Monday, August 17, 2020
Do My Homework
Do My Homework That is the advice of my 13-year-old daughter, Esmee, as I struggle to make sense of a paragraph of notes for an upcoming Earth Science test on minerals. âMinerals have crystal systems which are defined by the # of axis and the length of the axis that intersect the crystal faces.â Thatâs how the notes start, and they only get murkier after that. When I ask Esmee what this actually means, she gives me her homework credo. I tend not to get along with that type of parent. As the person who instigated the conversation, I was called in to the vice principalâs office and accused of cyberbullying. I suggested that parentsâ meeting to discuss their childrenâs education was generally a positive thing; we merely chose to have our meeting in cyberspace instead of the school cafeteria. It is now time for me to struggle with Earth Science. The textbook Esmeeâs class is using is simply calledEarth Scienceand was written by Edward J. Tarbuck and Frederick K. Lutgens. âThe termsynergisticapplies to the combined efforts of Tarbuck and Lutgens,â says the biographical note at the beginning. By late afternoon, I am tired after filing a magazine article on deadline. When I arrive home, a few minutes ahead of Esmee, I consider delaying my week of homework, but then I realize that Esmee can never put off her week of homework. My daughter has the misfortune of living through a period of peak homework. This algebra unit, on polynomials, seems to be a matter of remembering a few tricks. Though I struggle with converting from standard notationâ"for example, converting 0. My older daughterâs homework load this evening is just seven algebra equations, studying for a Humanities test on industrialization, and more Earth Science. After a few minutes, replies started coming in from parents along the lines of âThank God, we thought we were the only ones,â âOur son has been up until 2am crying,â and so forth. Half the classâs parents responded that they thought too much homework was an issue. The teacher was unmoved, saying that she felt the homework load was reasonable. Itâs going to be hell trying to do algebra tonight with the head I have on right now. My wife and I decide to go out to dinner, and on our way up Hudson Street, we run into another couple we are close friends with. This coupleâs oldest daughter also goes to Lab. Instead, sheâs watching episodes ofPortlandiaon her computer. The weekend homework includes another 15 algebra equations, studying for a Spanish test on Monday, and, of course, moreAngelaâs Ashes. School is training her well for the inanities of adult life. Because I happen to be in the middle of my week of homework when this yearâs parent-teacher conferences take place, I am uniquely equipped to discuss the work Esmee is doing. And over the years, I have noticed that the amount of homework does let up, slightly, after the conferencesâ"if enough parents complain. However, there is always a clique of parents who are happy with the amount of homework. One of the reasons I believe my daughter hasnât yet tried marijuana is because she simply doesnât have the time. We stand on the sidewalk for a few minutes, chatting. The husband is smoking a joint, and he hands it over. I havenât smoked in a few months, but itâs Friday night and Iâve been doing homework all week. We part ways, and my wife and I go to a Japanese restaurant, where, as soon as I am seated, I regret smoking. If Esmee was struggling with the work, then perhaps she should be moved to a remedial class. I sneak in and grab her copy ofAngelaâs Ashesand catch up on my reading, getting all the way to page 120. The hardship of too much homework pales in comparison with the McCourt familyâs travails. Still, because we are sharing our copy ofAngelaâs Ashes, I end up going to bed an hour after Esmee. The co-op board meetsâ"and over my objections makes me secretaryâ"before I can start on Esmeeâs homework. Her correct answers were there, at the end of each neatly written-out equation, yet they werenât segregated into a separate column on the right side of each page. Iâm amazed that the pettiness of this doesnât seem to bother her. I tell Esmee that this seems strangeâ"didnât she just have an algebra midterm? She says that in her class, they have more than one midterm every term. Our math homework this evening is practicing multiplying a polynomial by a monomial, and we breeze through it in about half an hour. When I get home, Esmee tells me she got a C on her math homework from the night before because she hadnât made an answer column.
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