DS's word against teacher's - WWYD?
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Anonymous
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MCPS. DS is in 6th grade and has had straight As in all classes. He is now getting a B in a class because the teacher says that one sheet of work was not handed in, and therefore gets an automatic Z, which is zero. The teacher has looked everywhere and can't find it. DS says he did hand it in (on time, too). He has looked everywhere and can't find it. DS works very hard, despite his special needs and learning disabilities, to get good grades at school. It is actually the first year he is so successful. It is frustrating that he would get a lower grade because his work disappeared. I'm leaning toward believing he did the work and handed it in because he has Asperger's tendencies and never lies about things like this (or at all, deception is not something he thinks of doing). What should I do? |
Anonymous
| It's a stupid policy. The teacher needs to rethink it. However, that's not for you to suggest. This is life, and it's middle school. |
Anonymous
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This is ridiculous.
I am a sixth grade teacher. I know I misplace things - if students hand them in (very) late, or were absent, etc. I also have many students who tell me they handed things in and then we look together in their folder and find it. Shocker! I always accept late work (within a few weeks, anyway). It seems very strange that one "worksheet" would drop the grade a whole letter. Is it because it's early in the grading period? If so, it should soon become a lower portion of the grade and not count as much. But i think they should be able to make it up. I don't enjoy giving 0s |
Anonymous
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I'm a former 6th grade teacher and now a principal. I'm sorry this happened. The real question is how one lousy assignment can lower a grade to a B. I'm assuming he has A's on everything else. What was so special about this paper?
The second question I have is why such a harsh penalty and why there is no opportunity for getting the work done? Is it more important that he shows he knows the material or that he turns in papers on time? I'm hoping the teacher answers with the former and not the latter. Whether or not he turned it in or whether it was lost isn't important anymore. He should have an opportunity to make it up with a minor penalty for being late. If I don't pay my taxes on April 15, I still have to pay them. And I have to pay a penalty. His work should be treated in the same manner. |
Anonymous
| You do nothing other than tell your son that if he says he turned it in then you believe him but these things happen sometimes, people lose things and let it go (both of you). And know that your son might be mistaken. People sometimes think they did things they didn't do, or conflate things--not lying, just mistaken. It's 6th grade. This happened to my son as a freshman in high school and it hurt his grade. But I did the above, and we all survived. |
Anonymous
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The end of the quarter isn't until the end of Jan, right? So the grade still has time to improve.
I work tell your son to go ask the teacher if there is anything he can do to improve his grade over break. |
Anonymous
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OP here. It's messed up. He's gotten a couple of Zs (zeros for not handing in work) in this class on Sunday nights or Monday mornings for deadlines due that Monday (class is in 3rd period). He checks Edline in second period, because it's his SN resource class, finds out he has a Z, hands in his work *on time* in 3rd period and asks for the Z to be removed. Crazy, right? That time, the Z got put in right before he left for MCPS's Outdoor Ed, and I thought he would talk to the teacher upon his return, meaning the week after (3 days of camp plus the weekend). So they both of them looked up and down for that paper, it took a couple of weeks, then the work got graded and returned to the class so the teacher said he couldn't make it up anymore. Today DS suggested to the teacher that he do extra work to make up for the Z, but *the teacher refused*. PPs who asked about the letter change, you are right that he will probably go back up to an A for the quarter. Right now he's at a high B, and has As for the rest of his work in that class. But still! I admit I'm fixated on the unfairness of it, and that it's probably immature of me. That kid has worked so hard to get to where he is right now. |
Anonymous
He needs to talk to the teacher and find out when deadlines are and how handing in assignments is supposed to work. Based just on what you are saying, something is not right and either your son has misunderstood a class policy or the teacher is out of line. If the assignment is due during his class period, it makes no sense for him to have a zero before that period on the date due UNLESS he has misunderstood how he is supposed to be turning in assignments (possibly submitting them online?) or is misunderstanding which day things are due. I would have him email the teacher (CC you) to clarify this *in writing*, so that he can either correct whatever he is doing wrong that is causing this to happen, or have proof next time this happens that he followed the teacher's policy for handing in assignments but still got a Z. |
Anonymous
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9th grade DD handed in English paper. Teacher said she'd never received it. DD waited 2 days and went back to teacher to again assert that she had handed it in and was perplexed by her A moving to a C. 2 days later teacher found the paper. DD now takes pictures of her handed in assignments in the classroom with a time stamp.
Humans make mistakes. Teachers tend to blame kids instead of accepting that maybe they made a mistake. CYA is what I recommend. |
Anonymous
| This is very strange . Teacher pp here. Are you saying teacher is putting in a zero the night before an assignment is due?! And then not accepting it? If so, go to admin. But this story is strange |
Anonymous
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In high school my English teacher failed me for the final because she said I didn't show up. I had in fact shown up and took the final. My whole class confirmed that I did in fact take the final but she refused to believe it. Ultimately she allowed me to retake it. It was the same final I had taken the first time and I got an A.
Crap happens. |
Anonymous
OP here. The couple of Zs that were entered in Edline right before deadlines were always removed, but I added that in my follow-up to explain that this teacher works bizarrely, and that we've had to obsessively check Edline to make sure nothing slips past. Or perhaps Edline does it automatically because some settings are off? I don't know. We have not had such issues with his other classes. The policy is written on the class Edline page: students have until the deadline during the class period to hand in their homework sheets. There is no electronic submission in that class. My son does not have a phone, otherwise I would ask him to take a pic! Sigh. I will email the teacher and do as the Principal PP suggests. Thank you! |
Anonymous
| In MCPS there is a due date and a deadline. After the deadline Zs aren't changed. Your DC should be handing things in by the due date, not putting things off until the deadline. Could that be happening? |
Anonymous
| It sounds like you are missing a vital piece of information. |
Anonymous
It sounds to me like he's been pushing the limits and using his "special needs" designation to do so. This time he waited too long. The Z was known before he left and he didn't deal with it for a few weeks. Sounds like B is the right grade. If he wasn't so close to the edge, one Z wouldn't have mattered. (FYI, My kid also got a B due to a missed assignment. Went from a 90 to an 88. Now he just has to work extra hard to make sure that the quarter grade is better than the interim one.) |