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Grading Freshmen

Started by Michelle James13 · · 👁 15 views · 608 replies

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Participants Michelle James13amberranger9rowdypanther12Kate BennettMorgan Barnes3Carol ParkerTimothy Morris28Terry CampbellAustin Chavez5Andrew Clark8Kimberly NguyenJonathan Adams2darkmarlin4Susan JamesJames Perez54placidorca16Kate Cox2silverpuma542urbanbison70Robin Martin8Jason Ortiz5Austin Vaughn3David Palmer5briskstag8 …
Susan James Susan James Veteran
1K messages
joined Jan 2023
#21 ·
Michelle James13 said:We’ve been into the second semester for a little while now, and the grades have finally started rolling in—much to my profound disappointment 😁. One thing I’ve noticed lately is that the grading standards seem incredibly harsh; I certainly don't recall things being this rigid back when I was in school. In my son's class, everyone seems to be stuck with mediocre Cs and Ds, and Bs are apparently a rarity. To make matters worse, I hear that last year's group only had three students receive any kind of academic honors at all. Honestly, it feels excessive. In my day, almost everyone in my class cruised through the first two grades with high marks, and let's be clear, we weren't exactly Nobel laureates or child prodigies. If someone had told me back then that my child would come home with a C in reading today, I wouldn't have believed them. A C in first grade? It just feels wrong 😲. Look, I’m not going to obsess over every single letter on a report card—he'll learn to read eventually—but I can't help but wonder if there's a better way to handle this. Since they aren't allowed to bring tests home, I have no idea which specific concepts he's struggling with, which makes it nearly impossible to sit down and review the material with him effectively.
Anyway, that's my experience. How are things looking in your school districts?

1-Failing
2-Passing
3 - Satisfactory
4-Very Good
5-Excellent

I feel bad that kids are graded using numbers... when you give a child a 1, you're essentially telling them they haven't learned enough, and while that might be true, it's a tough message to send. Also, I don't understand why a 3 is treated like such a bad grade—it means the child has actually mastered the material. Everything else just requires a little extra effort.

And yeah, when a kid gets straight As without really knowing the material, they end up with huge gaps in their knowledge. It makes it harder for them to keep up later on, and as they get older, they struggle to accept any grade lower than an A. Eventually, they have to face those lower grades because of those knowledge gaps, and it just becomes a cycle (not to mention they never develop good study habits).

So, I think the teacher 👍☕
Susan James Susan James Veteran
1K messages
joined Jan 2023
#22 ·
Jonathan Adams2 said:I'm a teacher, and honestly, I've handed out plenty of D's in reading during first grade... I don't get why people think that's weird. Not every kid is going to pull an A in reading. Besides, the scale is 1-5... when a kid gets a 3, the parent needs to step up, work with them more, and practice reading so they actually succeed next time.

I never sent tests home and I don't plan to. Any parent can look over their child's specific tests during individual conferences to see exactly where they messed up. Plus, after every test, corrections are written right in the notebook, so parents can see exactly which types of problems need more practice.

The real issue here is the reading grade and the teacher, from what I can tell. There's a massive amount of material to cover in a short time, so teachers really need to spend more one-on-one time with the students.

Someone mentioned here that they helped their kid with homework while the kid was supposed to be in after-school care... that's insane to me. Why??? It's the teacher's job to work individually with students who are struggling so the work actually gets done at school (that's literally the whole point of after-school programs). These teachers aren't daycare workers or babysitters. Some kids are super restless and refuse to do work at school. A colleague of mine who runs the after-school program has zero tolerance for that... those kids stay late, and you wouldn't believe how fast they knock out their homework once they're forced to focus. Of course, that's all coordinated with the parents.

Stop stressing about the grades because you're just stressing out the kid. It creates massive pressure and frustration. Every grade is earned based on merit and knowledge, and besides, any grade can be improved later.

I've always been known as a pretty tough teacher. Parents from the last generation (before I was pregnant) were sometimes furious about my strict grading. When I ran into them later while I was on maternity leave, they were yelling at me, saying they regretted my strictness because my substitute was too soft. They claimed the kids totally checked out and lost their drive to learn or their curiosity because they knew they could just coast to an A.

You're only in first grade. Help your kid find their footing and make sure they experience school in the best possible light. School shouldn't be a nightmare unless we turn it into one.👍

👍
Austin Chavez5 Austin Chavez5 Member
40 messages
joined Feb 2010
#23 ·
Michelle James13 said:We’ve been into the second semester for a little while now, and the grades have finally started rolling in—much to my profound disappointment 😁. One thing I’ve noticed lately is that the grading standards seem incredibly harsh; I certainly don't recall things being this rigid back when I was in school. In my son's class, everyone seems to be stuck with mediocre Cs and Ds, and Bs are apparently a rarity. To make matters worse, I hear that last year's group only had three students receive any kind of academic honors at all. Honestly, it feels excessive. In my day, almost everyone in my class cruised through the first two grades with high marks, and let's be clear, we weren't exactly Nobel laureates or child prodigies. If someone had told me back then that my child would come home with a C in reading today, I wouldn't have believed them. A C in first grade? It just feels wrong 😲. Look, I’m not going to obsess over every single letter on a report card—he'll learn to read eventually—but I can't help but wonder if there's a better way to handle this. Since they aren't allowed to bring tests home, I have no idea which specific concepts he's struggling with, which makes it nearly impossible to sit down and review the material with him effectively.
Anyway, that's my experience. How are things looking in your school districts?

Honestly, better that way! One time my kid brings home an English spelling quiz and she’s all like, "Mommy, Mommy, I got an A! I only made one tiny mistake!" ...except the kid spelled everything perfectly and the teacher was the one who messed up the grading. Ugh, I was freaking torn—do I tell her the truth or just let it go? What a nightmare...
James Perez54 James Perez54 Active Member
67 messages
joined Oct 2011
#24 ·
Michelle James13 said:We’ve been into the second semester for a little while now, and the grades have finally started rolling in—much to my profound disappointment 😁. One thing I’ve noticed lately is that the grading standards seem incredibly harsh; I certainly don't recall things being this rigid back when I was in school. In my son's class, everyone seems to be stuck with mediocre Cs and Ds, and Bs are apparently a rarity. To make matters worse, I hear that last year's group only had three students receive any kind of academic honors at all. Honestly, it feels excessive. In my day, almost everyone in my class cruised through the first two grades with high marks, and let's be clear, we weren't exactly Nobel laureates or child prodigies. If someone had told me back then that my child would come home with a C in reading today, I wouldn't have believed them. A C in first grade? It just feels wrong 😲. Look, I’m not going to obsess over every single letter on a report card—he'll learn to read eventually—but I can't help but wonder if there's a better way to handle this. Since they aren't allowed to bring tests home, I have no idea which specific concepts he's struggling with, which makes it nearly impossible to sit down and review the material with him effectively.
Anyway, that's my experience. How are things looking in your school districts?

The grades just reflect the level of knowledge and effort put in.
Study and practice with your child, and the grades will improve.
Not every kid is a natural-born straight-A student—some need a little extra push.
Personally, I prefer stricter teachers—otherwise, what's the point of an A or a B if they aren't backed by actual knowledge?! 🤷

I am constantly baffled by how many parents expect straight As from teachers without providing any support...😢
Austin Chavez5 Austin Chavez5 Member
40 messages
joined Feb 2010
#25 ·
This is exactly what our education system has turned into. Seriously parents, we need to step up, sit down, and actually study alongside our kids—and I don't just mean during first grade, but throughout their entire schooling 🤷. Was it ever like this before?! Most kids today can't even wrap their heads around the curriculum on their own. Honestly, I know plenty of straight-A students who are constantly stuck in tutoring sessions for half their subjects
placidorca16 placidorca16 Active Member
166 messages
joined Jan 2021
#26 ·
Austin Chavez5 said:This is exactly what our education system has turned into. Seriously parents, we need to step up, sit down, and actually study alongside our kids—and I don't just mean during first grade, but throughout their entire schooling 🤷. Was it ever like this before?! Most kids today can't even wrap their heads around the curriculum on their own. Honestly, I know plenty of straight-A students who are constantly stuck in tutoring sessions for half their subjects

Of course it wasn't like this before. Back in the day, kids were expected to be independent learners starting from day one. Getting extra help or tutoring was the exception. Nowadays, it's become the rule, but let's be real—it's not because today's kids are any less capable than their parents were—it’s clearly because something is fundamentally broken within the system itself.👎
Jonathan Adams2 Jonathan Adams2 Member
10 messages
joined Mar 2009
#27 ·
Kimberly Nguyen said:I guess I'll probably take this off-topic now...

Yeah, I was the one who wrote that. And why did I do it? Because the person supervising them after class was—and remains—an absolute CATASTROPHE. I have no clue what she was actually doing with those kids... I can only go by what my son told me, which was basically that she isn't really there, and they are effectively left to their own devices. When she *is* around, she does nothing but yell. Constant yelling. I tried asking to speak with her several times to figure out where the breakdown was happening, but she never had "time," or she'd literally slam the door in my face because she was "too busy." I even complained to the classroom teacher, but she just shrugged her shoulders. I begged her to at least stay in the loop, to be present during these discussions, but I didn't manage to get any traction until second grade, when things finally boiled over into a massive confrontation. It got so bad that she actually had the audacity to claim my husband once wanted to hit her 😕. I think I posted about that somewhere else... in the end, I sent an email to the Principal, praying for some kind of change. We spoke a few times; he kept promising he would look into the "situation"... but by the time my son reached third grade, nothing had changed. Every single parent had an issue with her, but whenever it came time to actually step up or say something, everyone just backed down (out of fear of her 🙄) because they didn't want their kid to become a target...

There was this one time my mom went to pick him up halfway through the first semester of first grade... the whole class was out on the playground, but he was nowhere to be found 😲... she figured he was probably just in the classroom. So my mom goes into the room, and he's not there 😲... she thinks, "Well, maybe he already went home" 😲... at that point, my mother lost it. She practically brought the whole school to its knees because my son knew he only ever went home when someone actually showed up to get him. They eventually found him in the classroom, hiding behind a cabinet... can you believe that? They had been playing soccer, and some little kid had kicked him pretty hard in the leg; he started crying, and instead of helping him, this woman just shoved him into the classroom to shut him up...

That woman is still at the school, just in a different role, and you can't do a damn thing about her. I just hope that by the time my daughter starts school, she'll be gone, because if not, I am absolutely switching her class.

If this stuff happened at my school, that teacher would definitely get a formal warning before being fired. If I were a parent, I'd call the school board and file a complaint with the Department of Education... it's teachers like her that make everyone lump us all together...

And listen, moms, you can actually do something... there's the local school district that funds the after-school programs, the Department of Education, the state inspectors... these days, teachers aren't untouchable like they used to be.....
Kimberly Nguyen Kimberly Nguyen Regular
543 messages
joined Jul 2009
#28 ·
Jonathan Adams2 said:If this stuff happened at my school, that teacher would definitely get a formal warning before being fired. If I were a parent, I'd call the school board and file a complaint with the Department of Education... it's teachers like her that make everyone lump us all together...

And listen, moms, you can actually do something... there's the local school district that funds the after-school programs, the Department of Education, the state inspectors... these days, teachers aren't untouchable like they used to be.....

It really is tragic when one bad actor causes everyone else to be judged by the same unfair standard... In my experience, the teacher handling the class was actually quite fair with the kids. Honestly, she could have been even stricter, but whatever... regardless, they definitely shouldn't be lumped in with someone like this.

Jonathan Adams2 said:If this stuff happened at my school, that teacher would definitely get a formal warning before being fired. If I were a parent, I'd call the school board and file a complaint with the Department of Education... it's teachers like her that make everyone lump us all together...

And listen, moms, you can actually do something... there's the local school district that funds the after-school programs, the Department of Education, the state inspectors... these days, teachers aren't untouchable like they used to be.....

Look, I know all those channels exist. I actually called up a friend of mine—she holds a pretty high-ranking position in the administration—just to get some professional advice on how to handle this... And she told me straight up: sure, you can call in an inspector, but you might just be making a bigger mess of things. She had a nightmare situation herself with a teacher who was absolutely impossible—this woman was ancient and practically terrorized the kids with her attitude... When she tried to report her own case (which, let's face it, was way less intense than what she went through), she was basically advised to just stay quiet and not rock the boat...

Yeah, it's true. Back when I was in school, my parents never had to step in or deal with anything regarding my education... There just wasn't a need. The curriculum wasn't nearly as heavy as it is now, and everything moved at a much more manageable pace. These days? You almost *have* to help your kids because the workload is relentless and the tempo is just too fast.

But man, the grading discrepancies are massive... It isn't just teacher to teacher; it varies from school to school and even town to town. Trying to standardize those grading criteria? Good luck. It’s a total nightmare...
Kate Cox2 Kate Cox2 Active Member
152 messages
joined Aug 2009
#29 ·
Kimberly Nguyen said:It really is tragic when one bad actor causes everyone else to be judged by the same unfair standard... In my experience, the teacher handling the class was actually quite fair with the kids. Honestly, she could have been even stricter, but whatever... regardless, they definitely shouldn't be lumped in with someone like this.

Look, I know all those channels exist. I actually called up a friend of mine—she holds a pretty high-ranking position in the administration—just to get some professional advice on how to handle this... And she told me straight up: sure, you can call in an inspector, but you might just be making a bigger mess of things. She had a nightmare situation herself with a teacher who was absolutely impossible—this woman was ancient and practically terrorized the kids with her attitude... When she tried to report her own case (which, let's face it, was way less intense than what she went through), she was basically advised to just stay quiet and not rock the boat...

Yeah, it's true. Back when I was in school, my parents never had to step in or deal with anything regarding my education... There just wasn't a need. The curriculum wasn't nearly as heavy as it is now, and everything moved at a much more manageable pace. These days? You almost *have* to help your kids because the workload is relentless and the tempo is just too fast.

But man, the grading discrepancies are massive... It isn't just teacher to teacher; it varies from school to school and even town to town. Trying to standardize those grading criteria? Good luck. It’s a total nightmare...

When my brothers and I were going through school, my mom made it an absolute requirement to work on our lessons with us. Honestly—I can't recall the exact reason why... we aren't stupid, so it certainly wasn't due to a lack of intelligence 😁, but whether it was because the workload was heavy or if she was just trying to combat our laziness, I'll have to ask her...
I don't have any kids currently in school myself, but I see that first graders spend the entire first semester just learning print letters and numbers up to 5, and then in the second semester, they move on to lowercase letters and numbers up to ten...

To me, that doesn't even seem particularly difficult, and I honestly don't understand how anyone could call that a "slower" pace...🤷
Terry Campbell Terry Campbell Member
18 messages
joined Mar 2011
#30 ·
We knocked out all the big and little print plus numbers up to 8 during the first semester—now they're moving on to cursive, numbers up to 10, and word problems. My kid's actually got the hang of it, he's just lazy about the actual writing part, so we're grinding through practice every day. He’s not exactly thrilled about it, but I can see him getting better. Doesn't seem too hard to me—it's really just about staying consistent.
silverpuma542 silverpuma542 Member
34 messages
joined Oct 2008
#31 ·
Kimberly Nguyen said:It really is tragic when one bad actor causes everyone else to be judged by the same unfair standard... In my experience, the teacher handling the class was actually quite fair with the kids. Honestly, she could have been even stricter, but whatever... regardless, they definitely shouldn't be lumped in with someone like this.

Look, I know all those channels exist. I actually called up a friend of mine—she holds a pretty high-ranking position in the administration—just to get some professional advice on how to handle this... And she told me straight up: sure, you can call in an inspector, but you might just be making a bigger mess of things. She had a nightmare situation herself with a teacher who was absolutely impossible—this woman was ancient and practically terrorized the kids with her attitude... When she tried to report her own case (which, let's face it, was way less intense than what she went through), she was basically advised to just stay quiet and not rock the boat...

Yeah, it's true. Back when I was in school, my parents never had to step in or deal with anything regarding my education... There just wasn't a need. The curriculum wasn't nearly as heavy as it is now, and everything moved at a much more manageable pace. These days? You almost *have* to help your kids because the workload is relentless and the tempo is just too fast.

But man, the grading discrepancies are massive... It isn't just teacher to teacher; it varies from school to school and even town to town. Trying to standardize those grading criteria? Good luck. It’s a total nightmare...

I wouldn't say that. Honestly, the amount of material is either the same or even less than before.
You probably didn't have access to a calculator in elementary school, right? Well, kids use them constantly now.

And as for logic... I have my dad's old textbook, my own, and my brother's... the cover colors might change from year to year, but the content inside remains exactly the same down to the last punctuation mark. 😁
Jonathan Adams2 Jonathan Adams2 Member
10 messages
joined Mar 2009
#32 ·
silverpuma542 said:I wouldn't say that. Honestly, the amount of material is either the same or even less than before.
You probably didn't have access to a calculator in elementary school, right? Well, kids use them constantly now.

And as for logic... I have my dad's old textbook, my own, and my brother's... the cover colors might change from year to year, but the content inside remains exactly the same down to the last punctuation mark. 😁

Exactly!!!

Back in first grade, we all had to learn print and cursive, plus addition and subtraction up to 20... then second grade hit with multiplication tables, nouns, verbs, etc. Nowadays, nouns and verbs don't even show up until third grade... and back in our day, we even learned an extra script in third grade that's gone now... stuff like that.

Just thinking about learning the history of Washington, D.C. in third grade when I was a kid... Nat Turner, walking down Broadway east and west... peasant revolts... etc. Today kids only need to know some bits about Boston, Nat Turner, the Golden Bull, and some other trivia... we learned actual wonders.😲

The workload has actually shrunk in some areas, but you can't just cut certain things... they have to know how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, parts of speech, cases, sentence types, basic spelling...

I don't get why people claim there's more material than when we were kids...

The material is the same; it's just that back then we were students and didn't think the way parents do today. I think the real issue is that parents act like helicopter parents from birth, shielding their kids from everything, so when they hit school, they're totally helpless... meanwhile, parents are demanding and expect straight A's... no matter what, even if the teacher just gave them a passing grade out of pity.

The material is taught at the same pace as always. The length of a school year hasn't changed.

My advice to moms and dads... if your kid doesn't get an A, but you know they can do better, sit down with them and work through the problems and the material where they messed up... success will definitely follow.

And teach your kid to actually ask you for help.

School-aged kids need tons of time, understanding, patience, and tolerance.

Good luck everyone!!👍
Kimberly Nguyen Kimberly Nguyen Regular
543 messages
joined Jul 2009
#33 ·
I don't even know where to begin with this absolute disaster of a situation. Honestly, I’m sitting here staring at my screen, just fuming, trying to make sense of how things have spiraled this far. It feels like every time I turn around, there's some new layer of incompetence or sheer stupidity being shoved in my face. I mean, seriously? Is anyone actually in charge over there? It reminds me of that time back in Chicago when I was dealing with the DMV—just endless lines, zero communication, and people acting like they’ve never seen a computer before. That same feeling of "is this a joke?" is exactly what I'm getting right now. It's exhausting. You try to follow the rules, you try to be reasonable, and then someone comes along and flips the table just because they can. And don't even get me started on what Kimberly Nguyen was saying earlier. I read the thread, and frankly, her take was completely off base. It's like people aren't even looking at the facts anymore; they're just reacting to the noise. It’s frustrating, it’s loud, and it’s completely unproductive. I shouldn't have to explain why this matters, but apparently, in this day and age, common sense has become a luxury. I'm just done. Just... done. kaže:
I mean, seriously? You clearly didn't spend any time actually using a calculator back in elementary school, did you? Because let me tell you, that’s exactly what kids are doing these days. It's a completely different world now.

I honestly don't even have the words for this... I’m just going to say one thing: grow up. Seriously.

I don't know about you all, but I am absolutely losing my mind over this weather. It’s just... relentless. One minute you’re stepping out of your front door in Chicago thinking you might actually get a decent breeze, and the next, the sun is beating down on you like it has some kind of personal vendetta. It’s oppressive! Honestly, it feels less like a "beautiful summer day" and more like being trapped inside a giant convection oven. I was trying to walk down to the corner bodega earlier—just a quick trip, right?—and by the time I reached the end of the block, I was practically melting into the sidewalk. My skin felt like it was simmering. And don't even get me started on the humidity. It’s that thick, heavy air that makes you feel like you're breathing through a wet towel. You can't escape it. You turn on the AC, and the power grid starts groaning under the pressure. It’s exhausting. Just utterly exhausting. Is anyone else feeling this, or am I just losing my grip? kaže:
It’s just pure, unadulterated logic... or the complete lack thereof! I’ve got my dad’s book, my own, and my brother’s, too. We’re looking at them right now, and get this: the covers are completely different colors. Totally different aesthetics. But the actual content? Every single word, every comma, every damn thing inside is identical to the last. It makes absolutely no sense! 😁

I honestly have no idea how anyone could claim this is accurate... It’s just complete nonsense.
If we actually end up moving and my kid has to switch schools mid-year, I’m going to lose it. Just thinking about the sheer logistics is giving me a headache. It’s not just the packing and the driving—it’s the school supplies. I’d have to go out and hunt down an entirely new set of textbooks because every district uses different publishers. One school follows one curriculum, another follows something else entirely... it's a nightmare. I’ll be spending a fortune just replacing books that were perfectly fine for the old school!

I don't even know where to begin with this mess. It’s just one thing after another lately, isn't it? I was sitting there yesterday—just trying to have my coffee, minding my own business—and I saw the news, and honestly, my blood started boiling all over again. It’s the same old story, different day. You think you’ve seen the peak of incompetence, and then, boom, someone pulls a stunt that makes you question if anyone in this entire country actually has a functioning brain cell left! It’s exhausting. Truly. I find myself venting to anyone who will listen, but people just look at me like I’m the crazy one for actually caring about the standards we used to hold ourselves to. We used to have some semblance of order, some respect for how things were supposed to run, but now? It’s a free-for-all. It’s chaos masquerading as progress. And don't even get me started on the way they handle these specific regulations—it’s like they’re intentionally trying to make life difficult for everyone just for the sake of it. It's maddening! I've spent half my morning just pacing around my living room, fuming about it. How much longer are we supposed to just sit here and take this? kaže:
I honestly cannot wrap my head around it. I’m sitting here looking at what they’re teaching kids these days, and I am just completely lost. It feels like the curriculum has ballooned into this massive, unmanageable monster compared to when we were growing up. Back then, things actually made sense. You learned the fundamentals, you mastered them, and you moved on. Now? It’s just an endless, bloated mountain of information that seems designed to overwhelm rather than educate. It’s exhausting just thinking about it.

I honestly can't wrap my head around it. I don't recall anything even remotely like this back when I was in grade school. Seriously, where did all this extra weight come from? Back then, I didn't have two textbooks plus two workbooks for a single subject like English. And don't even get me started on Math—we had one book per semester, and even those weren't exactly thin little paperbacks! Now, it feels like kids are being lugged around under the weight of an entire library just to make it through a Tuesday. It’s just absurd.
It’s absolutely ridiculous. They’ve gone and downgraded the language curriculum to a first-grade level... can you believe that? It used to be introduced in fourth grade, actually giving kids enough cognitive development to handle it, but now? Now they’re just treating them like toddlers. It’s a complete joke. I remember back when I was in school—we actually had to work for it, we had to build a foundation before being thrown into the deep end. But this? This is just stripping away the rigor. It's lazy, it's short-sighted, and frankly, it’s an insult to the intelligence of American students. We're setting them up for failure before they even hit middle school!

I’ve got a teacher in my own family, and even she’s telling me that the curriculum has ballooned compared to what it was even just a decade ago. It’s relentless. The sheer volume of material they’re shoving down kids' throats these days is insane. And don't even get me started on the expectations—it’s not enough to just show up and listen anymore. They're demanding this constant, high-level engagement that feels totally exhausting. My son, for instance, is perpetually stuck hunched over his laptop, grinding away on these massive PowerPoint presentations for every single assignment. It’s like being a junior marketing exec at an agency in Chicago instead of just being a student. Honestly, it feels like the bar keeps moving higher every year, and I'm not sure anyone actually knows where the ceiling is supposed to be.

Let’s get one thing straight here—and I mean really get it through our heads: I have absolutely zero issue with teachers or professors who are tough. You want to be strict? Fine. You want to demand excellence and push your students to the limit? Go for it. Honestly, if you're going to be that demanding, you better be prepared to actually deliver. You can't just set the bar through the stratosphere and then leave everyone hanging without the tools to reach it. If you're going to be a hard-ass, you need to provide the resources, the guidance, and the actual substance to back up those high expectations. It's about fairness, plain and simple. Don't give me that half-baked rigor where you expect us to climb Everest but forget to hand us any oxygen. Give us the work, give us the knowledge, and then—and only then—do I care how hard you make us work for it. 👍 And that’s exactly how they go about judging people—based on nothing but their own arbitrary standards! It’s always the same pattern, isn't it? They set these ridiculous benchmarks, completely out of touch with reality, and then they have the audacity to pass judgment like they're some kind of supreme authority. It drives me absolutely insane. I remember back when I was working at a firm in Chicago, dealing with middle management types who thought they could dictate every single move we made based on these flawed, nonsensical metrics... it was infuriating, and frankly, it's just as pathetic now as it was then. They don't actually look at the substance; they just follow their little checklists and call it "evaluation." It's a joke. A total sham!
It’s the same old story, isn't it? A total farce. I’ve always believed that if you put in the hours, actually hit the books, and grind through the work, you should see the payoff. Simple as that. Hard work deserves a reward. But lately? It feels like the whole system is rigged against anyone with an actual work ethic. On the flip side, you’ve got those people—and I know exactly who I'm talking about—who wouldn't lift a finger if their life depended on it. They don't study, they don't show up, and they certainly don't try. Yet, somehow, these slackers always seem to get "rewarded" too. It’s infuriating. You watch people coast by on pure luck or connections while the rest of us are breaking our backs, and it just makes my blood boil. Where is the justice in that?
Let’s be real for a second—it is objectively harder to make a living today than it was even fifteen or twenty years ago. I’m not just being cynical; I’m looking at the facts. Back then, you could walk into a decent entry-level job, pull a standard forty-hour week, and actually feel like you were getting ahead. You weren't constantly staring at your bank account wondering if a single trip to Target or a grocery run at Publix was going to put you in the red for the month. Everything has shifted. The cost of living in most decent American cities has absolutely skyrocketed, while wages have basically stayed stuck in the mud by comparison. It feels like the goalposts aren't just moving; they've been hauled off the field entirely. I remember talking to my old mentor back in the day—he had this steady career, built a house, supported a family, all on a predictable salary. Now? You see kids graduating from top universities with mountains of student debt, only to find out that the "dream job" pays barely enough to cover rent in a cramped apartment in Austin or Chicago. It's exhausting. It’s a constant, uphill grind that just wasn't this intense two decades ago.
urbanbison70 urbanbison70 Member
11 messages
joined Jan 2010
#34 ·
I completely disagree with Dobrica. Today’s elementary school curriculum is insane; it's way too much for these kids. Back when I was in grades 1 through 4, I never actually sat down to "study"—I just did my homework. Real studying didn't kick in until 5th grade, and even then, not really. It wasn't until high school and college that things got serious. My mom never sat me down to tutor me; I did everything on my own. Meanwhile, my sister spends all day drilling my niece since she was in 1st grade. My niece isn't any less intelligent than I was; the curriculum is just brutal. And it's not just her—it's happening to all kids, some more than others. My niece is in 5th grade now and it's supposedly "easier," but she's still studying all day long. It’s not normal for a 5th grader to have to grind like this. Every one of my sister's friends is constantly tutoring their kids. Honestly, looking at some of the facts in a 5th-grade history textbook left me speechless. I didn't even see half of that stuff until I was sitting for a national history exam in law school.

... basically, my takeaway is this: if a kid hasn't learned to read before kindergarten, they're going to struggle to keep up in 1st grade. That was the case in my niece's class. If the parents had already taught them to read, they didn't have to help much. But if the kids went in unable to read, the parents were stuck sitting at the kitchen table with them every single night after school. Bottom line? It’s not fair. I couldn't read before school either, and I learned it in class. That's the teacher's job. The current curriculum is too fast, too heavy, and packed with too many facts. Parents, take note: if your child can't read yet, you're going to be doing a lot of extra work at home. 😁 ☕
urbanbison70 urbanbison70 Member
11 messages
joined Jan 2010
#35 ·
Kimberly Nguyen said:
I don't even know where to begin with this absolute disaster of a situation. Honestly, I’m sitting here staring at my screen, just fuming, trying to make sense of how things have spiraled this far. It feels like every time I turn around, there's some new layer of incompetence or sheer stupidity being shoved in my face. I mean, seriously? Is anyone actually in charge over there? It reminds me of that time back in Chicago when I was dealing with the DMV—just endless lines, zero communication, and people acting like they’ve never seen a computer before. That same feeling of "is this a joke?" is exactly what I'm getting right now. It's exhausting. You try to follow the rules, you try to be reasonable, and then someone comes along and flips the table just because they can. And don't even get me started on what Kimberly Nguyen was saying earlier. I read the thread, and frankly, her take was completely off base. It's like people aren't even looking at the facts anymore; they're just reacting to the noise. It’s frustrating, it’s loud, and it’s completely unproductive. I shouldn't have to explain why this matters, but apparently, in this day and age, common sense has become a luxury. I'm just done. Just... done. kaže:
I mean, seriously? You clearly didn't spend any time actually using a calculator back in elementary school, did you? Because let me tell you, that’s exactly what kids are doing these days. It's a completely different world now.

I honestly don't even have the words for this... I’m just going to say one thing: grow up. Seriously.

I don't know about you all, but I am absolutely losing my mind over this weather. It’s just... relentless. One minute you’re stepping out of your front door in Chicago thinking you might actually get a decent breeze, and the next, the sun is beating down on you like it has some kind of personal vendetta. It’s oppressive! Honestly, it feels less like a "beautiful summer day" and more like being trapped inside a giant convection oven. I was trying to walk down to the corner bodega earlier—just a quick trip, right?—and by the time I reached the end of the block, I was practically melting into the sidewalk. My skin felt like it was simmering. And don't even get me started on the humidity. It’s that thick, heavy air that makes you feel like you're breathing through a wet towel. You can't escape it. You turn on the AC, and the power grid starts groaning under the pressure. It’s exhausting. Just utterly exhausting. Is anyone else feeling this, or am I just losing my grip? kaže:
It’s just pure, unadulterated logic... or the complete lack thereof! I’ve got my dad’s book, my own, and my brother’s, too. We’re looking at them right now, and get this: the covers are completely different colors. Totally different aesthetics. But the actual content? Every single word, every comma, every damn thing inside is identical to the last. It makes absolutely no sense! 😁

I honestly have no idea how anyone could claim this is accurate... It’s just complete nonsense.
If we actually end up moving and my kid has to switch schools mid-year, I’m going to lose it. Just thinking about the sheer logistics is giving me a headache. It’s not just the packing and the driving—it’s the school supplies. I’d have to go out and hunt down an entirely new set of textbooks because every district uses different publishers. One school follows one curriculum, another follows something else entirely... it's a nightmare. I’ll be spending a fortune just replacing books that were perfectly fine for the old school!

I don't even know where to begin with this mess. It’s just one thing after another lately, isn't it? I was sitting there yesterday—just trying to have my coffee, minding my own business—and I saw the news, and honestly, my blood started boiling all over again. It’s the same old story, different day. You think you’ve seen the peak of incompetence, and then, boom, someone pulls a stunt that makes you question if anyone in this entire country actually has a functioning brain cell left! It’s exhausting. Truly. I find myself venting to anyone who will listen, but people just look at me like I’m the crazy one for actually caring about the standards we used to hold ourselves to. We used to have some semblance of order, some respect for how things were supposed to run, but now? It’s a free-for-all. It’s chaos masquerading as progress. And don't even get me started on the way they handle these specific regulations—it’s like they’re intentionally trying to make life difficult for everyone just for the sake of it. It's maddening! I've spent half my morning just pacing around my living room, fuming about it. How much longer are we supposed to just sit here and take this? kaže:
I honestly cannot wrap my head around it. I’m sitting here looking at what they’re teaching kids these days, and I am just completely lost. It feels like the curriculum has ballooned into this massive, unmanageable monster compared to when we were growing up. Back then, things actually made sense. You learned the fundamentals, you mastered them, and you moved on. Now? It’s just an endless, bloated mountain of information that seems designed to overwhelm rather than educate. It’s exhausting just thinking about it.

I honestly can't wrap my head around it. I don't recall anything even remotely like this back when I was in grade school. Seriously, where did all this extra weight come from? Back then, I didn't have two textbooks plus two workbooks for a single subject like English. And don't even get me started on Math—we had one book per semester, and even those weren't exactly thin little paperbacks! Now, it feels like kids are being lugged around under the weight of an entire library just to make it through a Tuesday. It’s just absurd.
It’s absolutely ridiculous. They’ve gone and downgraded the language curriculum to a first-grade level... can you believe that? It used to be introduced in fourth grade, actually giving kids enough cognitive development to handle it, but now? Now they’re just treating them like toddlers. It’s a complete joke. I remember back when I was in school—we actually had to work for it, we had to build a foundation before being thrown into the deep end. But this? This is just stripping away the rigor. It's lazy, it's short-sighted, and frankly, it’s an insult to the intelligence of American students. We're setting them up for failure before they even hit middle school!

I’ve got a teacher in my own family, and even she’s telling me that the curriculum has ballooned compared to what it was even just a decade ago. It’s relentless. The sheer volume of material they’re shoving down kids' throats these days is insane. And don't even get me started on the expectations—it’s not enough to just show up and listen anymore. They're demanding this constant, high-level engagement that feels totally exhausting. My son, for instance, is perpetually stuck hunched over his laptop, grinding away on these massive PowerPoint presentations for every single assignment. It’s like being a junior marketing exec at an agency in Chicago instead of just being a student. Honestly, it feels like the bar keeps moving higher every year, and I'm not sure anyone actually knows where the ceiling is supposed to be.

Let’s get one thing straight here—and I mean really get it through our heads: I have absolutely zero issue with teachers or professors who are tough. You want to be strict? Fine. You want to demand excellence and push your students to the limit? Go for it. Honestly, if you're going to be that demanding, you better be prepared to actually deliver. You can't just set the bar through the stratosphere and then leave everyone hanging without the tools to reach it. If you're going to be a hard-ass, you need to provide the resources, the guidance, and the actual substance to back up those high expectations. It's about fairness, plain and simple. Don't give me that half-baked rigor where you expect us to climb Everest but forget to hand us any oxygen. Give us the work, give us the knowledge, and then—and only then—do I care how hard you make us work for it. 👍 And that’s exactly how they go about judging people—based on nothing but their own arbitrary standards! It’s always the same pattern, isn't it? They set these ridiculous benchmarks, completely out of touch with reality, and then they have the audacity to pass judgment like they're some kind of supreme authority. It drives me absolutely insane. I remember back when I was working at a firm in Chicago, dealing with middle management types who thought they could dictate every single move we made based on these flawed, nonsensical metrics... it was infuriating, and frankly, it's just as pathetic now as it was then. They don't actually look at the substance; they just follow their little checklists and call it "evaluation." It's a joke. A total sham!
It’s the same old story, isn't it? A total farce. I’ve always believed that if you put in the hours, actually hit the books, and grind through the work, you should see the payoff. Simple as that. Hard work deserves a reward. But lately? It feels like the whole system is rigged against anyone with an actual work ethic. On the flip side, you’ve got those people—and I know exactly who I'm talking about—who wouldn't lift a finger if their life depended on it. They don't study, they don't show up, and they certainly don't try. Yet, somehow, these slackers always seem to get "rewarded" too. It’s infuriating. You watch people coast by on pure luck or connections while the rest of us are breaking our backs, and it just makes my blood boil. Where is the justice in that?
Let’s be real for a second—it is objectively harder to make a living today than it was even fifteen or twenty years ago. I’m not just being cynical; I’m looking at the facts. Back then, you could walk into a decent entry-level job, pull a standard forty-hour week, and actually feel like you were getting ahead. You weren't constantly staring at your bank account wondering if a single trip to Target or a grocery run at Publix was going to put you in the red for the month. Everything has shifted. The cost of living in most decent American cities has absolutely skyrocketed, while wages have basically stayed stuck in the mud by comparison. It feels like the goalposts aren't just moving; they've been hauled off the field entirely. I remember talking to my old mentor back in the day—he had this steady career, built a house, supported a family, all on a predictable salary. Now? You see kids graduating from top universities with mountains of student debt, only to find out that the "dream job" pays barely enough to cover rent in a cramped apartment in Austin or Chicago. It's exhausting. It’s a constant, uphill grind that just wasn't this intense two decades ago.

It's not just harder—it's damn near impossible today🤣
Kimberly Nguyen Kimberly Nguyen Regular
543 messages
joined Jul 2009
#36 ·
urbanbison70 said:It's not just harder—it's damn near impossible today🤣

But you see, according to some people, that whole mess is nothing more than a walk in the park compared to what we used to deal with. ☕
Robin Martin8 Robin Martin8 Newcomer
7 messages
joined Jul 2008
#37 ·
I’m actually glad this thread was started. My little one is a freshman, and honestly, I’ve been obsessing over how brutal the grading system is lately. Here in the States, they already started handing out grades in those little report cards during the first semester. Now that we're moving into the second half, everything is being logged straight into the official school portal. It’s ridiculous. For instance, he had this math test worth 20 points, and even though he scored a 19, the teacher gave him a B. Apparently, you need a perfect 100% just to get an A. It feels completely arbitrary.
Our grades aren't too bad overall, I suppose, but my kid is just... high energy. He's incredibly restless. We struggle with his focus constantly. I mean, once he finally settles down and actually commits to a task, he flies through it in seconds, but getting him to that starting point? That's the real battle.
urbanbison70 urbanbison70 Member
11 messages
joined Jan 2010
#38 ·
Sure, easy to say when you don't have kids in elementary school. I don't have any myself, but I have a niece, so I see how it works. ☕

...I already know that once my kid hits four, I’ll be at home teaching them to read and write just to make sure they're actually ready for kindergarten 🤣

edit:quoting lavica
Robin Martin8 Robin Martin8 Newcomer
7 messages
joined Jul 2008
#39 ·
The curriculum is definitely way more demanding now than when I was in school, though I suppose kids these days are just different, too. In my opinion, you really have to focus on fine motor skills, word synthesis, and analysis first; if they get those down, then mastering letters and reading should come naturally enough.
Jonathan Adams2 Jonathan Adams2 Member
10 messages
joined Mar 2009
#40 ·
urbanbison70 said:I completely disagree with Dobrica. Today’s elementary school curriculum is insane; it's way too much for these kids. Back when I was in grades 1 through 4, I never actually sat down to "study"—I just did my homework. Real studying didn't kick in until 5th grade, and even then, not really. It wasn't until high school and college that things got serious. My mom never sat me down to tutor me; I did everything on my own. Meanwhile, my sister spends all day drilling my niece since she was in 1st grade. My niece isn't any less intelligent than I was; the curriculum is just brutal. And it's not just her—it's happening to all kids, some more than others. My niece is in 5th grade now and it's supposedly "easier," but she's still studying all day long. It’s not normal for a 5th grader to have to grind like this. Every one of my sister's friends is constantly tutoring their kids. Honestly, looking at some of the facts in a 5th-grade history textbook left me speechless. I didn't even see half of that stuff until I was sitting for a national history exam in law school.

... basically, my takeaway is this: if a kid hasn't learned to read before kindergarten, they're going to struggle to keep up in 1st grade. That was the case in my niece's class. If the parents had already taught them to read, they didn't have to help much. But if the kids went in unable to read, the parents were stuck sitting at the kitchen table with them every single night after school. Bottom line? It’s not fair. I couldn't read before school either, and I learned it in class. That's the teacher's job. The current curriculum is too fast, too heavy, and packed with too many facts. Parents, take note: if your child can't read yet, you're going to be doing a lot of extra work at home. 😁 ☕

Give me one single example of something your niece is learning in first grade that you never had to learn.div>

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