HS teacher not grading papers for two straight semesters. Does FCPS have a policy on this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slow/incomplete grading is a huge problem in FCPS that negatively affects learning at the lower grades and college opportunity at the higher grades. The issue will not improve, however, until teachers decide to shift their priorities. Yes, they are overworked, but they are choosing to not grade in order to cope. Chose to not do something else that doesn’t have such a direct negative effect on students.

Alas, they won’t as we see from these comments time and time again. It’s almost as if they don’t care.

Such as? Pray do tell, oh wise one.

NP and I’ve stopped going to a lot of the “mandatory” meetings, like team meetings, faculty meetings and PD. I’ve also started working from home during some of my planning blocks so I can’t get pulled in a million different directions. I have one at the beginning of the day so I arrive late. Neither of these are allowed at my school and I didn’t ask permission to do either. I just started so I can focus on my actual work and nothing has happened. I’ve been teaching over 25 years. If they want to push me out for focusing on students then I’m okay with that. It’s time for me to leave.

Thank you. More teachers need to prioritize like this and take a stand.

I could do those things, and that might get me an extra 30 minutes of time. That’s nothing compared to the 30+ hours of grading for one essay.

If I’m really going to make a noticeable impact - the type that will force change - I need to stop assigning papers. Students will receive no writing instruction and no comments. That’s how I’ll truly get my work-life balance back.

I can’t do that, however, and I think we all know that. Nobody really cares if I’m at meetings. Seriously. People WOULD care if my IB students are doing absolutely no writing. That’s the only rebellious action I can take that would make a difference, and I’m unwilling to do it.

I’m burning out and I’ll quit, just like the many before me. Perhaps that’s the best impact I can make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slow/incomplete grading is a huge problem in FCPS that negatively affects learning at the lower grades and college opportunity at the higher grades. The issue will not improve, however, until teachers decide to shift their priorities. Yes, they are overworked, but they are choosing to not grade in order to cope. Chose to not do something else that doesn’t have such a direct negative effect on students.

Alas, they won’t as we see from these comments time and time again. It’s almost as if they don’t care.

Such as? Pray do tell, oh wise one.

NP and I’ve stopped going to a lot of the “mandatory” meetings, like team meetings, faculty meetings and PD. I’ve also started working from home during some of my planning blocks so I can’t get pulled in a million different directions. I have one at the beginning of the day so I arrive late. Neither of these are allowed at my school and I didn’t ask permission to do either. I just started so I can focus on my actual work and nothing has happened. I’ve been teaching over 25 years. If they want to push me out for focusing on students then I’m okay with that. It’s time for me to leave.

Thank you. More teachers need to prioritize like this and take a stand.

I’m a relatively new teacher without tenure.
I could get fired if I skip mandatory meetings and work from home when I am not allowed to.
Also, lesson planning takes me hours and hours because I have not been doing this for several years.
I am always working with students during class time so no time to grade then. I teach a difficult subject so students are always stopping by during my lunch for extra help. I end up working 7 days a week to get my grading done. I’m doing a good job but you have to work at least 6 days a week if you don’t want to phone it in. I’m frustrated by all the useless meetings and busy work that we are forced to do.
And I’m starting to look elsewhere for jobs as I am envious of friends who have remote jobs, work less than me and make more money than me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ Has this always been how it is in the teaching profession…or has something changed to make it harder to grade? For the teachers responding that have taught for the last 25 years…have you been doing this crazy work life balance that long? Or has something changed? ”

This is the fundamental question. What’s been added to teachers’ plates now that parents could try to lobby gets taken back off to create time for grading.

Open enrollment. I now have kids sitting in class who have zero business being there. While I used to be able to plan a lesson for algebra 2, I now have to plan a regular version, a modification for kids who still can’t factor despite spending a month on it in algebra 1, repeating it throughout the year in geometry, and getting another month of it in algebra II, and spend the whole “independent work time” sitting with the kids who got Ds in geometry but chose algebra II over afda because “it looks better for college”.

then, because all those kids are so far over their heads, I have a full house during the 4th period remediation block. Can’t grade papers then because I’m working with those kids who legitimately are trying, but just don’t have prealgebra foundations. How do I teach you to graph a rational polynomial function when you cannot factor (because that requires knowing multiplication facts), graph an ordered pair, make a table of values to match a function, know what a y intercept is, know that the x intercept is when y is 0, or even know right from left? (Talking about end behavior of a function feels like kindergarten some days. Me: “Okay, you’re riding a roller coaster to the LEFT. Are you going up or down?” Them: “How can you be going up? You said left!” “Wait, which way is left?” “Are negative numbers left or right?”)

I wish that there were placement tests, teacher recommendations were more than just a casual suggestion, and that you needed a C or better to move to the next level now that we have the 50% policy. Kids can literally get 0 on every assessment in assignment in algebra 1 but if they do a few homework’s or class works they get a D and move on. That’s so. Much. Work. For the next year’s teacher to try to backfill that many holes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP teacher.

Those free response questions are the death of me. They take 3-4 minutes each to grade, our tests have two each, so 7 minutes per kid x87 kids = 10 hrs of grading for one test. I have fantasized about not grading them…but I just suck it up and devote one Sunday every 2-3 weeks to nothing but free response grading.

Next year I am going to try to be more strategic and have the kids “pre grade” it themselves using the rubric. Is the teacher showing them what the rubric for the short answer questions looks like? Are they going over what a solid answer looks like and picking apart examples of weaker ones? Are they writing a sample solution as a class after they write individual ones? Are they told what year the question was from so they can look up the rubric in college board’s website?

I think all of these are ways to give feedback without grades. If none of that is happening, then I’d be frustrated and would have my kid reach out to the teacher (cc you on the email for accountability) and ask how to get feedback on the written part. If no answer, then go to the administrator in charge of that department and ask how your child can get feedback on their written portions. That’s the more important piece than the grade, IMO. They are having graded assignments (the gradebook isn’t blank! No surprise entries at the end of the quarter) but your child needs guidance to pass the AP test.

I'm sympathetic, as I used to teach writing, but you have to be joking for the bolded. Those rubrics re idiotic and subjective, for one. But also, it is YOUR job to grade and provide the feedback. I don't know the answer here to help you get that done but it is not the kids doing it for you.

I only know my subject (an AP math class) but they are actually exceedingly detailed and clear rubrics. They list out exactly what bullet points are required for full marks, examples of ways to hit them, and what designates partial credit. They list sample responses, why marks are missed, etc. You could hand the rubrics to someone who had never taught the course and they’d be able to figure it out if they knew basic content.

The reality is that grading it themselves will give them the immediate feedback. They’ll know within minutes after they did it what was missing (big picture). Then I can focus on just grading every third one, holding a stack until a teacher work day, not feeling bad about only doing an hour a night instead of 6, etc.

The alternative is it doesn’t get done at all. Right now I’m missing my own kid’s childhood to grade. I refuse to do that next year.

[Anonymous]

We left FCPS a few years ago. The entire system (K-12) struck me as existing in an on-going state of passive aggressive behavior on the teacher side, and an on-going state of I-could-do-your-job-better-than-you-teacher on the parent side. Not grading papers in a timely way or letting parents know their kid is failing is about as passive-aggressive as it gets. Then again, some parents were so obnoxious toward the teacher that they brought it down upon the entire class. It felt like a constant state of proxy war, and the students suffer the consequences. Just my experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here! Thank you all for you candid and honest responses. I can guarantee this is not a case of my DC lying…DC’s grade is fine in the class…he has had to work really hard because DC typically doesn’t perform as well on tests and relies upon DCs written work (which is better than DC’s multiple choose testing skills) to pull up his grade. That is how this came to light..,because DC couldn’t rely on any of his written work to help his grade since 1st marking period. I see blanks spots in the grade book for the last two marking periods where assignments were handed in and not graded or tests were bifurcated in the grade book and only the multiple choice part has a grade.

DC has also stated that they don’t get any feedback in class on these assignments …just never see them again. This DC frustration that DC has no clue how DC’s writing is versus what is expected on the test!

This problem sounds impossible to solve…how are teachers supposed to get it all done. Has this always been how it is in the teaching profession…or has something changed to make it harder to grade? For the teachers responding that have taught for the last 25 years…have you been doing this crazy work life balance that long? Or has something changed? I personally agree that the no fail policy in FCPS is crap and not doing students or teachers any favors! Wish there was something i could do to help!

Changes:

1. Everything is accepted late so grading is not as fluid as it used to be. Teachers now have to switch hats to grade a dozen or more different assignments.

2. Teachers now have to send countless messages to students to remind them to turn in their work. In the past, that responsibility was on the student.

3. There are at least twice the number of assignments and assessments to grade because there is the original assignment or assessment plus all the retakes.

4. Teachers' planning and grading time is now dominated by meetings, most of which wouldn't have occurred years ago.

Many of us have not been able to maintain this crazy work life balance, which has led to a lot of divorces, missing our own children's events, anxiety and depression, health issues, and family breakdown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We left FCPS a few years ago. The entire system (K-12) struck me as existing in an on-going state of passive aggressive behavior on the teacher side, and an on-going state of I-could-do-your-job-better-than-you-teacher on the parent side. Not grading papers in a timely way or letting parents know their kid is failing is about as passive-aggressive as it gets. Then again, some parents were so obnoxious toward the teacher that they brought it down upon the entire class. It felt like a constant state of proxy war, and the students suffer the consequences. Just my experience.

I’m not being passive-aggressive at all. I’ve been grading papers off and on all weekend, probably putting in over 15 hours already. They won’t be back tomorrow because I decided to spend some time with my family instead of grading all of them.

I already feel bad about the fact I didn’t get them done this weekend. To think that a parent may think I’m acting passive-aggressively isn’t helping.

[Anonymous]

25 year experienced teacher who stopped going to meetings here.

What’s changed - when I was younger I spent a lot of time on weekends and in the evenings working. It didn’t seem as stressful since I didn’t have kids and I didn’t have boundaries.

Yes, open enrollment has made grading more difficult. I have students years behind on skills signing up for advanced classes. It takes much longer to grade their work and there are several in every class.

We didn’t have as many requirements years ago. There wasn’t as much mandatory paperwork and other positions assigning us extra work (I’m talking to you, academic coaches and CO flavor or the month!)

[Anonymous]

^ and how could I forget, the reassessment and accepting of late work. It adds so much time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ Has this always been how it is in the teaching profession…or has something changed to make it harder to grade? For the teachers responding that have taught for the last 25 years…have you been doing this crazy work life balance that long? Or has something changed? ”

This is the fundamental question. What’s been added to teachers’ plates now that parents could try to lobby gets taken back off to create time for grading.

Open enrollment. I now have kids sitting in class who have zero business being there. While I used to be able to plan a lesson for algebra 2, I now have to plan a regular version, a modification for kids who still can’t factor despite spending a month on it in algebra 1, repeating it throughout the year in geometry, and getting another month of it in algebra II, and spend the whole “independent work time” sitting with the kids who got Ds in geometry but chose algebra II over afda because “it looks better for college”.

then, because all those kids are so far over their heads, I have a full house during the 4th period remediation block. Can’t grade papers then because I’m working with those kids who legitimately are trying, but just don’t have prealgebra foundations. How do I teach you to graph a rational polynomial function when you cannot factor (because that requires knowing multiplication facts), graph an ordered pair, make a table of values to match a function, know what a y intercept is, know that the x intercept is when y is 0, or even know right from left? (Talking about end behavior of a function feels like kindergarten some days. Me: “Okay, you’re riding a roller coaster to the LEFT. Are you going up or down?” Them: “How can you be going up? You said left!” “Wait, which way is left?” “Are negative numbers left or right?”)

I wish that there were placement tests, teacher recommendations were more than just a casual suggestion, and that you needed a C or better to move to the next level now that we have the 50% policy. Kids can literally get 0 on every assessment in assignment in algebra 1 but if they do a few homework’s or class works they get a D and move on. That’s so. Much. Work. For the next year’s teacher to try to backfill that many holes.

I’m laughing because only another math teacher could relate to your reference. I’ve been up front with so many examples, pointing up along the graph and just asking…is it going up or down? And some say each or they don’t know. It’s really how it is these days.

[Anonymous]

Please tell me students need to get at least a C in Algebra 1 to go into Algebra 2? No? No prerequisite? This is crazy...

[Anonymous]

Dear math teachers,
I feel your pain.
Love, a chemistry teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP teacher.

Those free response questions are the death of me. They take 3-4 minutes each to grade, our tests have two each, so 7 minutes per kid x87 kids = 10 hrs of grading for one test. I have fantasized about not grading them…but I just suck it up and devote one Sunday every 2-3 weeks to nothing but free response grading.

Next year I am going to try to be more strategic and have the kids “pre grade” it themselves using the rubric. Is the teacher showing them what the rubric for the short answer questions looks like? Are they going over what a solid answer looks like and picking apart examples of weaker ones? Are they writing a sample solution as a class after they write individual ones? Are they told what year the question was from so they can look up the rubric in college board’s website?

I think all of these are ways to give feedback without grades. If none of that is happening, then I’d be frustrated and would have my kid reach out to the teacher (cc you on the email for accountability) and ask how to get feedback on the written part. If no answer, then go to the administrator in charge of that department and ask how your child can get feedback on their written portions. That’s the more important piece than the grade, IMO. They are having graded assignments (the gradebook isn’t blank! No surprise entries at the end of the quarter) but your child needs guidance to pass the AP test.

I'm sympathetic, as I used to teach writing, but you have to be joking for the bolded. Those rubrics re idiotic and subjective, for one. But also, it is YOUR job to grade and provide the feedback. I don't know the answer here to help you get that done but it is not the kids doing it for you.

I only know my subject (an AP math class) but they are actually exceedingly detailed and clear rubrics. They list out exactly what bullet points are required for full marks, examples of ways to hit them, and what designates partial credit. They list sample responses, why marks are missed, etc. You could hand the rubrics to someone who had never taught the course and they’d be able to figure it out if they knew basic content.

The reality is that grading it themselves will give them the immediate feedback. They’ll know within minutes after they did it what was missing (big picture). Then I can focus on just grading every third one, holding a stack until a teacher work day, not feeling bad about only doing an hour a night instead of 6, etc.

The alternative is it doesn’t get done at all. Right now I’m missing my own kid’s childhood to grade. I refuse to do that next year.

Cool. So you won't be doing your full job, for 2/3 of the students. I mean, I guess you get points for admitting it. But, no, those rubrics are not clear by any means (yes, I've looked).

I understand the work life balance issues as I'm in a career notoriously bad about that. Guess what? I changed jobs to make FAR less money and have that. If you feel you can't have both, you should absolutely find another option and let someone who is going to do their full job do it. Because you're simply not doing the kids any favors. You're not. As a parent, I'd rather have someone who does everything expect and, historically, everything teachers have done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please tell me students need to get at least a C in Algebra 1 to go into Algebra 2? No? No prerequisite? This is crazy...

Don't they have AFDA now ?

[Anonymous]

It’s so cute that you think there’s a line of people waiting to teach your kid AP level math.

Signed,

A history teacher