What do you think of nit picky teachers? 6th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m honestly surprised by the responses in this thread. I really don’t think I am sone special snowflake but people have bent the (dumb, petty type) rules for me all my life. I guess I had assumed that was happening for other people too.

Fwiw my husband also thinks this way of grading is dumb and pointless.

You realize it is like the height of privilege to say things like this, yes?

You sound so out of touch.

It's out of touch and privileged to think the Spanish teacher should recognize that my kid actually does know all of the Spanish vocabulary from this first unit and grade him accordingly??

What is the actual purpose of this class if it is not to demonstrate knowledge of Spanish?

And ignorant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m honestly surprised by the responses in this thread. I really don’t think I am sone special snowflake but people have bent the (dumb, petty type) rules for me all my life. I guess I had assumed that was happening for other people too.

Fwiw my husband also thinks this way of grading is dumb and pointless.

You both sound insufferable, entitled, arrogant and clueless to boot.

And utterly incapable of raising a responsible child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m honestly surprised by the responses in this thread. I really don’t think I am sone special snowflake but people have bent the (dumb, petty type) rules for me all my life. I guess I had assumed that was happening for other people too.

Fwiw my husband also thinks this way of grading is dumb and pointless.

You realize it is like the height of privilege to say things like this, yes?

You sound so out of touch.

It's out of touch and privileged to think the Spanish teacher should recognize that my kid actually does know all of the Spanish vocabulary from this first unit and grade him accordingly??

What is the actual purpose of this class if it is not to demonstrate knowledge of Spanish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Teacher here and you should absolutely contact the teacher and principal or assistant principal. Be polite and respectful but you can be assertive. Do not apologize that your child has ADHD or a 504. Do not act like you are asking for a favor or preferential treatment, you are not. You are standing up for a child with a disability.

If the child has a 504 or IEP that requires direction and instruction clarification. This accommodation was not given and the kids subsequently got a D then the teacher needs to either correct the grade based on whether his answers met the substantive mastery of what she was testing OR give him a new test and clarify the instructions.

There is a reason why IEP and 504 are protected by federal laws. The whole point of a 504 or IEP is to a level the playing field so a child with a learning disability can access the education and b to provide consistency so the parent/child does not need to constantly re-negotiate or explain the LD. As a teacher you can be a complete asshole and hate kids with LDS or accommodations but guess what- your job is to teach them and failing to follow the 504/IEP is an actionable offense.

The reality is that there are good teachers and bad teachers. There is an inherent imbalance of power between a student and teacher. Long ago when I was an intern I saw kids with LDs and 504/IEP come up to a teacher and ask for help only to be batted away. Sadly for that teacher the ONLY kids who has their plans followed were the ones for whom their parents complained to the AP.

OP -you are not asking for any favors by insisting that the teacher follow the 504. a 504 is not a special favor, it is a legal right for someone with a disability.


This is a great suggestion. But let's be clear - is issue here is that the teacher didn't follow the 504. The issue is NOT that the teacher is nit picky or that the teacher should have given credit despite not following directions. That the kid has a 504 and it wasn't followed. Period. If a different kid had done the same with without any accommodations required, the teacher's actions would have been 100% right.
s

The 504 makes it an open and shut situation. If there was no 504 or IEP and it was a normal kid, then the teacher is not following best practices.

Based on the OP's description that the child fully translated each sentence correctly showing the level of mastery and understanding that the quiz was intended to ascertain then it was wrong for a teacher to give no credit because he did not follow the directions. The purpose of the course and quiz is to develop and demonstrate mastery. A more appropriate penalty would have been to take several points off for not following directions. The student should be acknowledged for studying and learning the material to the level that was required for this assessment.

In teaching you encounter a wide variety of learners with different skills and ability. At some point you have to decide why you are there. Are you there to teach and help all your students learn or are you there to get through the day and focus on just some students. If you still believe that you are there to teach and help all students learn then you incorporate flexibility into your routine choosing the path that yields the highest learning outcomes.

A good example is the issue of retakes. I know some teachers who hate retakes. Its more work and why the hell should they have do more work because a kid screwed up. Well the reality is that offering a retake opens the door for a student who did not develop mastery to do it. Trust me no kid -high or low performing is going to go back and rewrite a paper or essay for fun if they can't resubmit it. The kids who really do not care do not bother to resubmit. The ones who do care put a lot of effort into the retake and end up learning more than the kids that got an A the first time. Its a huge confidence boost to a low to mid performer and a relief to a high performer. As a teacher you end up with an additional student who has mastered the content and have positively contributed to the mental health of your students. Win win situation.

[Anonymous]

I honestly cannot understand how OP is employed somewhere.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think op is saying that her child should have received a perfect score, but rather that it is less than ideal to receive no partial credit/opportunity for re-take. I agree with her! Following directions IS important and failure to do so should be reflected in the grade, but 6th traders are 11-they make mistakes! I feel like most kids would learn more from a “oh no if I had followed directions I would have gotten an a instead of a c” rather than a straight f. At my children’s school they would very likely have had a chance to re-take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly cannot understand how OP is employed somewhere.

OP here. I run my own business in a creative field. Since I know what you will say about that, I'll tell you that my DH is a c-suite executive with many employees and he agrees with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Teacher here and you should absolutely contact the teacher and principal or assistant principal. Be polite and respectful but you can be assertive. Do not apologize that your child has ADHD or a 504. Do not act like you are asking for a favor or preferential treatment, you are not. You are standing up for a child with a disability.

If the child has a 504 or IEP that requires direction and instruction clarification. This accommodation was not given and the kids subsequently got a D then the teacher needs to either correct the grade based on whether his answers met the substantive mastery of what she was testing OR give him a new test and clarify the instructions.

There is a reason why IEP and 504 are protected by federal laws. The whole point of a 504 or IEP is to a level the playing field so a child with a learning disability can access the education and b to provide consistency so the parent/child does not need to constantly re-negotiate or explain the LD. As a teacher you can be a complete asshole and hate kids with LDS or accommodations but guess what- your job is to teach them and failing to follow the 504/IEP is an actionable offense.

The reality is that there are good teachers and bad teachers. There is an inherent imbalance of power between a student and teacher. Long ago when I was an intern I saw kids with LDs and 504/IEP come up to a teacher and ask for help only to be batted away. Sadly for that teacher the ONLY kids who has their plans followed were the ones for whom their parents complained to the AP.

OP -you are not asking for any favors by insisting that the teacher follow the 504. a 504 is not a special favor, it is a legal right for someone with a disability.


This is a great suggestion. But let's be clear - is issue here is that the teacher didn't follow the 504. The issue is NOT that the teacher is nit picky or that the teacher should have given credit despite not following directions. That the kid has a 504 and it wasn't followed. Period. If a different kid had done the same with without any accommodations required, the teacher's actions would have been 100% right.
s

The 504 makes it an open and shut situation. If there was no 504 or IEP and it was a normal kid, then the teacher is not following best practices.

Based on the OP's description that the child fully translated each sentence correctly showing the level of mastery and understanding that the quiz was intended to ascertain then it was wrong for a teacher to give no credit because he did not follow the directions. The purpose of the course and quiz is to develop and demonstrate mastery. A more appropriate penalty would have been to take several points off for not following directions. The student should be acknowledged for studying and learning the material to the level that was required for this assessment.

In teaching you encounter a wide variety of learners with different skills and ability. At some point you have to decide why you are there. Are you there to teach and help all your students learn or are you there to get through the day and focus on just some students. If you still believe that you are there to teach and help all students learn then you incorporate flexibility into your routine choosing the path that yields the highest learning outcomes.

A good example is the issue of retakes. I know some teachers who hate retakes. Its more work and why the hell should they have do more work because a kid screwed up. Well the reality is that offering a retake opens the door for a student who did not develop mastery to do it. Trust me no kid -high or low performing is going to go back and rewrite a paper or essay for fun if they can't resubmit it. The kids who really do not care do not bother to resubmit. The ones who do care put a lot of effort into the retake and end up learning more than the kids that got an A the first time. Its a huge confidence boost to a low to mid performer and a relief to a high performer. As a teacher you end up with an additional student who has mastered the content and have positively contributed to the mental health of your students. Win win situation.

A retake is a great idea. As is an extra project or similar. And we have no idea if this teacher would entertain those ideas. But rewarding kids who do not follow the directions with false merit points helps no one. Much better that they get the low grade and then do extra work to show that they not only understand the material, but that they understand why they got the low grade in the first place.

[Anonymous]

I hope OP understands the difference between school refusal to cater to a snowflake family; and being persuaded to accommodate a student's special needs when presented with appropriate documentation. There is a difference in tone, in evidence produced, and in reasoning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly cannot understand how OP is employed somewhere.

OP here. I run my own business in a creative field. Since I know what you will say about that, I'll tell you that my DH is a c-suite executive with many employees and he agrees with me.

He agrees with you because he's sympathetic and trying to placate both is kid and his wife. I guarantee that anyone who manages a bunch of people believes damn well that following the directions is a significant part of success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Teacher here and you should absolutely contact the teacher and principal or assistant principal. Be polite and respectful but you can be assertive. Do not apologize that your child has ADHD or a 504. Do not act like you are asking for a favor or preferential treatment, you are not. You are standing up for a child with a disability.

If the child has a 504 or IEP that requires direction and instruction clarification. This accommodation was not given and the kids subsequently got a D then the teacher needs to either correct the grade based on whether his answers met the substantive mastery of what she was testing OR give him a new test and clarify the instructions.

There is a reason why IEP and 504 are protected by federal laws. The whole point of a 504 or IEP is to a level the playing field so a child with a learning disability can access the education and b to provide consistency so the parent/child does not need to constantly re-negotiate or explain the LD. As a teacher you can be a complete asshole and hate kids with LDS or accommodations but guess what- your job is to teach them and failing to follow the 504/IEP is an actionable offense.

The reality is that there are good teachers and bad teachers. There is an inherent imbalance of power between a student and teacher. Long ago when I was an intern I saw kids with LDs and 504/IEP come up to a teacher and ask for help only to be batted away. Sadly for that teacher the ONLY kids who has their plans followed were the ones for whom their parents complained to the AP.

OP -you are not asking for any favors by insisting that the teacher follow the 504. a 504 is not a special favor, it is a legal right for someone with a disability.


This is a great suggestion. But let's be clear - is issue here is that the teacher didn't follow the 504. The issue is NOT that the teacher is nit picky or that the teacher should have given credit despite not following directions. That the kid has a 504 and it wasn't followed. Period. If a different kid had done the same with without any accommodations required, the teacher's actions would have been 100% right.
s

The 504 makes it an open and shut situation. If there was no 504 or IEP and it was a normal kid, then the teacher is not following best practices.

Based on the OP's description that the child fully translated each sentence correctly showing the level of mastery and understanding that the quiz was intended to ascertain then it was wrong for a teacher to give no credit because he did not follow the directions. The purpose of the course and quiz is to develop and demonstrate mastery. A more appropriate penalty would have been to take several points off for not following directions. The student should be acknowledged for studying and learning the material to the level that was required for this assessment.

In teaching you encounter a wide variety of learners with different skills and ability. At some point you have to decide why you are there. Are you there to teach and help all your students learn or are you there to get through the day and focus on just some students. If you still believe that you are there to teach and help all students learn then you incorporate flexibility into your routine choosing the path that yields the highest learning outcomes.

A good example is the issue of retakes. I know some teachers who hate retakes. Its more work and why the hell should they have do more work because a kid screwed up. Well the reality is that offering a retake opens the door for a student who did not develop mastery to do it. Trust me no kid -high or low performing is going to go back and rewrite a paper or essay for fun if they can't resubmit it. The kids who really do not care do not bother to resubmit. The ones who do care put a lot of effort into the retake and end up learning more than the kids that got an A the first time. Its a huge confidence boost to a low to mid performer and a relief to a high performer. As a teacher you end up with an additional student who has mastered the content and have positively contributed to the mental health of your students. Win win situation.

A retake is a great idea. As is an extra project or similar. And we have no idea if this teacher would entertain those ideas. But rewarding kids who do not follow the directions with false merit points helps no one. Much better that they get the low grade and then do extra work to show that they not only understand the material, but that they understand why they got the low grade in the first place.

OP here. She is only allowing kids who scored below 45 to do a retake. We've emailed our son's counselor about the 504 plan and how she's not been following it and I wonder if that will have any effect.

[Anonymous]

Thing is, the Spanish question was not to translate. The question was really about the appropriate use and timing of the phrase in question. It’s great that your kid knows the WORDS, but does he know when it is appropriate to use them, culturally? While “hello” seems obvious, things like “Good day”, depending on culture, could be a greeting or a farewell. Your child did not demonstrate that they understand the usage.

As far as the border, I’d be curious to know what the project was. I trust is want about the colouring, but rather the idea of making an ad, or replicating a town hall themed posting, or something similar related to the poem. Again, it’s likely not about the poem itself, and more about the understanding of the course content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think op is saying that her child should have received a perfect score, but rather that it is less than ideal to receive no partial credit/opportunity for re-take. I agree with her! Following directions IS important and failure to do so should be reflected in the grade, but 6th traders are 11-they make mistakes! I feel like most kids would learn more from a “oh no if I had followed directions I would have gotten an a instead of a c” rather than a straight f. At my children’s school they would very likely have had a chance to re-take.

If 11 kids got a D, I guarantee the teacher will be giving a retake or makeup exam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I honestly cannot understand how OP is employed somewhere.

She must be self employed. May be successful, but no one wants to work with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I honestly cannot understand how OP is employed somewhere.

She must be self employed. May be successful, but no one wants to work with her.

Yup. And is late on every deadline.