Anonymous
09/27/2024 23:12
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Is this a real thread or comedy? Teacher here. I have not laughed this hard in a long time.
So many snarky posters and this includes you, OP.
My advice - just give up on this assignment. If it was a YouTube video assignment, it sounds relatively minor. Who cares? Keep moving forward
I understand you might not think this particular assignment is important, but the current environment for college admissions is incredibly competitive. It’s not just about one assignment—it’s about maintaining the kind of grades necessary to even have a shot at schools these days. For example, in Virginia, you need above a 4.0 GPA just to be competitive at in-state schools like UVA and Virginia Tech, which is crazy.
I think part of the issue is that colleges, especially Ivy League schools, haven’t made an effort to expand their acceptance rates. Personally, I believe their rates should be over 50%, and they could do that by expanding campuses and using online courses to reach a larger student pool. Technology has opened up so many opportunities for scalable education, and at a minimum, in-state schools should be leading the way in making higher education more accessible. There should be a mandate that schools must expand their capacity and maintain a 50% acceptance rate, or they risk losing state funding. The pressure on students would be far less intense if we saw more of an effort to expand these opportunities.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 23:08
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:My student has emailed teacher twice about a missing assignment (2 weeks ago). Teacher didn't reply. Student talked to her in class and then submitted the work. Assignment is still shown missing. I emailed last Monday to get clarification and didn't hear back. I followed up last Thursday and still haven't heard back. Assignment is still showing as missing.
Teacher is definitely not absent because she has graded and sent communications about other assignments.
What's my recourse here???
I haven’t had this issue with teachers often, but there was one time I requested something from a coach and got no response for a long time. This coach was known for not responding well over email, so after sending a reminder email and still hearing nothing, I cc’d the principal. That finally got a quick reply. I always give people a chance before escalating, but sometimes it’s necessary.
In my experience, when reaching out to teachers, it helps to be very clear about what I need and by when. I also keep an email trail, just like I would in any work-related situation, so there’s documentation. But I always try to approach it with kindness because teachers are people too. The goal is to avoid sounding confrontational or making things awkward for your child.
One major issue I’ve had is with the Student Information System (SIS). Some teachers update it daily, others weekly, and some only at the end of the quarter. It’s really annoying because there’s no standard, and the school administration hasn’t enforced one. Parents are left in the dark, not knowing when or if the system will be updated. I’ve had multiple meetings with senior administration about this because while SIS is available for parents to check on their child’s progress daily, there’s often a huge delay in seeing what’s been turned in late or not at all. This is made worse by FCPS’s late turn-in and test retake policies. I really think administration should address this and set a standard for how frequently SIS should be updated, so parents know what to expect.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 22:57
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Is this a real thread or comedy? Teacher here. I have not laughed this hard in a long time.
So many snarky posters and this includes you, OP.
My advice - just give up on this assignment. If it was a YouTube video assignment, it sounds relatively minor. Who cares? Keep moving forward
So many snarky posters and this includes you, OP.
My advice - just give up on this assignment. If it was a YouTube video assignment, it sounds relatively minor. Who cares? Keep moving forward
Anonymous
09/27/2024 22:05
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Teacher is a dud.
Or is amazing and has very different priorities...like, planning great lessons. Helping kids in crisis. She's gonna catch up on late work every other Friday night, if there's time. Maybe. Because it's not as important as 1,000
Other more pressing things
Anonymous
09/27/2024 22:03
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
Have your child email the teacher in a polite way to ask. After that second attempt BY YOUR CHILD, it may be appropriate for you to email the teacher directly.
OP here. I am sorry if this has been missed in my account. Child messaged the teacher by email, it was ignored. So child spoke to teacher and was brushed off. Then child followed up again with a message and again, this was ignored. Parent emailed teacher 3x and never got an answer. I came here asking for what to do next. And all the crazy teachers jumped down on me. Child doesn't want me to escalate because they're afraid of retaliation since teacher has a rep of being "scary".
"All the crazy teachers jumped down on me"
Did your child actually expect the teacher to stop what she was doing in class right then...stop instruction, stop everything, so that she would look up the assignment right then? Seriously? "I'll check" means she will check...at some point. Not then. But in the middle of classes. Not between classes. She's actually busy with tasks that are more important.
Coach your child to brainstorm when it might make the most sense for your child to ask to meet 1-1 with that teacher. Ask for 5 minutes of her time.
The teacher did not "ignore" your child or blow her off. She didn't have time to respond to a non-urgent question, and whenever she asked in class it wasn't at a time that they teacher could check right then. "I'll check" (at some unspecified time in the future) IS a legitimate response.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 21:09
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
I usually have 10-12 students at my desk during the 6 minutes between classes. (It’s also the only time I can get to the bathroom, which never happens.)
I am not able to pull up an assignment and conference with a student during that time. I triage needs and handle what I can. I’m merely human and I can’t stop time, so I can’t help everyone.
What a hard life! How do you ever survive?
By ignoring parent emails from annoying parents like you. LOL.
+1
Anonymous
09/27/2024 21:08
Subject: Re:Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, your child sees the teacher every day or every other day if there is a block schedule. Your child should be talking to the teacher. How are you not understanding that a student emailing a teacher about missing work twice instead of a student talking to the teacher before school, after school, after class, and/or at lunch is making the teacher work harder when it should be your student doing the legwork to talk to the teacher in person. It takes time to respond to back and forth emails when a conversation in person will quickly resolve the problem.
Most likely the teacher has explained to your student, missing work gets graded last or graded once a month. Why do you think your child is so special out of the teacher's 150 students that the teacher is supposed to stop everything, grade your child's late work, enter the grade online and then email you back. Your child probably isn't telling you the whole story. For all you know the teacher could have told your child, I got your mother's email and late work gets graded last.
Or hopefully the teacher isn't putting up with this obsessive nonsense. Your child talked to the teacher and submitted the assignment but the teacher hasn't had a chance to update the online grading system. Why do you think your child submitted the wrong assignment? What assignment do you think she submitted? Some random piece of paper?
She spoke in person with the teacher (good job for her!) and then turned in the assignment. Now you need to be patient. Do you think the teacher emails every parent when his or her child turns in something late saying I know it says missing in the grade book but rest assured your child turned in the correct assignment? If you want that level of catering, pay for private school. Meanwhile, your child is the one who is going to suffer because if you keep pestering the teacher. When the teacher has to choose who to call on why would he or she call on your child to answer? The teacher might get an email from you saying- my child came home from school and said they were called on to answer a question, but wasn't sure if they correctly answered the question or got credit for answering, etc.
Leave the teacher alone!
OP here. How do you not understand that the child has TALKED in person to the teacher and the teacher has said "I'll check" and dropped it/never got back to child or parent. Kid is shy and just doesn't want to pursue further and feels like they're a bother. SO NO, I will not leave the teacher alone. She better well get back to me (it's been 10 days now) and I will escalate if not.
Ha, ha. Go ahead and escalate. The teacher doesn't jump on your command. Your child probably realizes you actually are bothering the teacher. How positive and encouraging do you think the teacher is going to be toward your child when you escalate and keep emailing administrators? Your kid is now mortified and is probably dreading going to that class because you keep threatening to escalate the matter. This is middle school. It doesn't sound like a math or foreign language class so the grades don't matter.
Think to yourself how is it everyone else managed to turn in the assignment in a timely manner? First you say you want to make sure your child turned in anything then you say you also need to know not only if it is turned in but if it is the correct assignment, next you are going to want to know if all the answers were correct. Why can't you take this as a learning lesson for your child that these issues don't come up if you turn in things on time. Your child can also learn being willing to talk to teachers is important when they have questions.
DP. I think most teachers are quite capable of navigating the waters between an aggravating parent and the student. I’ve worked with some dreadful parents in the past, and more often than not their children are wonderful. I’ve had plenty of students apologize to me for a parent’s behavior in the past.
I don’t retaliate on srudents. The way I see it, they are dealing with the same pressures I am.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 20:54
Subject: Re:Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP, your child sees the teacher every day or every other day if there is a block schedule. Your child should be talking to the teacher. How are you not understanding that a student emailing a teacher about missing work twice instead of a student talking to the teacher before school, after school, after class, and/or at lunch is making the teacher work harder when it should be your student doing the legwork to talk to the teacher in person. It takes time to respond to back and forth emails when a conversation in person will quickly resolve the problem.
Most likely the teacher has explained to your student, missing work gets graded last or graded once a month. Why do you think your child is so special out of the teacher's 150 students that the teacher is supposed to stop everything, grade your child's late work, enter the grade online and then email you back. Your child probably isn't telling you the whole story. For all you know the teacher could have told your child, I got your mother's email and late work gets graded last.
Or hopefully the teacher isn't putting up with this obsessive nonsense. Your child talked to the teacher and submitted the assignment but the teacher hasn't had a chance to update the online grading system. Why do you think your child submitted the wrong assignment? What assignment do you think she submitted? Some random piece of paper?
She spoke in person with the teacher (good job for her!) and then turned in the assignment. Now you need to be patient. Do you think the teacher emails every parent when his or her child turns in something late saying I know it says missing in the grade book but rest assured your child turned in the correct assignment? If you want that level of catering, pay for private school. Meanwhile, your child is the one who is going to suffer because if you keep pestering the teacher. When the teacher has to choose who to call on why would he or she call on your child to answer? The teacher might get an email from you saying- my child came home from school and said they were called on to answer a question, but wasn't sure if they correctly answered the question or got credit for answering, etc.
Leave the teacher alone!
OP here. How do you not understand that the child has TALKED in person to the teacher and the teacher has said "I'll check" and dropped it/never got back to child or parent. Kid is shy and just doesn't want to pursue further and feels like they're a bother. SO NO, I will not leave the teacher alone. She better well get back to me (it's been 10 days now) and I will escalate if not.
Ha, ha. Go ahead and escalate. The teacher doesn't jump on your command. Your child probably realizes you actually are bothering the teacher. How positive and encouraging do you think the teacher is going to be toward your child when you escalate and keep emailing administrators? Your kid is now mortified and is probably dreading going to that class because you keep threatening to escalate the matter. This is middle school. It doesn't sound like a math or foreign language class so the grades don't matter.
Think to yourself how is it everyone else managed to turn in the assignment in a timely manner? First you say you want to make sure your child turned in anything then you say you also need to know not only if it is turned in but if it is the correct assignment, next you are going to want to know if all the answers were correct. Why can't you take this as a learning lesson for your child that these issues don't come up if you turn in things on time. Your child can also learn being willing to talk to teachers is important when they have questions.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 20:10
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:This happens a lot and then the teachers will say that the DC should self advocate. But, when they are brave enough to say or ask something, they are passed over. It’s defeating.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
How about suggesting that your child approach a teacher before school or after school? Between classes, your child has to compete for the teacher’s attention. And that’s not the teacher’s fault; it’s simply the nature of the job. One person can only do so much in 5 minutes for 10-12 people with requests.
Yes, your child should still self advocate. Part of that is determining how, like coming after school or sending an email teachers can answer at night when they finally have a chance for a breath. I am THRILLED when I receive emails from students. I am less thrilled when parents rob their children of the opportunity to speak for themselves.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 20:02
Subject: Teacher won't email back
This happens a lot and then the teachers will say that the DC should self advocate. But, when they are brave enough to say or ask something, they are passed over. It’s defeating.Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 16:43
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
I usually have 10-12 students at my desk during the 6 minutes between classes. (It’s also the only time I can get to the bathroom, which never happens.)
I am not able to pull up an assignment and conference with a student during that time. I triage needs and handle what I can. I’m merely human and I can’t stop time, so I can’t help everyone.
What a hard life! How do you ever survive?
By ignoring parent emails from annoying parents like you. LOL.
This is why parents hate you.
I’m the PP who tried to calmly and politely illustrate why teachers can’t hold long conferences between classes. (I am NOT the PP whose response was to ignore parent emails.)
As usual, DCUM decided to meet my calm, reasoned response with snark and anger. For the 3 (or so) posters who rudely replied, I recommend a different approach. Try grace and understanding.
OP, try grace. The teacher said she’ll get to it. It may not be the top priority right now because she may be putting out tons of other fires. A kind reminder, even if it’s #4, will work. She probably feels guilty that it hasn’t gotten done yet, and she’ll remember the previous attempts.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 15:53
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
I usually have 10-12 students at my desk during the 6 minutes between classes. (It’s also the only time I can get to the bathroom, which never happens.)
I am not able to pull up an assignment and conference with a student during that time. I triage needs and handle what I can. I’m merely human and I can’t stop time, so I can’t help everyone.
What a hard life! How do you ever survive?
By ignoring parent emails from annoying parents like you. LOL.
This is why parents hate you.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 15:52
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
I usually have 10-12 students at my desk during the 6 minutes between classes. (It’s also the only time I can get to the bathroom, which never happens.)
I am not able to pull up an assignment and conference with a student during that time. I triage needs and handle what I can. I’m merely human and I can’t stop time, so I can’t help everyone.
What a hard life! How do you ever survive?
By ignoring parent emails from annoying parents like you. LOL.
And that's why Americans are so stupid and uneducated.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 15:04
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
I usually have 10-12 students at my desk during the 6 minutes between classes. (It’s also the only time I can get to the bathroom, which never happens.)
I am not able to pull up an assignment and conference with a student during that time. I triage needs and handle what I can. I’m merely human and I can’t stop time, so I can’t help everyone.
What a hard life! How do you ever survive?
By ignoring parent emails from annoying parents like you. LOL.
Anonymous
09/27/2024 14:42
Subject: Teacher won't email back
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:"Catering to parent emails" when the parent is trying to help the child get the work done should not be seen as a burden. They're literally trying to help you teach their kid. It's not like the parent was complaining about random stuff.
This should be handled by the kid, including the consequences of lookung at that zero until the end of the term when the teacher enters in late work
It has been handled by the kid and the kid was ignored!!
The teacher ignored your student speaking to her in person?
Yes. Brushed them off with a "I'll check" (go sit down) type gesture. But she never got back to child and child doesn't want to pursue in person further.
I usually have 10-12 students at my desk during the 6 minutes between classes. (It’s also the only time I can get to the bathroom, which never happens.)
I am not able to pull up an assignment and conference with a student during that time. I triage needs and handle what I can. I’m merely human and I can’t stop time, so I can’t help everyone.
What a hard life! How do you ever survive?