Encouraging notes home from teachers in middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:7th grader got a post card last year from a teacher. DC thought it was weird and embarrassing.

I guess they got that from their parents. Seems ungrateful.

PP here. None of us had ever heard of teachers sending post cards to students’ homes, so it seemed kind of creepy. They didn’t receive any postcards from any other teachers and didn’t realize it was a “thing.”

I'm a MS teacher and it's not a thing. Some schools might have a setup but it's a lot for a teacher to do with 100+ students. I wish I could have! I try to make sure at the end of the year that each of my students has an award that represents them and their attributes. I know of zero teachers that have done this in MS except for one or two that might send a couple out when they get a chance. Often we try to send a positive email home, but those often get no response!

Clearly it is a thing given that multiple people report it happening. My kid has had a handful every year of middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:7th grader got a post card last year from a teacher. DC thought it was weird and embarrassing.

I guess they got that from their parents. Seems ungrateful.

PP here. None of us had ever heard of teachers sending post cards to students’ homes, so it seemed kind of creepy. They didn’t receive any postcards from any other teachers and didn’t realize it was a “thing.”

I'm a MS teacher and it's not a thing. Some schools might have a setup but it's a lot for a teacher to do with 100+ students. I wish I could have! I try to make sure at the end of the year that each of my students has an award that represents them and their attributes. I know of zero teachers that have done this in MS except for one or two that might send a couple out when they get a chance. Often we try to send a positive email home, but those often get no response!

Certainly happens at our MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:7th grader got a post card last year from a teacher. DC thought it was weird and embarrassing.

I guess they got that from their parents. Seems ungrateful.

PP here. None of us had ever heard of teachers sending post cards to students’ homes, so it seemed kind of creepy. They didn’t receive any postcards from any other teachers and didn’t realize it was a “thing.”

I'm a MS teacher and it's not a thing. Some schools might have a setup but it's a lot for a teacher to do with 100+ students. I wish I could have! I try to make sure at the end of the year that each of my students has an award that represents them and their attributes. I know of zero teachers that have done this in MS except for one or two that might send a couple out when they get a chance. Often we try to send a positive email home, but those often get no response!

Certainly happens at our MS.

Clearly it doesn't happen at all MS. Get a grip Karen. Or maybe you are writing the postcards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:7th grader got a post card last year from a teacher. DC thought it was weird and embarrassing.

I guess they got that from their parents. Seems ungrateful.

PP here. None of us had ever heard of teachers sending post cards to students’ homes, so it seemed kind of creepy. They didn’t receive any postcards from any other teachers and didn’t realize it was a “thing.”

I'm a MS teacher and it's not a thing. Some schools might have a setup but it's a lot for a teacher to do with 100+ students. I wish I could have! I try to make sure at the end of the year that each of my students has an award that represents them and their attributes. I know of zero teachers that have done this in MS except for one or two that might send a couple out when they get a chance. Often we try to send a positive email home, but those often get no response!

Clearly it is a thing given that multiple people report it happening. My kid has had a handful every year of middle school.

Let me guess. You are in a W school? LOL Some teachers have actual jobs to do.

[Anonymous]

Happens at our MS up county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:7th grader got a post card last year from a teacher. DC thought it was weird and embarrassing.

I guess they got that from their parents. Seems ungrateful.

PP here. None of us had ever heard of teachers sending post cards to students’ homes, so it seemed kind of creepy. They didn’t receive any postcards from any other teachers and didn’t realize it was a “thing.”

I'm a MS teacher and it's not a thing. Some schools might have a setup but it's a lot for a teacher to do with 100+ students. I wish I could have! I try to make sure at the end of the year that each of my students has an award that represents them and their attributes. I know of zero teachers that have done this in MS except for one or two that might send a couple out when they get a chance. Often we try to send a positive email home, but those often get no response!

Clearly it is a thing given that multiple people report it happening. My kid has had a handful every year of middle school.

Let me guess. You are in a W school? LOL Some teachers have actual jobs to do.

I don’t even know what a W school is. TPMS. Teachers are excellent. Very impressed overall. Not a single dud and now in 8th.

[Anonymous]

High school teacher here, retired three years ago after a 41 year career teaching math at a boy's school. We were not necessarily encouraged, or required, to send out letters.

Each semester, I sent out what I called my "Positive Notes," always handwritten, to the parents of kids I observed doing something positive in my classroom, such as making a special effort to learn, or helping another kid with a tough math concept, or earning a grade on a test that was great for him whether it be an A, B, or C, or just being an all around good kid, whether he was one of the very quiet ones or a more outgoing one.

I especially enjoyed sending a positive note home to the kids who probably didn't think they'd ever get anything positive from a teacher, but I enjoyed sending them to anyone whom I observed doing something positive. I sent out anywhere from 1 to 6 or 7 notes each semester. It took a lot of time to write a thoughtful note, and with everything we have to get done, both teaching tasks and administratively, I can sure see why teachers don't have time to do so, but to me it was worth the time and effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most schools that I have worked at had post cards that teachers could send out. One school we would be encouraged to send out a few each week. They would have them out for us during meetings and we could write a couple each meeting. Another school would print out grade set of address labels, one for each student. We would try to send a post card to each student over the course of the year. We would just peal off the label of a student and send a note home. This helped us keep track of who still needs a note sent home.

Pyle's 7th grade does it like this. Every kid gets at least one.