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Original poster

year 7 teachers - please can you explain

31 replies

3littlefrogs · 04/12/2009 23:08

Why, oh why, does every single piece of homework have to be done on a computer??? I have ranted about this before, but I really am getting to the end of my tether. I cannot afford to upgrade our (admittedly rather old) domestic IT arrangements.

Don't tell me that computers and printers are available at school - they are, but at strictly limited times and they are all hogged constantly by the bigger kids; the year 7s don't get a look in, even if they do drag themselves to school by 7.45am to try and get in the queue.

Dd was set an assignment to make a poster to illustrate a piece of writing. She spent an hour and a half drawing and writing what I thought was an excellent piece of creative work. She got a B.

Her classmate spent literally 5 minutes (as she loudly boasted to anyone within earshot)downloading, copying and pasting, and got an A.

What has dd learned? Not to bother making any effort to produce anything original.

OP posts:
foxytocin · 05/12/2009 14:00

enquire from the Pastoral Manager if there is a dedicated day for Yr7 to use the ICT room(s). A lot of schools operate on this system.

CertainAge · 05/12/2009 13:57

Levelled work - how tedious!

CertainAge · 05/12/2009 13:56

My DD is in Year 8, and she only rarely has to do work on the computer - same as in Year 7. She can do some of the work on the computer or by hand.

We don't have a computer problem at home, but even if we did, DD would be able to stay at school until 6pm to use their computers, or use them at lunchtime.

For research, she can also use the touchy-feely books in the school library or at our local library. I was chatting to the school librarian recently and she was telling me how saddened she was that many kids just go straight to Google or Wikipedia and never think about real books.

It is probably very convenient for a KS3 teacher to get work that is legible and coherant, so the computer can be attractive, but that shouldn't be a reason not to accept neat handwritten work.

JaneiteMightBite · 05/12/2009 13:50

Very little H/W in Yr 7 should need to be done on the computer. Nor should ANY work in Yr 7 be marked at Grade B or Grade A! Yr 7 work should be levelled, with criteria explained to the pupils as to how they get each level.

Spectroscopy · 05/12/2009 13:47

They definately don't at the school I teach at.

Indeed, many of the homework assignments for yr 7 science cannot be done on a computer (make a food web mobile/a model of a cell etc). We also exactly share what they need to do/show understanding of to achieve each grade. If a student has produced answers that are clearly 'cut and pasted' I will ask them questions about their understanding before grading.

Didn't this work have any feedback with it along with the grade e.g. what was good about it/what they need to do to improve their grade?

We have moved away from frequent homework assignments at KS3, favouring longer 'key homework' assignments, set less often with a set timetable across all subjects. These MUST be marked throughly.

I'm sorry that your dd has been discouraged so early, that is such a shame. I am sure she is learning much more than the 'cut and paste' student. I would certainly complain if this continues.

roisin · 05/12/2009 09:52

At our school there are after school clubs where children can stay to do their homework, including access to computers if required.

Also at our public libraries children can have 1hr per day FOC, and are allowed to print out homework FOC.