I don't understand how one F can make one grade go down to a C

[J&D]

I don't understand how one F can make one grade go down to a C

At my school, test grades count 2/3 of the final six weeks grade. If a student does very poorly on a test, and if we haven't had many tests during the six weeks, then their grade can easily fall to a C. For example, my students usually have only taken 2 tests by progress report time. If they had test grades of 100 and 50, then their test average will be a 75. If their daily grade average is lower than an A, then their overall grade would still be a C. It has happened to several of my students.

This is the age when they need to take personal responsibility for their grades, not the teacher holding their hands every step of the way.

I teach 7th grade, and I totally agree, but most parents don't.

I get the sense that today's teachers are not respected as much as teachers "in my day."

This is so true!

DD had a geometry test a few days ago .... I waited until the progress report came out and that was yesterday... if she saw such a drastic drop in the grade why didn't she pay a little bit more attention?

It sounds like all of this has just happened within the last few days. Didn't the teacher alert you to the drop of the grade shortly after it happened through the progress report?

The child returns with work completed and ready to continue on with the class. What is the big **** deal??? Why are some of you so offended by this??

Innocently giving a teacher's response and not wanting to get into a debate- most (not all) students come back without having done any of the work and, as a result, fall very far behind (especially in the higher grades).

 

[kylara]

While I do not think that it was a mistake that the teacher made, I do think that there was some miscommunication. According to Mskanga, the teacher actually had to sign off on the approval form for her daughter to go on the vacation. Also it was the teacher who did not want to give the work being covered since she did not feel that math concepts should be done without her (at least that is the gist I got). If you are not going to give the work to be covered and you approved the vacation, then I do think that the teacher needed to give an alternative test date to the daughter.

But the daughter should have spoken up at the time of the test. Yes, the teacher should be able to remember a students was out for a week, but since she didn't, a reminder before the test was appropriate.

I also think that I would have talked with the teacher before leaving. I can understand her not wanting someone to teach math concepts they don't know, but I would have wanted to review the material to see if it could be done. To me it would be much easier to cover a little bit each night during vacation than to play catch up when your daughter returned home.

I am glad that you were able to work it out with the teacher. And good luck getting your daughter to speak up...helping students get over shyness is very hard...but ultimately very beneficial.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Originally posted by Mskanga
So for those of you who never take the kids out of school for whatever reason may be or because you think you are a better parent than I am, good for you, do what works for you but have the decency to not judge those of us who do take the kids out of school and are legally allowed to do it, I didn't judge you and neither one of you had the right to judge me.

I don't think anyone said you were a bad parent for taking your daughter out of school for an "educational" vacation , just don't complain when your daughter misses a week of school, fails a test when she returns, then complain to the teacher about her grade until she lets her retake the test.

 

[Mskanga]

Originally posted by kylara
According to Mskanga, the teacher actually had to sign off on the approval form for her daughter to go on the vacation. Also it was the teacher who did not want to give the work being covered since she did not feel that math concepts should be done without her (at least that is the gist I got). If you are not going to give the work to be covered and you approved the vacation, then I do think that the teacher needed to give an alternative test date to the daughter.

You understood that correctly Kylara, that is exactly what happened and I didn't think anything of it because this particular teacher never gives homework , she is one of those hands on teacher who thinks Math should be done in school. Also her text book does not help because ( and she even told me this morning ) she does not go by the text book, she often finds it confusing, so , if we can't go by the text book and the teacher does not believe in giving homework eventhough we requested it in advance, there isn't much more I can do.
Add to all of that the teacher forgetting that she was not in school the days she taught the new concepts. It wasn't fair at all for my DD to be tested about something that was taught in her absence, her absence was approved by the teacher and if she knew she was going to teach new concepts then she should have given her homework as we requested.

 

[nancy679]

I have no problem with parents taking kids out for vacation because that is their choice. And we've taken out kids out too.

But, I dont agree with being retested. An example I have is my DD (3rd grade) had a test last week, and at that age we still need to help her study. Well, it was just a very hectic busy week, and unfortunately we didnt get much time to help her, she studied on her own, but we werent able to quiz her. She got a
C- , so should I ask her to be retested because we have more time this week to help her? I think parents would come up with all sorts of reasons why their kid should be retested.--JMO

 

[Mskanga]

Nancy, I did not request to have my DD re-tested, I simply questioned why she was tested over concepts that were taught in her absence , the teacher should have given her a couple more days to grasp the concepts, she didn't want to give her homework or time to catch up after returning, but she wanted to give her the test?? How fair is that?
BTW DD is in fourth grade , sometimes she still needs some help.

 

[nancy679]

I agree, Ms kanga, she should have had an alternative test date. Maybe it was a big miscommunication since she didnt even notice that she was gone for a week. Maybe thats why she decided to retest her.

 

[dalepool]

It's all relative..........Cause it just doesn't matter----

PattyN



mskanga----Your child will long remember the trip while the grade will get lost in the shuffle. (My opinion)

9-12 grades used for GPA Re: college entrance. (True)

There is an old saying "Don't get between me and my child." I will stick up for my child --it's my duty and my right. (Just how I feel.)

 

[dennis99ss]

Wow, How wrong was I, huh? The teacher should have held up the test, or, changed the schedule for all of the kids who actually attended school, because you were on vacation. I have now seen the light. The teacher should have worked around your schedule. Maybe the teacher should have taken time out of her schedule to privately tutor your child so that the teacher was sure she knew what the material was.

You complain about people judging you. Well, you judged the teacher....and then you posted this thread as a rant against the inequities which you felt occurred. You posted this with an apparent intention to air your complaints at how your child was unfairly treated. It seems to me that you opened yourself up to the critical comments.