

Yes, classroom autonomy is a thing. Then again, that's what college teaching is about-- the freedom for the professor to do what s/he feels works best for his/her instructional style, the material at hand, and the course coverage. There is oversight, btw, into what particular courses must cover. I couldn't just opt to teach Faradaic electrochemistry in an upper division Instrumental Analysis course-- because ACS said that wasn't what that course needed to cover.

I could, however, decide that an "A" in my class meant anything that I liked with respect to demonstration of mastery.

So back to our DSs. If we work on study skills and homework completion, will the turning it in happen more often, too?

I thought I was done checking the online grade book 3 times a week, but I'll be back to it, and emailing when I see inconsistencies with what he is telling me.

In the meantime, he'll start on his summer work. I just happened to be on the school website when I saw that a textbook for an AP could be picked up. He never told me about that, and he had the handout about it in his papers. We need to use Old Dad's list for every handout, I think. DS also missed a field trip that was the culmination of a unit, though of course not required. I just found the permission slip in his papers. It is something I can take him to myself this summer, and I think I will. Besides, there's a boat ride involved

I check the online grade book often, but it doesn't help if the teachers only update once every 2-3 weeks. I often don't find something hasn't been turned in until weeks later.

My son isn't that bad about knowing what needs to be turned in. Or what paperwork I need to see. But has started not doing thing he thinks are "hard". My son doesn't have any summer work except reading, since he isn't in any AP classes. Except he is taking a writing class/clinic starting next Monday. And of course practicing his clarinet.

bluemagic, do you think that it would help for him to get a dose of what his adult reality will hold in store if he continues to practice this sort of laissez faire approach to academics?

I mean-- maybe it IS "good enough" for what he wants, ultimately. Maybe.

But he should probably know where this particular road goes. Maybe a job outside the house this summer might be helpful? That was certainly a potent motivator for me at that age.

Blue magic, we have the same child, seriously. Mine also plays the clarinet. And the same gap in teachers logging grades. Not all, but some. I may start emailing every week to check.