DS has to re-do Math homework......

[nuttylawprofessor]

I can still remember one of the most effective tools one of my teachers used to teach us to follow all instructions. I believe it was one of my middle school math teachers.

Basically, it was a test with a list of problems. At the top of the problems, it said something like, "Follow all instructions carefully" and then the first problem said, "Read every problem before beginning." The very last problem said, "Do not complete any problems. Write your name on the top of the paper and turn it in."

It was great! A couple of us, and I was one of them, followed the instructions and did as we were told. The rest of the students worked the whole period on that thing. My friends and I still laugh about that.

Several colleagues give this test in the basic legal skills course at my law school. The students generally fail spectacularly. The only ones who pass the test are the students who have seen it before.

The second lesson was not about math. The second lesson was in following directions. The teacher could have gone old-school and required the student to write "I will write down my assignments completely and follow directions." 50 or 100 times instead. Personally, I think this teacher had a better, more productive approach.

How much angst could we solve if we all learned to listen, pay attention, and follow directions.

 

[horseshowmom]

OP, I see you've reached a decision, and I agree with what you're going to write in your note.

That said, I have 25+ years of experience in education (classroom & administration), and I don't agree with what the teacher did at all.

As a teacher, I would have felt that he got his "punishment" when he had to complete ALL of the problems instead of making sure he got the directions right (as the OP thought) and would have mentioned that point to him. I can also see taking off 10 points for not following directions (as NotUrsula mentioned) and have done so myself (10 pts. maximum).

As an administrator, I would be very upset to see a teacher take off 30 points for a paper heading infraction (as mentioned by mjkacmom). While learning to follow directions is extremely important, that penalty is unreasonable in my opinion (a 70 is a D here too).

 

[golfgal]

70% = C-; 69% = D+.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_(education)#United_States

Every school uses their own grading scales and while this one is common it is not the only one.

Wow. I am assuming that a 90 is still an A then

That would be nice. 92 starts the dreaded B here.

Some teachers here use a scale where 94 is the bottom of an A and 70 would be an F.

 

[Becky2005]

Strange. Maybe elementary school is different? See my link above to Wikipedia. I'm also currently in college and 70% is a C.

It very much depends on the school -- NOTHING is standard across the board for grading. Except 100% is always an A of some sort. Even in our school, each teacher has a different grading scale!

 

[disfan07]

In the county where I went to school our grading scale was:

94-100 A
90-93 B+
84-89 B
80-83 C+
74-79 C
70-73 D+
64-69 D
<64 F

They finaly changed the grading scale in fairfax County to the 10 point scale and everyone was thrilled with that (teachers and parents have been petitioning for years to change it)

At my Community College in California, our grading scale was

90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
<60 F

 

[sunnyday123]

70 is a C in our neck of the woods.

70 is a big stinky D here, always has been.

Couldn't the teacher just have not graded the other problems? I think him doing all the extra problems on 4 worksheets was punishment enough. I get the not following instructions, but really, do the problems again? Reeks of control to me.

ETA: Just read your update. No way would he have re-done the homework if the teacher signs their agenda book. DD's school did this up to 4th grade, and it was to ensure they wrote stuff down correctly. She didn't check.

 

[LilyWDW]

Or you have some students that simply didn't follow directions. Happens all the time, even when you repeat those directions many times.

Yea, saw this in a business class I am taking.

Prof was very clear that we were to write our names on top of the answer sheet AND test booklet, last name first, and put them in alphabetical order when we left.

She had 2 classes that she did this with. My class was the better of the two, but we still had about 15% of the class not follow the directions.

This is COLLEGE...

 

[ols386]

Yea, saw this in a business class I am taking.

Prof was very clear that we were to write our names on top of the answer sheet AND test booklet, last name first, and put them in alphabetical order when we left.

She had 2 classes that she did this with. My class was the better of the two, but we still had about 15% of the class not follow the directions.
This is COLLEGE...

IMO, that's the thing. Elementary school all the way up through college, one needs to learn to follow directions. It's so important when you get out into the world, especially in a job. If a person repeatedly doesn't follow directions/instructions, they won't have a job for long.

 

[MELSMICE]

IMO, that's the thing. Elementary school all the way up through college, one needs to learn to follow directions. It's so important when you get out into the world, especially in a job. If a person repeatedly doesn't follow directions/instructions, they won't have a job for long.

I would have told my son or daughter that a tough lesson was learned & if they don't want it to happen in the future to make sure that all assignments are written down correctly & to double check before the end of the day.

In fact, we had that conversation more than once throughout our DD's school days.

 

[mjkacmom]

As an administrator, I would be very upset to see a teacher take off 30 points for a paper heading infraction (as mentioned by mjkacmom). While learning to follow directions is extremely important, that penalty is unreasonable in my opinion (a 70 is a D here too).

It didn't bother me at all (and 70 is almost failing here). He did have them complete a lot of graded assignments, and even with a couple of 70's, my kids never got any final grade below a B+. My kids are also pretty bad about focusing and following directions (well, dd14 has pushed through around the end of 5th grade, and is fine, ds12 has ADHD, and still can struggle). It only took a couple of bad grades for my kids to always remember to head their papers.

Actually, the teacher just retired, and he was known as the best teacher at the school, challenging but fun. Everyone was so upset he was going.

 

[mjkacmom]

True. But a wonderful thing has been discovered because of this The student can work ahead. So why not give him the next assignment in the book

How unproductive to make him repeat the same assignment (if he got everything correct).

Most of the work is super-easy for most in the second week of school - it's all review! I'd be a bit nervous if my child couldn't work ahead.

 

[ols386]

Most of the work is super-easy for most in the second week of school - it's all review! I'd be a bit nervous if my child couldn't work ahead.

IMO, it's not about the work, it's about following directions/instructions. At least, that's how I see this situation.

 

[mjkacmom]

IMO, it's not about the work, it's about following directions/instructions. At least, that's how I see this situation.

Oh, I agree! My point was that most kids are capable of working ahead at this point in the year.

OP, in third grade here, the teacher does sign the agenda pad, but he's checking to make sure the parent signed it the night before. He doesn't make sure the correct homework is listed, except for those who have it written in their IEP's. It's also a way for the teacher and parents to communicate. In fourth grade, the teacher no longer checks the agenda pads at all.

 

[Elmo9607]

Here, a 70% is a D

A 93-100
B 85-92
C 77-84
D 70-76
F <69%

You're not the only one who has that system...my high school had the same thing. What a pain in the butt it was.

 

[Elmo9607]

I can still remember one of the most effective tools one of my teachers used to teach us to follow all instructions. I believe it was one of my middle school math teachers.

Basically, it was a test with a list of problems. At the top of the problems, it said something like, "Follow all instructions carefully" and then the first problem said, "Read every problem before beginning." The very last problem said, "Do not complete any problems. Write your name on the top of the paper and turn it in."

It was great! A couple of us, and I was one of them, followed the instructions and did as we were told. The rest of the students worked the whole period on that thing. My friends and I still laugh about that.

I had one of my Ag teachers do the same thing when I was in high school. Everybody messed up on it

To this day, EVERY time I read a set of directions, I think about that little assignment.

 

[Sugardimples]

I think this is not something that warrent parental involvement. Your child did not follow the directions so he gets to do it again and follow the directions this time. This is not a big deal - it is part of the learning process. The parent needs to support the teacher on this.

 

[MELSMICE]

I think this is not something that warrent parental involvement. Your child did not follow the directions so he gets to do it again and follow the directions this time. This is not a big deal - it is part of the learning process. The parent needs to support the teacher on this.

 

[jrmasm]

I would support the teacher while thinking to myself that it was stupid.

 

[luvsJack]

I wouldn't tell my kid not to do it, but I would still disagree with it.

Whoever said that next time he doesn't remember he just won't do anything could be very right. Sometimes when we are so hellbent on teaching a lesson we end up discouraging the kid. And as a mom, I am not sure what I would tell my child to do the next time either.

I mean, what should the OP have done? The kid forgot what he was supposed to do and needed to do something. Would nothing have been better?

I think taking 5 points off for not following directions would have been a better solution.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Following directions isn't the only life lesson that's important. "Following directions" isn't usually included in my annual review at work, but "exceeding expectations" is on every single review I've ever had since I started working many moons ago.

I think this was a stupid thing for the teacher to do, regardless of what her point in doing it was. Punishing a student for doing too much work is idiotic to me. Something tells me that in a month she'll be wishing that was the problem she was having.