12/1/16 (This was written on 12/1/16. My daughter was much younger then, but the ideas still remain.) My dear, sweet girl, You Know Best You, my sweet girl, know best. You know better than anyone how hard I work for my “kiddos”. You know because you see it. No, you don’t go to school with me every day. You go to your own school. And, no, you don’t know my “kiddos” at all. You know because you see me. You see me for who I am. You, my sweet girl, give up many hours of play to see me working tirelessly on my computer. You see me always striving for better for my kids. You hear me asking for ideas and looking for fun activities that also engage their brains in the standards I’ve been given to teach. You, my sweet girl, know best. You know better than anyone how much I love my “kiddos”. You see me cry tears of joy when they succeed at something, especially when they succeed at something they’ve been really struggling with. You see me cry tears of pain because my
Homework is so debated. So passionately debated. If you're not a teacher, then I doubt you'd believe the amount of passion that goes into discussions on homework. Is it best practice? Does it make a difference? Do kids really need to do homework? Is it just busy work? Do I have to assign it? Why do I have to assign it? Do we all have to do the same thing? You name it, and it's been discussed. There are many views. Many teachers believe that homework makes a positive difference in the education of a child. And, you know what? Just as many disagree. Many teachers believe that sending home a reading log is crucial to reading homework. And... I bet you can guess it... just as many completely, wholeheartedly, disagree. Many teachers think that sending home pages upon pages of math problems each night is the ticket to knowing how to do math. And, there are so many teachers who will stomp their feet and yell, "absolutely not!" You see, teachers are pas