I definitely learned a lot from this term and will try next term to make everything 100% consistent. (every week: 1 reading quiz, 1 homework, 1 worksheet, test every 4 weeks) I don't care if it's boring. We all need a little boring right now and the students AND I both had a hard time figuring out all the changing stuff.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents are now seeing how much handholding is done in a normal school year. Remove that crutch and you see what your kid can really do.

I think they’re seeing just how disorganized some teachers are and how terribly worded some assignments are. It shouldn’t be hard to post a syllabus with all due dates and the relative weight of assignments, quizzes and tests- most college professors manage to do that just fine

You want all the due dates, assignments, and assessments for the entire school year posted in a syllabus at the beginning of the year? K-12 is not the same as a college course.

1) College courses are generally a semester, not an entire year.

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

3) College professors don't care if their students aren't "ready" for an assessment.; they give it anyway, and it is on the student to do additional reading and studying to prepare. That would never fly in K-12.

4) College professors don't usually grade "homework," while K-12 teachers do so they can evaluate understanding and support those who are struggling. They also change assignments as needed to help students.

5) College professors don't have to worry if there are assemblies, snow days, etc. that change schedules without warning. They proceed and just change the assessment date to "next class" if there is foul weather. K-12 teachers have schedules switched on them all the time.


Posting ahead of time the weight of assignments and assessments is reasonable, but to ask K-12 teachers to provide a syllabus with an entire year's curriculum already planned day-by-day is ludicrous.

Anonymous wrote:

The only students who have Ds or Fs for me are the ones who do not come to class or do not do any work, including not taking tests.

This is not the case in many, many situations. There are plenty of normally A/B students now getting a D or F in one subject due to a missed assignment even though they have turned in almost everything else and go to class.

Teachers do not know how to teach on-line. If you have students participating who have a grade history that demonstrated they are more than capable of the work yet they are dropping 2-3-4 letter grades then yes you are doing something very wrong.

I do think more parents would be supportive of continuing distance learning if the teachers were doing a better job.

The only students who have Ds or Fs for me are the ones who do not come to class or do not do any work, including not taking tests.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.


Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

You do not sound at all like what the OP posted about.

Newsflash. Not all teachers are the same. The ones who are failing my classes never/rarely come to class/turn in work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

Wait 6 to 20?

If this were case my ADHD child could keep up and thrive! She is very smart and catches the content very quickly. When she turns something in, its high quality. Its the keeping track of everything.

I just counted and in 1 class -which isn't even the one with the most assignments, she had 76 things to turn in for a grade. They range drastically in point value and % of the grade.

76 things in one class for one quarter? That's ridiculous!

As a point of reference, I teach elementary. That's how many assignments I give my students for the quarter for all four subjects.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

Wait 6 to 20?

If this were case my ADHD child could keep up and thrive! She is very smart and catches the content very quickly. When she turns something in, its high quality. Its the keeping track of everything.

I just counted and in 1 class -which isn't even the one with the most assignments, she had 76 things to turn in for a grade. They range drastically in point value and % of the grade.

76 things in one class for one quarter? That's ridiculous!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.

Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.


Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

You do not sound at all like what the OP posted about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and I post my syllabus every year. I've had to change it twice in the last 3 months due to my district grading regulations changing. My friends who teach in other districts around the country have told me that their districts have reweighted everything too. I don't post all due dates in the syllabus. I teach in high school, not college. We sometimes have to adjust test dates and assignments. If students struggle with something, I'll push back the test. If I just published everything in September and didn't respond to my student's needs, parents would complain about that. We can't win.

The lack of publishing due dates means that kids no longer have a central location to find them

I update the syllabus throughout the year. I give at least 10 days (minimum) notice prior to the test. It's all in the syllabus which is pinned to the top of all of my classes' notices. When I make changes to it, it automatically sends an email to each student. Plus I verbally tell students in class.

My students also get a lot of notice regarding assessments and major projects, usually at least 10 school days, but often several weeks.

** I post a Week at a Glance document every week that has all assignments for the week and a section for reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates. The list of upcoming due dates usually includes items for that week and the following two or three weeks.

** My slide deck each day has reminders about upcoming assessments and other due dates.

** I update the Google calendar with assessment dates and other due dates.

** I post assignments and assessments in the grade book ahead of time so students and families can see point values and dates.

** I give verbal reminders.

** Part of our agenda every day is discussing dates and assignments and giving students time to record their assignments and assessments in their assignment book or personal calendar.


Yet I still have a number of students who seem confused by assessment and due dates.

Anonymous wrote:

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.

Wait 6 to 20?

If this were case my ADHD child could keep up and thrive! She is very smart and catches the content very quickly. When she turns something in, its high quality. Its the keeping track of everything.

I just counted and in 1 class -which isn't even the one with the most assignments, she had 76 things to turn in for a grade. They range drastically in point value and % of the grade.

2) College courses usually have 2-4 assessments for the entire semester, while K-12 courses generally have 6-20 assignments and assessments per quarter.