Loudoun County Parents or teachers (Fairfax: middle schools, storage, assessments)

[northeastmom]

Our family is condiering a move to Ashburn Va. We are pretty sure we are going to send our kids to the public schools there but I'm trying to find out how progressive or traditional the elementary schools are? As a former teacher, I prefer the more traditional approach where the schools still actually use textbooks for reading and math, and where there is a focus on the basics - math facts, phonics, etc. Usually these days you have to go to a Catholic or more traditional private school to find that. I'm hoping that in VA the public schools are not quite as progressive as they are up here in the northeast? Any thoughts? We would most likely end up at Newton-Lee ES, although i know with redistricting, you never know where you'll end up...

[patriot201]

I'm not in Loudoun, but most schools around here do still use textbooks quite a bit. Not all lessons are from a textbook, but they are definitely still used. However, there can definitely be teacher-to-teacher differences.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by patriot201

I'm not in Loudoun, but most schools around here do still use textbooks quite a bit. Not all lessons are from a textbook, but they are definitely still used. However, there can definitely be teacher-to-teacher differences.

Is that an elementary-specific comment? I know the middle schools I've worked at and observed at almost never use textbooks. Once in an English classroom I saw them read a poem out of the book, but then the project they did based on the poem was not from the text.

My algebra class is not even assigned textbooks--we were all but told we can't do lessons out of the text.

[patriot201]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

Is that an elementary-specific comment? I know the middle schools I've worked at and observed at almost never use textbooks. Once in an English classroom I saw them read a poem out of the book, but then the project they did based on the poem was not from the text.

My algebra class is not even assigned textbooks--we were all but told we can't do lessons out of the text.

No, I teach secondary school. I've worked in four schools in NoVA and my comment was based on what I've seen in those schools.

What do you mean by the project the students did was not from the text? I've used many, many different literature textbooks and have never once done a project from a textbook. Not once. I've never heard of such a thing. We didn't even do projects from literature texts when I was in school (and I was in school when teachers taught straight from the text). Literature texts are generally just an anthology of literature- short stories, poems, dramas, excerpts from memoirs, some functional texts, and some expository texts. Occasionally there are activities suggested in the text for each piece of literature, but they are, in my experience, not aligned to state standards and/or jurisdiction program of studies, which is why teachers choose to design their own projects, functional and/or cumulative assessments, and other related tasks.

I guess I interpreted the OP's question differently. I interpreted it as asking if textbooks are used, not if textbooks are the only resource used. Sorry if I misinterpreted your question, OP. In my experience, textbooks are used in most classes. Teachers certainly do "branch out" and use other resources, but textbooks are used.

[CaliTerp07]

Originally Posted by patriot201

No, I teach secondary school. I've worked in four schools in NoVA and my comment was based on what I've seen in those schools.

What do you mean by the project the students did was not from the text? I've used many, many different literature textbooks and have never once done a project from a textbook. Not once. I've never heard of such a thing. We didn't even do projects from literature texts when I was in school (and I was in school when teachers taught straight from the text). Literature texts are generally just an anthology of literature- short stories, poems, dramas, excerpts from memoirs, some functional texts, and some expository texts. Occasionally there are activities suggested in the text for each piece of literature, but they are, in my experience, not aligned to state standards and/or jurisdiction program of studies, which is why teachers choose to design their own projects, functional and/or cumulative assessments, and other related tasks.

I guess I interpreted the OP's question differently. I interpreted it as asking if textbooks are used, not if textbooks are the only resource used. Sorry if I misinterpreted your question, OP. In my experience, textbooks are used in most classes. Teachers certainly do "branch out" and use other resources, but textbooks are used.

I just meant they didn't answer any of the questions at the end of the poem, write any of the suggested responses, or review the vocabulary words the text was focusing on. They simply read the poem out of the text because it had been mentioned in the novel the class was reading. Then they rewrote the section of the novel to include a different poem of their choosing, and explained how it would have changed the mood/meaning of the chapter. Seeing as how, as a grad school observer, it was my job to go get the textbooks out of the storage closet, I made the assumption that the books aren't frequently used. I could be wrong though.

My subject area is math, like I said, and I've never been in a math classroom that used a math book. The only time we used them last year was when we had 10 kids get suspended all at once, and had to come up with something for them to work on during their 2 weeks out of school. There was such a time crunch that copying the textbook was the only reasonable way to come up with 2 weeks of work in 24 hours.

Generally, everything we put together for use in class is created from scratch. The math standards all changed this year, so very little can be reused from last year's activities without heavy modification. We didn't give out textbooks to any of our students (though we did give them an online username/password if they want to go through the text themselves for extra help). This is in Fairfax though. I don't know what a Loudoun math class looks like. I also don't know what would have happened if I made a fuss and told administration I wanted to use the textbook--maybe they would have let me.

[patriot201]

Originally Posted by CaliTerp07

I just meant they didn't answer any of the questions at the end of the poem, write any of the suggested responses, or review the vocabulary words the text was focusing on.

Oh, yeah, you're right about that! We have never used the questions in the text that we are supposed to use because the questions are junk. I do use a different literature book all the time, though. I love it. I use it for all daily warm-ups and for almost all homework assignments. In class, though, I only use textbooks for the actual pieces of literature.

Generally, everything we put together for use in class is created from scratch. The math standards all changed this year, so very little can be reused from last year's activities without heavy modification. We didn't give out textbooks to any of our students (though we did give them an online username/password if they want to go through the text themselves for extra help). This is in Fairfax though. I don't know what a Loudoun math class looks like. I also don't know what would have happened if I made a fuss and told administration I wanted to use the textbook--maybe they would have let me.

We also create a lot from scratch and just use the textbooks for the actual pieces of literature. So we do use our textbook, but only for it being an anthology of literature. We haven't issued books in years-- they are for use in class only.

Oour writing texts are used in class when we teach grammar and usage. The text is actually pretty good, but is very old, so the examples are a bit out of date.

Our math teachers use the books for additional practice and for homework. They create packets for each of their units, but I believe they do use their textbooks, too.

Our science, social studies, and foreign language teachers use their textbooks all the time, though. I think they practically teach from the book. I think.

I'm in Fairfax, too.