Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:16     Subject: HS teachers (esp AP teachers)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I sent an email out on Tuesday just checking in on them. 3 out of 120 students opened the email so far


This is why virtual school is a delusional myth. It doesn't work because kids aren't motivated to do it and if you're not standing in front of their faces, they will ignore and procrastinate. The data already told us this, but too many parents are in denial.


The you fail them. It doesn’t work because of parents like you. Kids don’t check emails. They get too many. You need to email parents and post on canvas.


Kids learning to check and manage email is a life skill. Yes, there are a lot of emails, but this is part of their "job" as students. If you grew up in the pre-digital world, did your parents micromanage your assignments and contact teachers for everything and anything? Mine certainly didn't.


Yes, my parents monitored things but the difference is it was in the syllabus and for our kids, there is nothing and random assignments pop up so you have to check constantly. Teachers don't communicate. Teens still need support. And, yes, they did contact the teacher with concerns.

My kids have had unkind teachers that they will not approach for good reason. So, yes, we are getting involved.


Serious question: what will you do when they have “unkind” professors in college? These professors legally can’t reveal information to you. Will your children be ready to deal with that?

I’m a teacher and a parent. I’ve reached out to a teacher just once in the 12 years my children have been in school: after my child tried 4 times to get a response about a serious situation.

But other than that? It’s on my kids. They will advocate and I won’t step in to make it easier.

And as a teacher, I will always CC the student on my responses to parents, and I often add a line that asks the parents to give children a chance to advocate for themselves.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:05     Subject: HS teachers (esp AP teachers)
DD is at BCC and has been checking her email and each class page, and so far, none of her teachers have sent or uploaded anything. She's in AP Calc BC, AP Physics C and APUSH.

She did have an AP Physics C tutoring session, because the Physics teacher at BCC is, not to mince words, the most incompetent teacher any of us have ever seen (this is my last kid in MCPS, and both my husband and I are scientists and taught at the university level).


Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:00     Subject: HS teachers (esp AP teachers)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I sent an email out on Tuesday just checking in on them. 3 out of 120 students opened the email so far


This is why virtual school is a delusional myth. It doesn't work because kids aren't motivated to do it and if you're not standing in front of their faces, they will ignore and procrastinate. The data already told us this, but too many parents are in denial.


The you fail them. It doesn’t work because of parents like you. Kids don’t check emails. They get too many. You need to email parents and post on canvas.


Kids learning to check and manage email is a life skill. Yes, there are a lot of emails, but this is part of their "job" as students. If you grew up in the pre-digital world, did your parents micromanage your assignments and contact teachers for everything and anything? Mine certainly didn't.


100%. I tell all of my students that the 3 most important things they will learn in school are the following:

1. How to follow a schedule. No matter what you do in life, you are going to need to learn to be somewhere and do something on a fairly rigid time frame. In the real world you don't get extended time and tardies. You just get fired. Learn to handle it now while the stakes are low.
2. How to follow simple instructions. Again, no matter what you do in life, you likely are not going to be the first person to figure out how to get it done. Someone is going to give you directions and it is your job to follow them no matter how much you may disagree with them.
3. How to respect authority. 99.9% of you will end up working for someone else at some point in your life and you aren't always going to like them but you are going to have to respect them to an extent. Treat your teachers the same way. I tell my students that when you have a job, you do what the boss says because he signs your paycheck. As a student, treat your grade like a paycheck. Do what the teacher says because they assign your grade.

Everything else in school is great but without those 3 fundamental lessons, you'll never be successful as an adult.


Teachers have to give a schedule and instructions for students to follow it.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 15:59     Subject: HS teachers (esp AP teachers)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I sent an email out on Tuesday just checking in on them. 3 out of 120 students opened the email so far


This is why virtual school is a delusional myth. It doesn't work because kids aren't motivated to do it and if you're not standing in front of their faces, they will ignore and procrastinate. The data already told us this, but too many parents are in denial.


The you fail them. It doesn’t work because of parents like you. Kids don’t check emails. They get too many. You need to email parents and post on canvas.


Kids learning to check and manage email is a life skill. Yes, there are a lot of emails, but this is part of their "job" as students. If you grew up in the pre-digital world, did your parents micromanage your assignments and contact teachers for everything and anything? Mine certainly didn't.


Yes, my parents monitored things but the difference is it was in the syllabus and for our kids, there is nothing and random assignments pop up so you have to check constantly. Teachers don't communicate. Teens still need support. And, yes, they did contact the teacher with concerns.

My kids have had unkind teachers that they will not approach for good reason. So, yes, we are getting involved.