Teacher Putting in Grades Every 2-3 Weeks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent of a middle school student and a high school student. I have literally NEVER checked their work online for missing assignments. I look at their interim reports and their report cards. If the grades are low, there are consequences at home (e.g. losing phone privileges).

By middle school this should be the kid’s responsibility. If my kids ask me for help or advice of course I do my best, but it’s actually not my job to manage their day to day homework load. And it’s not their teacher’s job, either.

That’s all good unless your kid has a learning or executive function disability.

I understand teachers are overworked. I wish there was a way to give them more planning time.

More than once my kid (with 504) forgot to put name on a paper, took 3 weeks for grade to get posted. Kid gets a zero and teacher says “too bad it’s been 3 weeks”.

Every single thing you said sounds ridiculous - more than 1x, 3 weeks to grade, 0. If true you should be upset, but I have a feeling you embellished this just a bit.

100% true. Different teachers. My kid was able to get it corrected eventually. Why would I make this up?

It was corrected. So then your kid DID NOT earn a zero. How about a skill for that 504 is to follow directions and put names on paper. I’m with the teacher here.

They started with a zero then had to remember to go back and ask about it multiple times. It’s already on the 504 is to follow up about missing work to cover this scenario. Unless I am mistaken, a 504 only has accommodations not skill building. Just pointing to you people that don’t seem to get it how difficult these delays in grading are for kids with special needs. Really makes it impossible to keep on top of missing work. And accommodations for extra time don’t work in this scenario. Totally get that teachers are overloaded and have many kids with 504s and IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent of a middle school student and a high school student. I have literally NEVER checked their work online for missing assignments. I look at their interim reports and their report cards. If the grades are low, there are consequences at home (e.g. losing phone privileges).

By middle school this should be the kid’s responsibility. If my kids ask me for help or advice of course I do my best, but it’s actually not my job to manage their day to day homework load. And it’s not their teacher’s job, either.

That’s all good unless your kid has a learning or executive function disability.

I understand teachers are overworked. I wish there was a way to give them more planning time.

More than once my kid (with 504) forgot to put name on a paper, took 3 weeks for grade to get posted. Kid gets a zero and teacher says “too bad it’s been 3 weeks”.

Every single thing you said sounds ridiculous - more than 1x, 3 weeks to grade, 0. If true you should be upset, but I have a feeling you embellished this just a bit.

100% true. Different teachers. My kid was able to get it corrected eventually. Why would I make this up?

It was corrected. So then your kid DID NOT earn a zero. How about a skill for that 504 is to follow directions and put names on paper. I’m with the teacher here.

They started with a zero then had to remember to go back and ask about it multiple times. It’s already on the 504 is to follow up about missing work to cover this scenario. Unless I am mistaken, a 504 only has accommodations not skill building. Just pointing to you people that don’t seem to get it how difficult these delays in grading are for kids with special needs. Really makes it impossible to keep on top of missing work. And accommodations for extra time don’t work in this scenario. Totally get that teachers are overloaded and have many kids with 504s and IEPs.

You just care how difficult things are on our end, then.

Yes, I agree that delays aren’t good for students. But they are going to happen as long as we are working within a system that relies on off-hours work from teachers to operate.

I’m not tracking one student’s work. I’m tracking the work of over 100 students. I’m emailing parents of 10-15 of them about late assignments each time I collect something, and then answering 10-15 responses. When late work arrives, it sits in a pile next to 160-200 on-time papers I also have to grade. And this happens about twice a week. I get about half an hour of work time a day, if it isn’t taken from me for subbing or a meeting.

So those delays are going to happen because teachers aren’t magicians. We can’t create time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a parent of a middle school student and a high school student. I have literally NEVER checked their work online for missing assignments. I look at their interim reports and their report cards. If the grades are low, there are consequences at home (e.g. losing phone privileges).

By middle school this should be the kid’s responsibility. If my kids ask me for help or advice of course I do my best, but it’s actually not my job to manage their day to day homework load. And it’s not their teacher’s job, either.

That’s all good unless your kid has a learning or executive function disability.

I understand teachers are overworked. I wish there was a way to give them more planning time.

More than once my kid (with 504) forgot to put name on a paper, took 3 weeks for grade to get posted. Kid gets a zero and teacher says “too bad it’s been 3 weeks”.

Every single thing you said sounds ridiculous - more than 1x, 3 weeks to grade, 0. If true you should be upset, but I have a feeling you embellished this just a bit.

100% true. Different teachers. My kid was able to get it corrected eventually. Why would I make this up?

It was corrected. So then your kid DID NOT earn a zero. How about a skill for that 504 is to follow directions and put names on paper. I’m with the teacher here.

They started with a zero then had to remember to go back and ask about it multiple times. It’s already on the 504 is to follow up about missing work to cover this scenario. Unless I am mistaken, a 504 only has accommodations not skill building. Just pointing to you people that don’t seem to get it how difficult these delays in grading are for kids with special needs. Really makes it impossible to keep on top of missing work. And accommodations for extra time don’t work in this scenario. Totally get that teachers are overloaded and have many kids with 504s and IEPs.

You just care how difficult things are on our end, then.

Yes, I agree that delays aren’t good for students. But they are going to happen as long as we are working within a system that relies on off-hours work from teachers to operate.

I’m not tracking one student’s work. I’m tracking the work of over 100 students. I’m emailing parents of 10-15 of them about late assignments each time I collect something, and then answering 10-15 responses. When late work arrives, it sits in a pile next to 160-200 on-time papers I also have to grade. And this happens about twice a week. I get about half an hour of work time a day, if it isn’t taken from me for subbing or a meeting.

So those delays are going to happen because teachers aren’t magicians. We can’t create time.

+10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe the parents on this thread (and I’m a parent!) No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves.

Schools are also for learning life lessons. And your kid has just been presented, on a silver platter, two great life lessons. You’re trying to bulldoze past them because you’re “concerned that the closer we get to report card time, we won't have clarity on where she stands with her grade” for a MIDDLE SCHOOLER. This isn’t the Bar exam. Get a grip.

Lesson 1: You need to be on top of your own work and tasks. That’s HER responsibility. Your kid had four assignments laying around that she hadn’t turned in, and didn’t realize she hadn’t turned in, until she saw the grade book. That means she’s disorganized. She needs to figure out better systems and get organized so it doesn’t happen again. And I think that bright “D” sticking around for a few weeks while she feels panicky sounds like great motivation.

Lesson 2: People your report to or work with aren’t always going to be perfect, and sometimes they’ll be downright awful, and they’re certainly going to have different priorities than you, and you need to learn to work around that. This teacher updates his grade book infrequently. Okay. So, better make sure you’re turning work in on time, and you’re going to have to learn a little patience and sit and wait for something that’s important to you. That’s life! Happens to me at the office ALL the time.

The fact that you, OP, emailed the teacher and the principal (!!) about this instead of reinforcing these lessons with your kid boggles my mind.

OP here - This took a turn. First, I never said I wasn't teaching my kid these life lessons. I absolutely am holding her responsible for being more organized and giving her tools to be better at executive functioning. We've come up with a system that she's been doing well at using (not perfect, but much better). By the way, having an 11 year old "figure out better systems" is laughable. Our job is to teach and show them, not leave them to just figure it out. They're kids. Middle school in itself is a new world and helping them navigate the nuances of multiple teachers, more self sufficiency is a parents job. I've not shielded her from the natural consequences of her disorganization. So, the D is just that. And she's definitely been shaken into taking things more seriously. However, at some point, we still need to see where she is grade-wise to determine if she's on track or needs to adjust her approach somewhere else. We've made clear that she is responsible for making this right. Me emailing the teacher and the principal after she's taken responsibility in talking to her teacher and expressing her request for feedback is me supporting her. I'll do that all day. Sorry you think your kids should just "figure it out."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe the parents on this thread (and I’m a parent!) No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves.

Schools are also for learning life lessons. And your kid has just been presented, on a silver platter, two great life lessons. You’re trying to bulldoze past them because you’re “concerned that the closer we get to report card time, we won't have clarity on where she stands with her grade” for a MIDDLE SCHOOLER. This isn’t the Bar exam. Get a grip.

Lesson 1: You need to be on top of your own work and tasks. That’s HER responsibility. Your kid had four assignments laying around that she hadn’t turned in, and didn’t realize she hadn’t turned in, until she saw the grade book. That means she’s disorganized. She needs to figure out better systems and get organized so it doesn’t happen again. And I think that bright “D” sticking around for a few weeks while she feels panicky sounds like great motivation.

Lesson 2: People your report to or work with aren’t always going to be perfect, and sometimes they’ll be downright awful, and they’re certainly going to have different priorities than you, and you need to learn to work around that. This teacher updates his grade book infrequently. Okay. So, better make sure you’re turning work in on time, and you’re going to have to learn a little patience and sit and wait for something that’s important to you. That’s life! Happens to me at the office ALL the time.

The fact that you, OP, emailed the teacher and the principal (!!) about this instead of reinforcing these lessons with your kid boggles my mind.

OP here - This took a turn. First, I never said I wasn't teaching my kid these life lessons. I absolutely am holding her responsible for being more organized and giving her tools to be better at executive functioning. We've come up with a system that she's been doing well at using (not perfect, but much better). By the way, having an 11 year old "figure out better systems" is laughable. Our job is to teach and show them, not leave them to just figure it out. They're kids. Middle school in itself is a new world and helping them navigate the nuances of multiple teachers, more self sufficiency is a parents job. I've not shielded her from the natural consequences of her disorganization. So, the D is just that. And she's definitely been shaken into taking things more seriously. However, at some point, we still need to see where she is grade-wise to determine if she's on track or needs to adjust her approach somewhere else. We've made clear that she is responsible for making this right. Me emailing the teacher and the principal after she's taken responsibility in talking to her teacher and expressing her request for feedback is me supporting her. I'll do that all day. Sorry you think your kids should just "figure it out."

Having an 11 year old figure out better systems is most definitely not laughable. From upper elementary school on, as part of the special education process, our team let my special needs son know he would be responsible for figuring out what worked for him when he hit middle school. Up to that point, accommodations and services were decided by the team. It was truly impressive to see how seriously he took that responsibility and how successful he was with the systems he developed on his own. Despite having special needs, at 11 he was capable. You really must underestimate the ability of middle schoolers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe the parents on this thread (and I’m a parent!) No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves.

Schools are also for learning life lessons. And your kid has just been presented, on a silver platter, two great life lessons. You’re trying to bulldoze past them because you’re “concerned that the closer we get to report card time, we won't have clarity on where she stands with her grade” for a MIDDLE SCHOOLER. This isn’t the Bar exam. Get a grip.

Lesson 1: You need to be on top of your own work and tasks. That’s HER responsibility. Your kid had four assignments laying around that she hadn’t turned in, and didn’t realize she hadn’t turned in, until she saw the grade book. That means she’s disorganized. She needs to figure out better systems and get organized so it doesn’t happen again. And I think that bright “D” sticking around for a few weeks while she feels panicky sounds like great motivation.

Lesson 2: People your report to or work with aren’t always going to be perfect, and sometimes they’ll be downright awful, and they’re certainly going to have different priorities than you, and you need to learn to work around that. This teacher updates his grade book infrequently. Okay. So, better make sure you’re turning work in on time, and you’re going to have to learn a little patience and sit and wait for something that’s important to you. That’s life! Happens to me at the office ALL the time.

The fact that you, OP, emailed the teacher and the principal (!!) about this instead of reinforcing these lessons with your kid boggles my mind.

OP here - This took a turn. First, I never said I wasn't teaching my kid these life lessons. I absolutely am holding her responsible for being more organized and giving her tools to be better at executive functioning. We've come up with a system that she's been doing well at using (not perfect, but much better). By the way, having an 11 year old "figure out better systems" is laughable. Our job is to teach and show them, not leave them to just figure it out. They're kids. Middle school in itself is a new world and helping them navigate the nuances of multiple teachers, more self sufficiency is a parents job. I've not shielded her from the natural consequences of her disorganization. So, the D is just that. And she's definitely been shaken into taking things more seriously. However, at some point, we still need to see where she is grade-wise to determine if she's on track or needs to adjust her approach somewhere else. We've made clear that she is responsible for making this right. Me emailing the teacher and the principal after she's taken responsibility in talking to her teacher and expressing her request for feedback is me supporting her. I'll do that all day. Sorry you think your kids should just "figure it out."

Having an 11 year old figure out better systems is most definitely not laughable. From upper elementary school on, as part of the special education process, our team let my special needs son know he would be responsible for figuring out what worked for him when he hit middle school. Up to that point, accommodations and services were decided by the team. It was truly impressive to see how seriously he took that responsibility and how successful he was with the systems he developed on his own. Despite having special needs, at 11 he was capable. You really must underestimate the ability of middle schoolers.

You can't generalize from your son...every kid is different...just because your son could do it doesn't mean other kids can. The I in IEP means i dividualized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe the parents on this thread (and I’m a parent!) No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves.

Schools are also for learning life lessons. And your kid has just been presented, on a silver platter, two great life lessons. You’re trying to bulldoze past them because you’re “concerned that the closer we get to report card time, we won't have clarity on where she stands with her grade” for a MIDDLE SCHOOLER. This isn’t the Bar exam. Get a grip.

Lesson 1: You need to be on top of your own work and tasks. That’s HER responsibility. Your kid had four assignments laying around that she hadn’t turned in, and didn’t realize she hadn’t turned in, until she saw the grade book. That means she’s disorganized. She needs to figure out better systems and get organized so it doesn’t happen again. And I think that bright “D” sticking around for a few weeks while she feels panicky sounds like great motivation.

Lesson 2: People your report to or work with aren’t always going to be perfect, and sometimes they’ll be downright awful, and they’re certainly going to have different priorities than you, and you need to learn to work around that. This teacher updates his grade book infrequently. Okay. So, better make sure you’re turning work in on time, and you’re going to have to learn a little patience and sit and wait for something that’s important to you. That’s life! Happens to me at the office ALL the time.

The fact that you, OP, emailed the teacher and the principal (!!) about this instead of reinforcing these lessons with your kid boggles my mind.

OP here - This took a turn. First, I never said I wasn't teaching my kid these life lessons. I absolutely am holding her responsible for being more organized and giving her tools to be better at executive functioning. We've come up with a system that she's been doing well at using (not perfect, but much better). By the way, having an 11 year old "figure out better systems" is laughable. Our job is to teach and show them, not leave them to just figure it out. They're kids. Middle school in itself is a new world and helping them navigate the nuances of multiple teachers, more self sufficiency is a parents job. I've not shielded her from the natural consequences of her disorganization. So, the D is just that. And she's definitely been shaken into taking things more seriously. However, at some point, we still need to see where she is grade-wise to determine if she's on track or needs to adjust her approach somewhere else. We've made clear that she is responsible for making this right. Me emailing the teacher and the principal after she's taken responsibility in talking to her teacher and expressing her request for feedback is me supporting her. I'll do that all day. Sorry you think your kids should just "figure it out."

Having an 11 year old figure out better systems is most definitely not laughable. From upper elementary school on, as part of the special education process, our team let my special needs son know he would be responsible for figuring out what worked for him when he hit middle school. Up to that point, accommodations and services were decided by the team. It was truly impressive to see how seriously he took that responsibility and how successful he was with the systems he developed on his own. Despite having special needs, at 11 he was capable. You really must underestimate the ability of middle schoolers.

You can't generalize from your son...every kid is different...just because your son could do it doesn't mean other kids can. The I in IEP means i dividualized.

+1 And all kids haven’t had the same amount of time with an IEP has others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea when the MCPS grading system is correct. I just looked, here an array of things going on:
- One classes states no missing assignment. Yet has zero for three assignments. I assume the teacher just hasn’t graded those but don’t understand why the grade is just not pending. Or if it’s missing why it isn’t reflected.
- One class shows missing assignments of which each noted as missing has a grade. If you go in Canvas you can see these are paper assignments. So why is the assignment noted as missing?
- One class has an assignment that is not due until January and in fact hasn’t even been given to students but yet the grade reflects 50%.

Maybe if Admin set and enforced a standard grading timeline and way Canvas is supposed to operate families could spend less time focusing on this and more time focused on the class content. I won’t even get into the need for meaningful feedback and grading for excellence.

The Canvas/Synergy connection is horrible. It used to be that if a teacher marked something missing in Canvas it would show up missing in Synergy. Now, that sync doesn't always happen. As a teacher, I haven't figured it out. I can manually enter missing in Synergy, but that is low on my priority of things. I use the tools that MCPS provides. I refuse to enter grades twice. I put them in once and it is what it is. It is on MCPS to make sure that their programs are set correctly. This is not on the teacher, it is on MCPS. This is why we need to stop blaming teachers for things out of their control.

[Anonymous]

This is for the OP-
You're right, this thread took a turn. As I read your original post again, I would say this is out of the norm. Not saying it doesn't happen, but the vast majority of teachers at middle and high school don't approach posting grades this way. Most likely, something is going on with the teacher. They could be dealing with sick parents, just had a child, who knows? I know when my first child was born, my grading became severely disrupted. It took a while for me to get my professional balance back. Of course, it could be a case that a teacher has finally drawn a line and said that they're not doing work outside their duty day. As the system piles more and more on us during our planning time, many of us are reaching this point. I'm not there yet, but after the time I've spent grading this break, I feel like a sucker and becoming more sympathetic to that viewpoint.
Either way, you're not going to know the whole story. You've reached out to the teacher, and you've contacted the principal. Not much more you can do except remind your student to stay on top of their work with this class and keep an eye on things in case you have questions about the final quarter grade.
Happy New Year!

[Anonymous]

I think people have very low expectations with mcps. Just because something is 'policy' doesn't mean a teacher can't send assignments back promptly. How else does any teacher expect kids to learn about things they got incorrect? The more time that's passed between when assignments are graded and when they are returned, the more difficult it is to figure out what went wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor needs to put out policy that ALL teachers grade, enter scores and sync them one week before interims and one week before end of quarters. Taylor: ASAP!

No, grades need to be put in weekly. Teachers should send a weekly email to parents on assignments and what they are learning.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Or... You could look on Canvas and be an active partner in your child's education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taylor needs to put out policy that ALL teachers grade, enter scores and sync them one week before interims and one week before end of quarters. Taylor: ASAP!

No, grades need to be put in weekly. Teachers should send a weekly email to parents on assignments and what they are learning.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Or... You could look on Canvas and be an active partner in your child's education.

How would that be helpful without the grades or feedback on assignments?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea when the MCPS grading system is correct. I just looked, here an array of things going on:
- One classes states no missing assignment. Yet has zero for three assignments. I assume the teacher just hasn’t graded those but don’t understand why the grade is just not pending. Or if it’s missing why it isn’t reflected.
- One class shows missing assignments of which each noted as missing has a grade. If you go in Canvas you can see these are paper assignments. So why is the assignment noted as missing?
- One class has an assignment that is not due until January and in fact hasn’t even been given to students but yet the grade reflects 50%.

Maybe if Admin set and enforced a standard grading timeline and way Canvas is supposed to operate families could spend less time focusing on this and more time focused on the class content. I won’t even get into the need for meaningful feedback and grading for excellence.

The Canvas/Synergy connection is horrible. It used to be that if a teacher marked something missing in Canvas it would show up missing in Synergy. Now, that sync doesn't always happen. As a teacher, I haven't figured it out. I can manually enter missing in Synergy, but that is low on my priority of things. I use the tools that MCPS provides. I refuse to enter grades twice. I put them in once and it is what it is. It is on MCPS to make sure that their programs are set correctly. This is not on the teacher, it is on MCPS. This is why we need to stop blaming teachers for things out of their control.

True, Whoever does IT for MCPS really needs to be fired. None of these systems work well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every two weeks is considered the minimum, but longer is acceptable for projects or papers.

Let me help you. Twice per week, not every two weeks, is the minimum requirement for entering grades.

Nope. You are confidently wrong

Assigning graded assessments per week is the minimum. Teachers are not required to enter grades twice a week.

Assignments, not assessments.

In MCPS, not all assignments need to go in Synergy, but all assessments do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea when the MCPS grading system is correct. I just looked, here an array of things going on:
- One classes states no missing assignment. Yet has zero for three assignments. I assume the teacher just hasn’t graded those but don’t understand why the grade is just not pending. Or if it’s missing why it isn’t reflected.
- One class shows missing assignments of which each noted as missing has a grade. If you go in Canvas you can see these are paper assignments. So why is the assignment noted as missing?
- One class has an assignment that is not due until January and in fact hasn’t even been given to students but yet the grade reflects 50%.

Maybe if Admin set and enforced a standard grading timeline and way Canvas is supposed to operate families could spend less time focusing on this and more time focused on the class content. I won’t even get into the need for meaningful feedback and grading for excellence.

The Canvas/Synergy connection is horrible. It used to be that if a teacher marked something missing in Canvas it would show up missing in Synergy. Now, that sync doesn't always happen. As a teacher, I haven't figured it out. I can manually enter missing in Synergy, but that is low on my priority of things. I use the tools that MCPS provides. I refuse to enter grades twice. I put them in once and it is what it is. It is on MCPS to make sure that their programs are set correctly. This is not on the teacher, it is on MCPS. This is why we need to stop blaming teachers for things out of their control.

True, Whoever does IT for MCPS really needs to be fired. None of these systems work well.

It’s really unfortunate. I try to stay on top of my kids’ assignments but I can’t because of the constant error messages that prevents me from accessing McPS classroom. My middle schooler keeps getting zeros and missing assignments from one teacher and swears he’s fine and just that the teacher doesn’t know how to use Tech. Kid has an A in that class and I confirmed during PT conferences that he has no missing assignments so it really is teachers having issues with the systems quite frequently.