Whose Project is it Anyway?

When I went to school 30+ years ago things were different than they are today - a LOT different. If we were assigned a report to do, we did it ourselves. Once or twice a week our class went to the school library to collect data for our reports. When we had all the information we needed we wrote an outline and then the report all by hand. In lower grades - fourth, fifth, and sixth - we may have used pictures from magazines or hand-drawn pictures to add to the report, sometimes just to take up space, other times because illustrations were required. Once the report was written we bound it with a staple in the corner. Again, in lower grades, we generally used colored construction paper for the front and back covers. All the work was done by the students, though.

Our parents had no responsibility or involvement in our reports back then. That's not even close to how it works today and, I must say, it really irritates me. Zach came home a few weeks ago with a Science assignment. He had to do an experiment or demonstration of some sort. He chose his topic and he showed me the packet of papers his teacher had given him regarding what parts of the project were due on which days and he got to work - but not without my help.

No, I didn't do the project for him but he couldn't even get started without note cards which I had to purchase even after I'd purchased three packs of them at the beginning of the year for his required school supplies list. Now he needed more. We got the cards and he sat down at the computer in our kitchen and started his research. Kids who don't have computers at home have to be driven to the public library by their parent to do their research. How fair is that, I ask you? Anyway, since this report requires a bibliography Zach had to make sure he noted the web sites from which he got his information. He didn't know how to do that because they're not taught that in Computer Class or in their Media Center class. The Media Center is what we old folks affectionately call "The Library."

I had to teach Zach what exactly he needed for his bibliography from the web sites and it sucked. If they want it in school they're supposed to teach it in school but they left that up to the parents. What gives? After we got that information straightened out Zach collected his facts and wrote them on the note cards as required. He turned them in to his teacher who made whatever corrections needed to be made and Zach was on to the next step.

His teacher printed out an outline that she wanted the kids to use for their projects and when Zach came home with his and showed it to me I was dumbfounded. It sounded like a second-grade "See Spot Run" report. His teacher had literally broken down the report sentence by sentence. Topic sentence for the first paragraph... Second sentence for the first paragraph... and so on all the way through the fifth paragraph. I kid you not.

Then it had to be typed up into a paper. Typed up... What happened to writing a paper by hand? It's only five paragraphs for criminy's sake. Five little paragraphs and the teachers want them typed. The kids who don't have computers at home have to go back to the public library yet again, driven by their parent, to type up their reports and pay to print them. Yes, it's only a dime per page to print but it's also gas money getting to and from, and time spent by the parent waiting for junior to finish the work.

Zach got his paper typed, with my assistance, because apparently the typing they do in Computer Class isn't really teaching kids how to type and it would have taken Zach forever. The five paragraphs took me all of, maybe, ten minutes and I needed my laptop back to finish my own work. Ty was using the desk top so we really didn't have a choice. Since I had no way to print the report - no ink in my printer - I emailed it to his teacher for her to print it, which she did.

Lastly, Zach needed either poster board or a tri-fold panel to set up the project and he also needed pictures to go along with it. Of course I had to purchase the tri-fold because the school doesn't supply those. And I can't print from here so it was either go to the public library and pay $.50 each picture to use the color printer or I send the pictures to Walgreens and let the photo girl print the pictures for $.20 each. I chose the latter because the store is closer than the library and the pictures cost less. Yes, they're only 4x6 but that'll have to do unless the school wants to pay for them to be bigger.

Tomorrow I get to go to the management office here where I live to use the computer lab to print the captions to the pictures. Zach and I wrote, sorry, typed them up tonight in a Word document that I emailed to myself so that I can retrieve them in the lab and print them. When he gets home from school he'll cut them and put them on colored backgrounds along with the pictures and assemble his project on the tri-fold so it can be turned in on Tuesday.

Looking back on the work for this project I've done as much of the work as Zach's done because I had no other choice in the matter. My neighbor is one that had to take her son to the library a few times to get his project done. If this is a school report there is no reason these kids can't do the work in school - research it in the Media Center, type it up and print it in Computer Class, and assemble it in Art Class if needed. I don't even care if he brings the stuff home to assemble it but it isn't my job to have to run all over town for supplies and pictures and printing and research. If I need to buy the tri-fold that's fine but everything else ought to be the responsibility of the school the way it was years ago. That's why kids go to school, right? If I wanted to home school my kids I would, but I don't so let the school take some responsibility for the work the kids are required to do.

Until next time... peace to all.