School Question High School

[golfgal]

Why are you talking to the counselor about a problem with a teacher? They don't have any authority over teachers in the school. This issue should be addressed with the Principal.

 

[barkley]

Why are you talking to the counselor about a problem with a teacher? They don't have any authority over teachers in the school. This issue should be addressed with the Principal.

at dd's high school this would be the appropriate next step. dd's counselor would be familiar with dd's academic habits and grade history, they would also be familiar with any kind of academic trends with a particular course or instructor (there are a few courses that parents are made aware of, they traditionaly become more challenging and difficult in successive quarters such that the trend is that even the best students will likely see a lower grade than they received early on).

if the counselor feels, or the parent wishes, the next step for resolution would be the principal.


we had an issue with one of dd's teachers this year. dd was given a poor mark in one aspect of the class which would have significantly lowered her grade (i noticed it on the on-line system b/c it was'nt something like a graded paper that would have been handed back to dd). i asked dd about it and she was'nt even aware so she checked with the teacher. teacher said it was for failing to follow some kind of attendance policy (needing an 'admit' slip the day after returning from an absence). we are new to the school this year and i had'nt ever been told or given anything about this policy so i told dd to ask at the office. office told dd no such thing existed. dd told this to teacher, teacher insisted office staff was wrong. i tried e-mailing teacher with no response. i finaly bumped it up and called the counselor who said it had been a policy a couple of years prior but had been discontinued.

with this information i e-mailed the principal (and attached a copy of the e-mail i had sent the teacher, explaining no response ever received). principal took the time to call me and tell me he would be speaking to the teacher about (1) negativly impacting student's grades with a policy that was 2 years defunct, and (2) not responding to the e-mail. he thanked me for researching the issue before bringing it to him b/c it made it clear cut to address, also thanked me for not dropping the issue b/c if the teacher was doing this with dd it meant she was doing it with all the students which could result in inaccurate grades for all the kids she taught.

 

[JessicaR]

op-you said your son's school has one of those automated programs where you can check grades. does it have the feature where you can see how often and when a teacher is accessing and posting data?

the one for dd's high school does, and it becomes readily apparant from accessing that feature which teachers are prompt in posting grade information and which are not. if the feature is'nt accessable to the parents it still might be available to the counseling staff which might provide information on how organized this teacher is and weather the issue could be with her vs. your son.

if it were my child one of the issues i would be discussing with the counselor is why, if the school has a progress report system, nothing was indicated when such a severe drop in grade occured. in many schools, there is a policy that if a student's grade drops a certain level it is required by a teacher to notify the parents. with you son's drop in grade it would seem that something should have been sent out earlier on.

We use Parent Portal and dont have that feature available to us. But, I am going to ask the Counselor is they can access that area. Thank you! I have a list of concerns to discuss and the progress report is on it. I want to know how a a child that goes from an A falls to an F without a need to contact a parent about it.

Yesterday before class the teacher told my son you should be thanking me for raising your grade from an F to a passing D. I have decided based on no return correspondence and her poor attitude to take this as far as I can.

 

[JessicaR]

Why are you talking to the counselor about a problem with a teacher? They don't have any authority over teachers in the school. This issue should be addressed with the Principal.

I went to the school yesterday. This is the protocol our school follows.

 

[ilovefh]

Yesterday before class the teacher told my son you should be thanking me for raising your grade from an F to a passing D.

 

[tommya60]

I hope this situation is being resolved. I've had a teacher "misplace" my D's assigments--they were on the board in her classroom as examples for other students. I closely monitor the schools grade website...and I have discovered several "input mistakes". Since these grades impact college admissions, I would stay on this until it is resolved in your son's favor. Who knows what this teacher will do at the end of the year, and it's a lot harder to get things resolved when school is out.

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Yesterday before class the teacher told my son you should be thanking me for raising your grade from an F to a passing D. I have decided based on no return correspondence and her poor attitude to take this as far as I can.

OH NO!!! OH NO!!!! Ok, I've tried to be quiet about this because my kids are younger. For example, a PP quoted that they live somewhere that the parents just deal with counselors, not the teachers? And I bit my tongue, because if that is the district's policy, then no matter how wacko I think that is, it's policy.

HAVING SAID THAT, it would be all I could do not to walk my big tail down to that school and set her straight. I would go through whatever channels I needed to go through, VEHEMENTLY stating my case. At this point I would be THAT PARENT. I would be satisfied with nothing less than a PERSONAL apology and an average of his previous two quarters. PERSONAL apology to my son, not me. THEN I would want her dealt with for not responding to a concerned parent appropriately. Who the crap does this woman think she is?

WHEW, that's why God gave me the hubby I have, to calm me down.


But seriously, I would let her have it. How DARE she speak to your son that way!!!!

Ok, calm down, ok, ok, whooooO!

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I haven't read this whole thread ...

But being a teacher and having high school kids (my 2 older sons), I WOULD be ticked. I believe you are showing good parenting by having your son deal with the teacher first, but now I would step in.

If she is a new teacher, she is probably in the process of trying to get a contract and being permanently hired. Perhaps she is a little overwhelmed ... but not to email YOU back and continue to deal only with your son when you have made contact??!!

Sorry. There are so many good teachers out there ... but ones like this give us a bad rap! I would demand to have a conference with her and if she doesn't, I would go above her head.

I hope it works out for you and your son.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You are doing the right thing.

At this point, I would not rest until the issue was resovled to my satisfaction.


I had a replacement chem teacher junior year. I had worked long and hard on an extra credit assignment. But the new teacher would not accept it since they didn't know the set parameters. I was disappointed, but the teacher was extremely polite about it and since it was simply "extra", it wasn't a big deal. That's a decision that a parent doesn't need to be involved in.

What this new teacher is doing is almost misconduct. And while your son is a minor, he is still your responsibility and you cannot allow her misconduct to negatively impact his grade. My opinion would be different if it was like my scenario.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[kirstenb1]

DD had this happen in 4th grade. DD has ADD so at first I was skeptical. But she'd say, the teacher loses xxxx's assignments too. And I knew xxxx was a great student.

It got so I would xerox each of dd's assignments. If it went missing, we'd just send in the copy. I wish I had pursued it more aggressively, but this was a very difficult year for our family, and we were all just trying to keep our heads above water.

 

[barkley]

i kind of wonder if there was a problem with this happening with ds's current teacher (his school does not have the parent access software program).

i say this b/c his teacher started doing regular "progress" e-mails to all the parents and they list what the teacher says is missing work for individual students. the parents are required to review the e-mail with the kids and respond within so much of a timeframe-if the parents/student contend that an assignment was already turned in, it's their opportunity to contest (i use it to cross check against ds's 'daily planner' b/c the students are required to write in daily any assignments that are not done in class, and i've gotten into the habit for record keeping of having him just show me the completed assignments as he does them and initialing and dating next to them in the planner to verify i saw the finished product).

 

[JessicaR]

Just a small update. I have an appointment Monday morning for myself and my son. Friday didn't work for him. My son spoke to some kids in another class and one of them said his reflection packet that contained 22 works was missing. Apparently the teacher said he took it home and never returned it and the kid says otherwise.

My son has decided he wants nothing lower than a B. She has not mentioned the assignments that were redone and handed in on Monday. She has not replied to my email.

Thank again for all the great replies!

 

[tommya60]

Document, document, document. Write it all down and keep your notes. After your meeting on Monday, send an email with a summary of the next steps (ie thank you for meeting with us, we look forward to hearing from you after you speak with Ms X on Tuesday. Or thank you for seeing that Son's grade will be changed for an A on Tuesay.) Do not send this in a note or verbally. The email is your evidence of your expectations from that meeting. If the principal doesn't agree with your summary the principal can email you back (ie I did not agree to meet with Ms X on Tuesday, but will contact you when I do) chances are this will not happen. If you have to take this to the district, you will want this information. It may sound drastic, but better safe than sorry. Just a nice, friendly note of thanks for what the principal has agreed to do.

 

[agnes!]

Just a small update. I have an appointment Monday morning for myself and my son. Friday didn't work for him. My son spoke to some kids in another class and one of them said his reflection packet that contained 22 works was missing. Apparently the teacher said he took it home and never returned it and the kid says otherwise.

My son has decided he wants nothing lower than a B. She has not mentioned the assignments that were redone and handed in on Monday. She has not replied to my email.

Thank again for all the great replies!

Every student who is having problems with this teacher really should take the time today to make an appointment with her and must let their counselors know about the issues (however it is handled at your school, but the more people who somehow 'know', the more power the students will have, the teacher won't be able to pull the "you should be happy you're getting a D" crap). I would even suggest that they call the main office to get connected with the teacher's number so they can drop a small hint ("oh, it's about some work of mine that didn't get graded"). If 3 or 4 or 8 or whatever students call in to get appointments with this teacher, you can just bet the administrators will be told by the front-office staff.

Make sure you print out all the e-mails, answered and otherwise, and take them with you. Also, start CC'ing the counselor and consider cc'ing the Department Chair, assistant/grade principal, principal.

agnes!

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Document, document, document. Write it all down and keep your notes. After your meeting on Monday, send an email with a summary of the next steps (ie thank you for meeting with us, we look forward to hearing from you after you speak with Ms X on Tuesday. Or thank you for seeing that Son's grade will be changed for an A on Tuesay.) Do not send this in a note or verbally. The email is your evidence of your expectations from that meeting. If the principal doesn't agree with your summary the principal can email you back (ie I did not agree to meet with Ms X on Tuesday, but will contact you when I do) chances are this will not happen. If you have to take this to the district, you will want this information. It may sound drastic, but better safe than sorry. Just a nice, friendly note of thanks for what the principal has agreed to do.

THIS! THIS! THIS! Be nice and professional, but FIRM! If you need me to come over there and be not nice and unprofessional let me know, it's my forte.

 

[JessicaR]

THIS! THIS! THIS! Be nice and professional, but FIRM! If you need me to come over there and be not nice and unprofessional let me know, it's my forte.

I will keep you in mind! Plan B.

 

[KAMLEM]

This is a little OT but I had to comment. I was surprised to learn that you can be on the honor roll with a C-. Here you have to have a B- or higher, I thought that's how it was everywhere. High Honors is all A's.

 

[Longsx3]

Just a small update. I have an appointment Monday morning for myself and my son. Friday didn't work for him. My son spoke to some kids in another class and one of them said his reflection packet that contained 22 works was missing. Apparently the teacher said he took it home and never returned it and the kid says otherwise.

My son has decided he wants nothing lower than a B. She has not mentioned the assignments that were redone and handed in on Monday. She has not replied to my email.

Thank again for all the great replies!

I would think a fair way to determine your sons grade is to exempt him from the missing assignments.

 

[tommya60]

Just wondering how it went today, hoping for the best!

 

[mjkacmom]

I went to the school yesterday. This is the protocol our school follows.

Same here.