I understand why so many kids are failing now

[Anonymous]

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

Wait 6 to 20?

If this were case my ADHD child could keep up and thrive! She is very smart and catches the content very quickly. When she turns something in, its high quality. Its the keeping track of everything.

I just counted and in 1 class -which isn't even the one with the most assignments, she had 76 things to turn in for a grade. They range drastically in point value and % of the grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

Wait 6 to 20?

If this were case my ADHD child could keep up and thrive! She is very smart and catches the content very quickly. When she turns something in, its high quality. Its the keeping track of everything.

I just counted and in 1 class -which isn't even the one with the most assignments, she had 76 things to turn in for a grade. They range drastically in point value and % of the grade.

76 things in one class for one quarter? That's ridiculous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.


Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

You do not sound at all like what the OP posted about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.


Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

You do not sound at all like what the OP posted about.

Newsflash. Not all teachers are the same. The ones who are failing my classes never/rarely come to class/turn in work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

Exactly. A syllabus at the beginning of the year, during distance learning, while the superintendent and other people have changed the rules. It won't do anybody any good, in fact it'll cause a lot of confusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.

Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

The majority of teachers are do things like this. Honestly, it's like Charlie Brown, the students only here part of what they need to know and the rest doesn't seem to apply. Parents need to realize that it's a two-way street and both parties are doing the best job they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

Wait 6 to 20?

If this were case my ADHD child could keep up and thrive! She is very smart and catches the content very quickly. When she turns something in, its high quality. Its the keeping track of everything.

I just counted and in 1 class -which isn't even the one with the most assignments, she had 76 things to turn in for a grade. They range drastically in point value and % of the grade.

76 things in one class for one quarter? That's ridiculous!

As a point of reference, I teach elementary. That's how many assignments I give my students for the quarter for all four subjects.

[Anonymous]

Too many assignments. Not enough assignments. Why don't parents just pick and choose what they want? It will be like an a la carte menu. I choose for my kid to have everything graded like in a normal school year or I want my kid to get an A no matter what he/she does. Then everyone will get what they want and be happy.

[Anonymous]

My high schooler ended up with an F as her 1st quarter grade. I asked her about and she showed me the emails she had sent the teacher and the response from the teacher that she hadn’t graded the one assignment of the quarter yet. The freaking quarter had ended!

I had to get involved to get her to do her job and reflect my daughters grade correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

Wait 6 to 20?

If this were case my ADHD child could keep up and thrive! She is very smart and catches the content very quickly. When she turns something in, its high quality. Its the keeping track of everything.

I just counted and in 1 class -which isn't even the one with the most assignments, she had 76 things to turn in for a grade. They range drastically in point value and % of the grade.

76 things in one class for one quarter? That's ridiculous!

As a point of reference, I teach elementary. That's how many assignments I give my students for the quarter for all four subjects.

You give 76 assignments for all four subjects combined, so 18-20 per subject, or you give 76 assignments for each subject, so 300+ assignments total for the quarter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.


Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

You do not sound at all like what the OP posted about.

Newsflash. Not all teachers are the same. The ones who are failing my classes never/rarely come to class/turn in work.

The only students who have Ds or Fs for me are the ones who do not come to class or do not do any work, including not taking tests.

[Anonymous]

The only students who have Ds or Fs for me are the ones who do not come to class or do not do any work, including not taking tests.

This is not the case in many, many situations. There are plenty of normally A/B students now getting a D or F in one subject due to a missed assignment even though they have turned in almost everything else and go to class.

Teachers do not know how to teach on-line. If you have students participating who have a grade history that demonstrated they are more than capable of the work yet they are dropping 2-3-4 letter grades then yes you are doing something very wrong.

I do think more parents would be supportive of continuing distance learning if the teachers were doing a better job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The only students who have Ds or Fs for me are the ones who do not come to class or do not do any work, including not taking tests.

This is not the case in many, many situations. There are plenty of normally A/B students now getting a D or F in one subject due to a missed assignment even though they have turned in almost everything else and go to class.

Teachers do not know how to teach on-line. If you have students participating who have a grade history that demonstrated they are more than capable of the work yet they are dropping 2-3-4 letter grades then yes you are doing something very wrong.

I do think more parents would be supportive of continuing distance learning if the teachers were doing a better job.

+1 I stated up thread.. many teachers are doing great, but some are not. They are a hot mess with technology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents are now seeing how much handholding is done in a normal school year. Remove that crutch and you see what your kid can really do.

I think they’re seeing just how disorganized some teachers are and how terribly worded some assignments are. It shouldn’t be hard to post a syllabus with all due dates and the relative weight of assignments, quizzes and tests- most college professors manage to do that just fine

You want all the due dates, assignments, and assessments for the entire school year posted in a syllabus at the beginning of the year? K-12 is not the same as a college course.

1) College courses are generally a semester, not an entire year.

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

3) College professors don't care if their students aren't "ready" for an assessment.; they give it anyway, and it is on the student to do additional reading and studying to prepare. That would never fly in K-12.

4) College professors don't usually grade "homework," while K-12 teachers do so they can evaluate understanding and support those who are struggling. They also change assignments as needed to help students.

5) College professors don't have to worry if there are assemblies, snow days, etc. that change schedules without warning. They proceed and just change the assessment date to "next class" if there is foul weather. K-12 teachers have schedules switched on them all the time.


Posting ahead of time the weight of assignments and assessments is reasonable, but to ask K-12 teachers to provide a syllabus with an entire year's curriculum already planned day-by-day is ludicrous.

I'm a college professor. Clearly I am giving too many assessments, too much feedback, and I am far too flexible. Next semester I plan to give only 2-4 assessments, never change dates (even when there is a sudden pandemic or students are asked to leave campus or come to campus or whatever nonsense). I will also never give feedback on "homework" or support those who are struggling....


That said it was HARD AS HECK to stay even remotely organized this semester. Expectations were constantly changing because the conditions were up in the air. I had a whole plan that got tossed out the window the second week of term.

I definitely learned a lot from this term and will try next term to make everything 100% consistent. (every week: 1 reading quiz, 1 homework, 1 worksheet, test every 4 weeks) I don't care if it's boring. We all need a little boring right now and the students AND I both had a hard time figuring out all the changing stuff.

[Anonymous]

I definitely learned a lot from this term and will try next term to make everything 100% consistent. (every week: 1 reading quiz, 1 homework, 1 worksheet, test every 4 weeks) I don't care if it's boring. We all need a little boring right now and the students AND I both had a hard time figuring out all the changing stuff.

And what price do you pay for not knowing what you were doing? Its very reasonable to argue that this was extreme situation. You did your best so you shouldn't suffer any professional set backs because of this situation, right? Guess what you won't. Yeah you.

Your students are not as lucky. The ones with well organized teachers have a huge advantage. The ones with teachers who "did their best" but did not do well or teachers who are a hot mess pay the price. Your sophomores and juniors who just tanked their GPA because some teachers are a hot mess pay the price. Many colleges that were within reach are now off the table for a good number of kids but so what. So what if a kid who was on the path to get a merit scholarship no longer qualifies. As long as the teachers don't experience any penalty its all good, just a learning experience. Lets the kids pay instead.