High school teacher rant

[Anonymous]

OP here again. So today I was drafting an email to meet the teacher, and my kid stopped me and said all the students’ parents who email the teacher about their concerns on low grade were given lower grades. She is thinking if i write to her then her grades will go more down. It’s ridiculous. No freedom to show concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. So today I was drafting an email to meet the teacher, and my kid stopped me and said all the students’ parents who email the teacher about their concerns on low grade were given lower grades. She is thinking if i write to her then her grades will go more down. It’s ridiculous. No freedom to show concern.

You are a fool if you believe this.
Also, you're the parent. Don't let your kid stop you.
(PS I believe the teacher was right).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They did a study in the 1980s where they gave the same paper to 4 different English teachers. The paper got a D, a C, a B, and an A. Unfortunately language arts is incredibly subjective.

The teacher may not be biased against your kid per se. They just might be biased against your kid's writing style or point of view.

j


That’s why they have rubrics now. It’s pretty easy to get As by following them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are definitely some horrible teachers out there, but in this case there are some parent red flags. First, how is it that the student doesn't know why he got a D? My B student who hates English can't even get a D. And if he gets a C, he goes and asks the teacher what he did wrong, and he's not a very outgoing kid. So if my kid knows why he got a low grade, then why doesn't OP's kid know? A D is very low, and isn't usually given for work that is turned in on time. So something is fishy here.

OP here. My kid did ask the teacher that how she can improve. The teacher now very well knows that my child always reaches out to her when she gets a low grade And resubmits her work. Interestingly the teacher doesn’t comment much on the assignment then how will the student know what to correct. I once checked one comment she wrote and it was making no sense. Not just my child many students have the same opinion.

With regard to the resubmitted work:

1. Are they assignments that are eligible for resubmission/retake?

2. Is she actually making changes before
resubmitting?

3. Does the teacher know your daughter is resubmitting work? Schoology makes it very challenging to see which assignments are resubmitted.

4. Is she reading the teacher's feedback or is she just asking the teacher what she did wrong, without bothering to read the feedback provided?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter said that most English teachers will grade on how well they like the kid, after reading this she might be right.

No. Sigh. This isn’t true.

Why would I grade in a manner that is going to put MORE work on my plate?

I use a rubric to clearly outline my expectations and I leave plenty of comments to illustrate why the student received the grade. This already takes most of my nights and weekends. Grading in a manner that’s going to bring complaints would take even more time.

And I’m actually rather offended by your daughter’s comment. I’m an adult and a professional. I don’t play silly games.

I’m not sure why you’re so upset. I’m a 50-year-old, born and raised in NYC, and I went to a school equivalent to TJ. It’s absolutely true that English teachers tend to grade based on who they like rather than purely on merit. In other words, even if a student isn’t the top performer, if the teacher likes them, they’ll still get the same kind of treatment as the star pupils. This has been a fact for over three decades.

That said, teachers typically wouldn’t downgrade the work of a top student either—as long as that student wasn’t a disruptive presence in class.

[Anonymous]

And, yes, plenty of disgruntled teachers are still teaching because they want the job security and retirement benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, yes, plenty of disgruntled teachers are still teaching because they want the job security and retirement benefits.

Isn't that why anybody works?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And, yes, plenty of disgruntled teachers are still teaching because they want the job security and retirement benefits.

Lol. I know nobody who fits this description. There are much easier jobs to coast in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter said that most English teachers will grade on how well they like the kid, after reading this she might be right.

No. Sigh. This isn’t true.

Why would I grade in a manner that is going to put MORE work on my plate?

I use a rubric to clearly outline my expectations and I leave plenty of comments to illustrate why the student received the grade. This already takes most of my nights and weekends. Grading in a manner that’s going to bring complaints would take even more time.

And I’m actually rather offended by your daughter’s comment. I’m an adult and a professional. I don’t play silly games.

I’m not sure why you’re so upset. I’m a 50-year-old, born and raised in NYC, and I went to a school equivalent to TJ. It’s absolutely true that English teachers tend to grade based on who they like rather than purely on merit. In other words, even if a student isn’t the top performer, if the teacher likes them, they’ll still get the same kind of treatment as the star pupils. This has been a fact for over three decades.

That said, teachers typically wouldn’t downgrade the work of a top student either—as long as that student wasn’t a disruptive presence in class.

This is the most eye-rolling, ridiculous response. You are so set in your opinions that there’s no way to communicate with you.

Your “school the equivalent of TJ” clearly didn’t teach you the definition of “fact”… or you were too busy entertaining your perceived notions about others to actually listen to your teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They did a study in the 1980s where they gave the same paper to 4 different English teachers. The paper got a D, a C, a B, and an A. Unfortunately language arts is incredibly subjective.

The teacher may not be biased against your kid per se. They just might be biased against your kid's writing style or point of view.

j


That’s why they have rubrics now. It’s pretty easy to get As by following them.

Even with rubrics, grading writing is still, unfortunately, rather subjective. I'm saying this as a 6th grade teacher, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They did a study in the 1980s where they gave the same paper to 4 different English teachers. The paper got a D, a C, a B, and an A. Unfortunately language arts is incredibly subjective.

The teacher may not be biased against your kid per se. They just might be biased against your kid's writing style or point of view.

j


That’s why they have rubrics now. It’s pretty easy to get As by following them.

Even with rubrics, grading writing is still, unfortunately, rather subjective. I'm saying this as a 6th grade teacher, though.

Depends on the rubric. I find the AP and IB ones less subjective, especially because you can view sample papers to differentiate between scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are definitely some horrible teachers out there, but in this case there are some parent red flags. First, how is it that the student doesn't know why he got a D? My B student who hates English can't even get a D. And if he gets a C, he goes and asks the teacher what he did wrong, and he's not a very outgoing kid. So if my kid knows why he got a low grade, then why doesn't OP's kid know? A D is very low, and isn't usually given for work that is turned in on time. So something is fishy here.

OP here. My kid did ask the teacher that how she can improve. The teacher now very well knows that my child always reaches out to her when she gets a low grade And resubmits her work. Interestingly the teacher doesn’t comment much on the assignment then how will the student know what to correct. I once checked one comment she wrote and it was making no sense. Not just my child many students have the same opinion.

With regard to the resubmitted work:

1. Are they assignments that are eligible for resubmission/retake?

2. Is she actually making changes before
resubmitting?

3. Does the teacher know your daughter is resubmitting work? Schoology makes it very challenging to see which assignments are resubmitted.

4. Is she reading the teacher's feedback or is she just asking the teacher what she did wrong, without bothering to read the feedback provided?

Yes to all. In fact there is an assignment that she hasn’t checked yet. DC approached her for it and she always says I will get to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter said that most English teachers will grade on how well they like the kid, after reading this she might be right.

No. Sigh. This isn’t true.

Why would I grade in a manner that is going to put MORE work on my plate?

I use a rubric to clearly outline my expectations and I leave plenty of comments to illustrate why the student received the grade. This already takes most of my nights and weekends. Grading in a manner that’s going to bring complaints would take even more time.

And I’m actually rather offended by your daughter’s comment. I’m an adult and a professional. I don’t play silly games.

I’m not sure why you’re so upset. I’m a 50-year-old, born and raised in NYC, and I went to a school equivalent to TJ. It’s absolutely true that English teachers tend to grade based on who they like rather than purely on merit. In other words, even if a student isn’t the top performer, if the teacher likes them, they’ll still get the same kind of treatment as the star pupils. This has been a fact for over three decades.

That said, teachers typically wouldn’t downgrade the work of a top student either—as long as that student wasn’t a disruptive presence in class.

This is the most eye-rolling, ridiculous response. You are so set in your opinions that there’s no way to communicate with you.

Your “school the equivalent of TJ” clearly didn’t teach you the definition of “fact”… or you were too busy entertaining your perceived notions about others to actually listen to your teachers.

It's actually not a ridiculous response. Here's a fact: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teacher%27s%20pet. That wouldn't exist if the concept weren't true. Teachers of all ages and modalities do it ... in elementary, middle, high, undergrad and grad. If you don't think that is true, then you need to dig a little deeper than just saying teachers cannot develop a liking for a particular student, which creates a bias in their grading (the reverse is also true). Teachers aren't robots. Human tendencies allow you to develop these pathways to connect with students (and students develop this pathway towards a teacher ... as noted in the millions of kids who write about the teacher that has influenced them the most ...). I'm guessing you haven't really understood anything from any bias training you've received. And, I also think you're an idiot for even saying what you said. Try and think critically before responding to something without understanding it on a deeper level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The teacher has not even graded DC and others kids assignments yet. By external sources I meant an English teacher, AI was after checking with couple of teachers. I wasn’t checking DC’s homework until now as I wanted to do my homework first to take the next step. I didn’t find any major concerns and DC got a D grade. DC was super frustrated. Is it normal to have a conference with the teacher to talk about how to do better in th class?

There are nine basic grammar mistakes or typos in this paragraph.

The second sentence makes no sense, given the rest of the paragraph.

There is no lead or topic sentence. There is no persuasive support. This is a collection of seven sentences that read like a succession of thoughts.

New poster here. Not to be harsh but this poster is right, OP: your writing is, to be blunt, not great. You do not come across as a fluent speaker of English. Maybe it is not your first language. Whatever the case may be, you are in no position to evaluate your kid's writing and I think you need to consider the possibility that the teacher is giving honest feedback without any form of bias influencing the grades. Please do not try to punish the teacher for honest feedback. I do not think bias is at play here. I say this as a Latina myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. So today I was drafting an email to meet the teacher, and my kid stopped me and said all the students’ parents who email the teacher about their concerns on low grade were given lower grades. She is thinking if i write to her then her grades will go more down. It’s ridiculous. No freedom to show concern.

Oh, sweetie, it sounds like your child is trying to prevent you from finding out the truth — so you need to find out why. Is your child not turning assignments in? Misbehaving in class? If a teacher gives a student a bad grade because the parent reached out, you would have every reason to go to the principal to complain — and teachers know this. Speak to the teacher first. If your child gets a bad grade following that, then you go to the principal to ask why.