Thanks everyone for the replies. They have helped me greatly.
Normally I back the teacher on posts like these, but it is just too suspicious that she found one of the three she said he didn't do. A coworker of mine used to lose work all the time. It go to a point where we had to have an "intervention" of sorts and help him get and stay organized.
If you don't get a response by tomorrow I would try again, but if she choses not to respond you need to go over her head.
Your son sounds like he handled it very well!
Yes, I am giving it till the end of the day. I will schedule an appointment with his counselor after that.
If he originally turned them in, I would be very upset with the C grade. Does he plan to apply to go to college after graduation? If so, she is doing great harm in college admissions by giving him a C in English his junior year. This situation needs to be escalated to the next level.
The C would be a quarter grade not a final grade. His other grades are a B+ and an A. He also will have one other grade. I'm not very concerned that one C quarter grade will be detrimental to his career. He says he turned it in, she says he didn't. Fair ground will have to be found.
As a parent and a teacher, I know of more than a few teachers who have poor organization skills and can easily lose assignments. It won't help you now, but for the future do you have the ability to check grades online? I do weekly, just to see if there are any missing assignments. Then I can say to DS, "Did you turn them in or not." He knows to save, save, save any that are typed. Honestly, ones that are big points I have him make copies of before he turns it in if it's for one of "those" teachers. I make copies of my important "stuff" (bills, correspondence, etc), so why shouldn't he learn that? When it comes down to he said/she said, the teacher is usually the one who is going to be believed. Terri
We can check grades online. Assignments are not recorded online. A very important point I forgot to add to my previous posts. We have something called a progress report that comes out 6 weeks prior to the quarter ending. This allows parents to see where their kids are at and allows the student to bring up a grade if they need to. It states if any work is missing as well. His report was void of any comments on missing assignments. My son asked her specifically about that and she was unable to answer him. This point was addressed in my email to her also. He also has a habit of speaking to each teacher to make sure he is current. He does all extra credit incentives offered for all his classes.
We are going to devise a plan to have all work acknowledged and accounted for. These assignments were to be hand written, most aren't and those are all on his lap top. Yes classic he said she said.
By no way shape or form do I think what the teacher is doing is correct, but maybe you should just send another email to her mentioning your previous email and your concerns over the assignments. The reason I say that is because maybe the email didn't go through or maybe there was a typo in the address...sadly, I'm very guilty of this - I accidently type con not com...and she didn't receive it. If she doesn't respond after the second attempt, then I would contact the principal or whoever is next in line.
Good luck!
I would agree about the email but the teacher acknowledged she received my email to my son in class yesterday.
What's the difference? Well, in Texas, a grade being lowered that much could make the difference between a student getting into a top tier university vs. a second tier one, due to our top 10% law. In your shoes, I'd stand my ground.
I would not back off ONE INCH over the fact that the teacher has already found one of the papers she insisted was never turned in. Your son insisted it was, she said it wasn't......and he was right. If she lost (and found) one, she very well could have lost two more. Odds are, she's worked herself into a corner on this one and she won't admit that she is at fault in any way. So that would be my firm position. You swore he never turned it in and clearly, you were wrong. Given that, my son deserves the benefit of the doubt.
And no way would I go for splitting the difference. I'd insist on full credit. As a teacher, I saw some who were efficient and would have never lost a paper. But there were others who were a flat out mess where organization was concerned. When I student taught, my supervising teacher would not even grade many of the assignments until the night or two before 6 weeks grades were due. Those poor kids had NO idea what their average truly was or how they were doing. She'd hand back a huge stack of graded papers and it was too late for them to turn their average around. And I promise you, any number of papers could have been lost in her "organizational system." From that one, I learned what NOT to do.
I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt too. I hope she is rethinking her stand on this.
I would be very frank with your DS and let him know that your next step will be to contact the principal and he needs to be truthful with you that he turned in the assignments because he will be with you when you speak to the principal. Call this morning and make an appointment to see the principal and have your son join you. Explain the situation calmly and your son can explain the actions he took to resolve the matter. Ask that the principal look into the matter. If your son does not have a history of missing assignments then you have a good case.
I also think your son should ask some RESPONSIBLE friends if they are having the same issue. If it is an isolated incident where the teacher lost the assignments, ok, she should own up to that, but if it has happened to several students, the principal needs to get involved.
I would also clarify with your son that he put his NAME on the assignments--that happens too.
We had the very frank talk. He was the one that told me I should contact his counselor to discuss this further. I am very curious if other kids assignments have been misplaced. He is unhappy with a C and doesn't feel he should be penalized for lateness since it wasn't late to begin with. When he asked his teacher if these two assignment grades have a large impact on his grade she said DRASTIC.
Good point about his name on each paper!
I agree with golfgal and EMom, especially finding out NOW if anyone else has had this problem with this teacher.
And make sure you create a paper trail with every e-mail. Also if you call the school to leave a message, do NOT call the teacher's direct number. Call the main office and ask to be connected, that's another documentation/witness that you can refer back to.
I would go in in person and ask if/when the principal has time today. And the time you get, write an excuse for your DS to get out of class. He needs to do most of the talking, you're there to make sure they pay attention, that they know your DS isn't just grade-grubbing.
Good luck.
agnes!
I save everything. I will attempt contact with the teacher one more time.
DS has had this happen. The difference is that he does sometimes forget to turn things is, so even though he was adamant that he did turn it in, I wasn't willing to go to bat for him.
Since the teacher already found one "lost" assignment, I would bet your son turned them all in and they were misplaced. He deserves the grade he originally made, not a lesser grade.
In the future, have him type and save his papers. He could also attach a copy to an email with this teacher, as well as turning in a hard copy. That way, if she says he did not turn something in, he has proof in an email to her that he turned it in and when.
Marsha
These were hand written assignments. We decided that when he turns in any work she will sign off on a sheet that we will keep. Since its obvious she doesn't have time to email.
Based on his prior excellent grades in that class, I would find it hard to believe that he dropped down to an "F" all of a sudden, especially if his grades in other classes have all held up and he has a history of being responsible. It seems that your son is not being treated fairly, especially since this teacher has already admitted finding one of the lost papers, yet still refuses to acknowledge possible fault in losing the other two. Everything in life is not fair, and that is an okay lesson to learn. But the better lesson here would be - if you know you're right, don't back down until you get a fair outcome. Talk to the principal or even go above the principal's head if needed, before accepting something that is unfair.
I know my son and he will address this until he is satisfied. He keeps using the 'fair' word too. He wants what be believes is a fair outcome. I want that also. The thing is he knows he is right but apparently she believes she is right also. I will pursue this.
I am not quick to jump in and solve my daughter's issues either, but here is why I would escalate this matter. I am not sure of why the original teacher had to leave but let's suppose there is the chance s/he won't be coming back. Regardless of the outcome for the OPs son, it is possible the school board could be considering hiring this teacher permanently. If that is the case they should be aware of any potential issues. Perhaps other situations have arisen, as well (maybe, maybe not). If that is the case and nobody speaks up and everybody "just deals with it" this teacher could end up as a permanent bad hire. The approach I would take when escalating is to say I want someone to objectively look at the situation and determine whether my child is the only student who has run into this. If nothing else, this teacher needs some guidance on how to handle disputes. I understand what you are saying about life lessons and letting students learn to work things out for themselves. That is a valid point, but I think there is potential for a bigger issue here and it should be looked at and assessed before it has a chance to become a bigger issue.
The original teacher will not be returning. I didn't mention in any previous posts but I will now. This teacher is 21 and this is her first class. I am not saying this has any bearing at all but the thought has crossed my mind a time or two. Thanks for the thoughts - I agree. Interestingly my son came home and said this teacher was angry and irritated during class. I assumed she is dealing with other parents/issues OR she was just having a bad day.
At our JH and HS, there is no direct contact between the teachers and the parents. I would contact your ds's guidance counsellor, or have him do it.
WE don't have that policy here. We are given contracts to sign at the beginning of the year with the teachers contact info and a note to never hesitate to use it. But, I am going to make an appointment with his counselor.
