DS's word against teacher's - WWYD?
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Anonymous
| OP, you are making a very bid deal over one 6th grade assignment. Life goes on. Move with it. |
Anonymous
|
Possibilities of what happened to the missing homework:
- He put it in the wrong bin - He handed it to Larla to turn in as she went to turn hers in and she somehow lost it - His paper got stuck to another one so she didn't see it |
Anonymous
| I would do absolutely nothing. In fact, I have done absolutely nothing in the same exact situation many times. It is between your DS and the teacher to sort it out. Plus nobody cares about 6th grade grades. Heck, I had one A- at college and nobody but me ever cared. |
Anonymous
OP, see bolded above from your reply. I would ensure that the teacher and principal both see that policy in writing. Bring it with you, printed out for them and hightlighted, when you see them, or copy it and highlight it if you are communicating by e-mail (though I'd say that in person is better). I would just show them the policy, then say that Zs get posted on Edline BEFORE the "deadline during the class period" and that you are asking if Edline possibly is set to default to Z at a certain time (say, midnight Sundays). The school should be able to get Edline reset so that the teacher must proactively ENTER a grade rather than the system automatically defaulting to a Z--I would hope. (I am not in MCPS so not familiar with Edline.) Two other things: First, approach the teacher and principal as non-confrontationally as you possibly can. Speak in terms of, "We need to understand whether DS is misinterpreting what teacher is telling him and needs to be set straight, or if Edline itself is an issue here, or a combination of both." Make it all about fixing the issue, whether that issue turns out to be the system itself or your son's organization skills. It sounds as if you believe him when he say he turned this paper in and I believe in your trust, so stick to that--he's sure he did it, you know he always is truthful about his work, so if something is really lost after being done, what happens next? And ask, "How does he remediate a grade like this?" Remediate here will not mean a full do-over, probably, but a chance to make some points back for turning it in late or whatever. If the teacher never allows that, ask WHY. If other teachers in the school do allow it, ask why her policy is so different--and really listen. It may be that her entire department works the way she works; if he's in middle school, be aware, departments matter more in MS and HS, in terms of there being "English department policy on test retakes" or "math department policy on missed homework" etc. She may actually be doing what every other teacher in her subject does, just not what DS's other teachers in other subjects do. So she may not have any freedom to let him make things up. But you need to know either way, for sure. Second, it is wonderful that your son has done so terrifically especially with challenges. But it's time for both you and him to get past all-As being his standard for every class, every grading period. Those Zs or Bs do hurt, I know -- my own DD was straight-As all the way through MS, but as things have gotten tougher in HS, we've had to adjust how we react to individual assignments and tests when the grades aren't good. It's good that with this one Z you are going to find out the issues at play and work on them (which might mean getting an Edline flub fixed, or might mean instead telling your DS that this is just a lesson learned and lost work is lost and can't be remediated). But there will be other fair and unfair grades in the years to come. He'll learn from them too. |
Anonymous
| I think you should do nothing. This is a great time for the child to be absorbing lessons like this. By high school, a child should know how to advocate for him or herself, and now is a good time to either do so, or suffer the consequences. If the child makes an attempt to self-advocate and nothing changes. There will be irrational and unfair people in your child's life, and as long as you are talking about something as minor as this, it's important for your child to learn that it is not a big deal, and has nothing to do with his worth as a person. |
Anonymous
Exactly this. |
Anonymous
OP again. You're so incredibly rude. My son has social and communication issues, so I purposefully took a back seat to see how he would handle advocating for himself. I had no idea he could do the assignment again within a certain time frame, otherwise I would certainly have advised him to do this. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, albeit so nastily. We are new not only to middle school, but to this country, I guess I'm missing some basic knowledge of how school works here. The teacher has informed me today that the Z stands. I will reply that my son has asked her for the past TWO weeks how he could make it up, and that she never told him he could repeat the assignment (before the deadline), or what he could do. All she said was that she would look for it, and that he should look for it. I am not happy with her way of handling this situation. I think my son did the best he could with the limited knowledge we had. We will know better next time. And I stand by what I described before. There have been multiple Zs posted by this teacher before the work was even due, which is very strange. Again, I am not in the habit of running to the administration to complain, but I guess I should from now on, and be *that* parent. We are the opposite of the prideful, entitled family you think we are. You should be ashamed of yourself, PP. |
Anonymous
| Way to go, OP! You are a great mom!! |
Anonymous
|
Middle school is where kids need to learn self advocacy and academic consequences. Even SN kids (and I have 2 on 504s, one MS, one HS, so I get that SN kids can struggle with this). Step back and let him either straighten it out with the teacher or take the zero. In our schools (FCPS) counselors will help facilitate a discussion and solution with the teacher if the kid asks.
The beauty of letting it happen in middle school is that, in most cases, the consequences are very, very small. Only a few upper math and language classes might appear on college transcripts. Even if your DS gets a B one quarter, he will hopefully see it, dislike it, and not do it again-- all before it shows up on a high school transcript. |
Anonymous
Have you had him talk to his guidance counselor? Part of their job is to sit down with MS and HS kids and their teachers (but not mom) when these issues arise, so kids can learn self advocacy. |
Anonymous
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It sounds like your son has learned a useful lesson in what would have been a harmless way. Now he knows what the teacher assumed he already knew (and which was probably in the materials he has received, that the grade Z means that it hasn't been received and can still be turned in before the deadline, but will revert to 0 if not turned it. This is something your son needs to know. Not necessarily something you need to know. We prefer to let our son be in charge of checking on Edline. He also has major issues with self-advocating (won't make eye contact with others, won't go in for help.) But this feels like the time I should be hands off on this, so he will learn to speak up for himself. If I start managing and interfering, it diminishes him in his own eyes and the teacher's, and also keeps him from growing. Grades don't matter in sixth grade. Let those things be learning opportunities. By interfering you also are giving him the message that one slip up is a really, really big deal, which will increase his anxiety.
I'm not trying to be harsh, but just to encourage you to try staying handsoff. Tell him you will no longer check edline, and that he's in charge, and then follow through. Don't jump in the first time there is a mistake. Wait a year and see how he does. |
Anonymous
This. I agree with PPs that this teacher sounds annoyingly rigid and that it is ridiculous that one worksheet can lower a grade that much. But one of the best life lessons you can teach your son is not to sweat the small stuff. And a B in 6th grade, for whatever reason? Is exceedingly small stuff. |
Anonymous
| We're not in MCPS, but in our school, I suspect that when the teacher enters an assignment, the system fills in 0's for each student automatically. Then the teacher grades the assignment and replaces the zero with the grade. At least that's the way it seems to me. It would explain why there are zeros before the due date has arrived. |
Anonymous
| 1 sheet of work would not have enough weight to drag his grade down an entire letter grade. Are you sure there isn't other missed work he hasn't turned in or that his in-class participation isn't lacking? |
Anonymous
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The kid could have A grades on all of his other assignments, but if his average is in the low 90s, it's reasonable that one zero could pull him to a B. An average is an average. Every grade contributes to that average. It's human nature to fixate on that last one, but if he wants a solid A, hovering in the low 90s doesn't leave much wiggle room for something to go wrong-- which happens.
A B is a perfectly reasonable grade. Sounds like both student and parent need to develop some perspective and resilience. This is a good opportunity for that. |