About Your Kids

As a middle-school teacher, Davalynn writes her
education column with an insider's perspective on life in
the public schools. Her column, "About Your Kids"
appeared weekly in the Porterville Recorder Newspaper
2005-2007.

No homework

Cindy hadn't done her language arts homework. Again. On this
particular morning, she didn't even have her grammar book with
her. Again. She stood by the door looking at me with big chocolate
eyes as if waiting to be yelled at, and I was close to doing just that.
This child didn't seem to care that her grades were plummeting.

She wasn't remorseful about not doing her homework; she wasn't
belligerent, disrespectful, flighty or fidgety - she just stared back at
me as if to say, “It doesn't matter.”

Well, it did matter. I'd had enough.

“Call your mother,” I said as calmly as possible. “Tell her she needs
to bring your book to school.”

“I can't,” Cindy said quietly. “She's not home.”

“Then call her at work. I have the number,” I said on the way to my
desk.

“I can't. She's in court.”

Was this a ploy, an excuse like, “My brother threw up on my
binder?” Or was it true? I'd heard some pretty tall tales teaching
school in the last 20 years, and the tallest were often true. Besides,
run-ins with the authorities were not exactly uncommon.

“Okay, call your father. Tell him to bring it.”

“He's not home either. He's in court, too.”

Now I knew I was being handled.

“Really?” I said, peering deeper into the two chocolate pools.

“Really,” Cindy said with a flat, expressionless tone. “They're getting
a divorce.”

Suddenly I could see why it didn't matter.

If I were in Cindy's tennis shoes, would I care about yesterday's
grammar lesson? Would I care that “a lot” is always spelled “a lot”
and never “alot?” Probably not. I think I'd be more concerned about
where I was going to live after the judge finished divorcing my
parents. Or if I had to move away and never see my friends again,
or how glad I was that I sat at the back of the class so I wasn't called
on to answer questions all the time.

There were a lot of other things on Cindy's mind that day.

“Go sit down and we'll work it out,” I said.

The idea of homework is often a battlefield. Parents and children
fight over when it should be done, and how it should be done.
Sometimes the battle is between parents and teachers over how
much homework a student should have each night. There are often
other considerations like music lessons, ball games, church
meetings, fixing dinner or getting divorced.

I wonder: Instead of asking whether a student has her homework,
maybe I should find out first if her home works?

Davalynn Spencer is a Tulare County public school teacher. Questions or
comments can be sent to her at aboutyourkids@Hotmail.com

What readers are
saying:

Love it. Your life experi-
ences and writing talents
are a perfect match for a
column.          - T. Schwindt

I really enjoyed reading
your article "No Home-
work". As a former
"Family Service Worker"
... I ran into many issues
of the homework not com-
pleted. Many times I dis-
covered it was due to
family issues. It is amaz-
ing what goes on in some
homes. That is why I
think home visits are so
impor-tant.   I continue to
make home visits and try
to help these families
out. I will clip your article
and let the teachers read
it. Thank you.                -
M.L. Castillo

Although I’m not sure it’s
your job to find out if the
little girl’s home works, I
still appreciate good
writing … and you write
very well!        - M. Kellogg