Teacher asking for Yankee candles/test.....Update Pg 12 #168

[Disneyglobegirl]

OK - I'm kind of in shock about this one but here it goes.....

My son (10th grade) was out sick on Friday with 101 temp, headache and stomach ache. I took him to the Dr and he tested positive for Mono. He rested up friday, sat and sunday. He felt fine monday morning and had no fever for 24 hours so he went to school with his Dr note for his excused absent on friday. I pick him up today and ask him if he received all of his make up work and he said yes. Then he preceeds to tell me that he missed a group presentation in his French class on friday that was worth 2 test grades. The French teacher told all the kids who missed friday ( I guess there were a few who were absent) that they would need to bring a Yankee candle for test credit - if they bring a large Yankee candle they will get the 2 test grades, if they bring a medium they will get 1 test grade and if they bring a small she will drop their lowest grade. Here is the kicker this presentation is something that the group has worked on for two weeks and they were suppose to do their presentations on Wednesday BUT the teacher was absent - so my son did work on the presentation with his group and he was in class Wednesday prepared to do the presentation but the teacher was out that day. So now that he was out sick on friday he will not get credit unless he brings his teacher a $25 Yankee Candle..... I have had teachers ask for paper, pencils, tissues and hand sanitizer for extra credit but never ever has anyone asked for expensive candles for a test grade.

I called the school to talk to the teacher and of course she was out for the day so I left a message for her to call me back. I was so tempted to call the principal first however I do know that I need to talk to her to clarify that she is indeed asking for Yankee candles for grades. I really hope that my son misunderstood this but he insists that she told everyone who was absent on friday that they would need to bring in a Yankee candle for credit.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

OK - I'm kind of in shock about this one but here it goes.....

My son (10th grade) was out sick on Friday with 101 temp, headache and stomach ache. I took him to the Dr and he tested positive for Mono. He rested up friday, sat and sunday. He felt fine monday morning and had no fever for 24 hours so he went to school with his Dr note for his excused absent on friday. I pick him up today and ask him if he received all of his make up work and he said yes. Then he preceeds to tell me that he missed a group presentation in his French class on friday that was worth 2 test grades. The French teacher told all the kids who missed friday ( I guess there were a few who were absent) that they would need to bring a Yankee candle for test credit - if they bring a large Yankee candle they will get the 2 test grades, if they bring a medium they will get 1 test grade and if they bring a small she will drop their lowest grade. Here is the kicker this presentation is something that the group has worked on for two weeks and they were suppose to do their presentations on Wednesday BUT the teacher was absent - so my son did work on the presentation with his group and he was in class Wednesday prepared to do the presentation but the teacher was out that day. So now that he was out sick on friday he will not get credit unless he brings his teacher a $25 Yankee Candle..... I have had teachers ask for paper, pencils, tissues and hand sanitizer for extra credit but never ever has anyone asked for expensive candles for a test grade.

I called the school to talk to the teacher and of course she was out for the day so I left a message for her to call me back. I was so tempted to call the principal first however I do know that I need to talk to her to clarify that she is indeed asking for Yankee candles for grades. I really hope that my son misunderstood this but he insists that she told everyone who was absent on friday that they would need to bring in a Yankee candle for credit.

I hope your son misunderstood because that is just wrong!

 

[DVCLiz]

Well, of course, in a minute you'll have a dozen or so angry "how could she?" posts - but I'm going to suggest something different.

I suggest you let your 10th grade son handle this. If necessary, you can give him some advice. Like "Go to the teacher and tell her you are not going to give her a candle for a test grade. Ask her for the other options she has for students to make up missing work. Remind her you were prepared to present your work on time and you were excused due to illness on the make up day."

Then let your son handle it. If the teacher is difficult, tell your son to move up the chain of command. I think a sophmore in high school ought to be able to go to someone in authority in his school and say, "Hey!! Who knew you could buy candles instead of doing your work? Is this really the way you guys want me to be learning?"

I am sure you will want to go and "handle " this for him but it's an excellent chance to let him learn how to deal with unfairness on his own.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

I hope your son misunderstood because that is just wrong!

Oh I know - I about flipped when he told me. I made him explain it too me atleast 3 times and he insists that is what she is asking for. Not any candle but Yankee Candles - I just hope that his teenage brain misunderstood something. I will remain try to keep my cool about this until I talk to the teacher and see what she says. If what he told me is true though I just may come unglued on that phone call.

 

[DisTeach1]

My son is in 10th grade and I am a teacher...No way would I expect him to handle this himself. We talk about this all the time...how this is the time when parents step away and let kids handle things themselves and sometimes, the kids just aren't ready or the situation calls for parental involvement.

This is a situation that calls for parental involvement. What I would do...I would clarify it "calmly" with the teacher to make sure exactly what she is asking, preferably in email so you have something you can show, and then I would go to administration. This is grades, and these count for college, so I wouldn't fool around.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

Well, of course, in a minute you'll have a dozen or so angry "how could she?" posts - but I'm going to suggest something different.

I suggest you let your 10th grade son handle this. If necessary, you can give him some advice. Like "Go to the teacher and tell her you are not going to give her a candle for a test grade. Ask her for the other options she has for students to make up missing work. Remind her you were prepared to present your work on time and you were excused due to illness on the make up day."

Then let your son handle it. If the teacher is difficult, tell your son to move up the chain of command. I think a sophmore in high school ought to be able to go to someone in authority in his school and say, "Hey!! Who knew you could buy candles instead of doing your work? Is this really the way you guys want me to be learning?"

I am sure you will want to go and "handle " this for him but it's an excellent chance to let him learn how to deal with unfairness on his own.

That is some sound advice - Thank You. I did already call and leave a message for her to call me so I will have to deal with the call but I will tell him to talk to her tomorrow. He said he had until Nov 2 to bring the candle in for credit.

 

[MinnieMe87]

Well, of course, in a minute you'll have a dozen or so angry "how could she?" posts - but I'm going to suggest something different.

I suggest you let your 10th grade son handle this. If necessary, you can give him some advice. Like "Go to the teacher and tell her you are not going to give her a candle for a test grade. Ask her for the other options she has for students to make up missing work. Remind her you were prepared to present your work on time and you were excused due to illness on the make up day."

Then let your son handle it. If the teacher is difficult, tell your son to move up the chain of command. I think a sophmore in high school ought to be able to go to someone in authority in his school and say, "Hey!! Who knew you could buy candles instead of doing your work? Is this really the way you guys want me to be learning?"

I am sure you will want to go and "handle " this for him but it's an excellent chance to let him learn how to deal with unfairness on his own.

I agree!

 

[tchrrx]

Wow. I can't even imagine telling my students that they could bring me something and get a grade for it. Definitely see what the teacher says about this. If that's seriously the case, I would let administration know. That is completely and totally unacceptable.

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

I love candles. Why didn't I ever think of something like this when I was teaching?

 

[shortbun]

In my high school American History class, we had a final paper/project. The heaviest paper/project got an A. A very industrious student did their report on blacksmiths and brought in equipment. He got an A. In college, in a class titled 'philosophy of education' our prof was very avant garde/quirky. A friend of mine went in search of the largesst, red apple she could find and polished it until it reflected her face. You guessed it, she gave the prof the apple with a big grin on her face and got an A in the class. Surely, your son's teacher was throwing out a humorous solution to a missed presentation. Don't fight it, go out and find some candles but tell your son to be prepared with his own presentation as well. Lighten up everybody!!!

 

[dis-happy]

Trying to figure out what she's doing with those candles? Donating them to a worthy cause? Keeping them for herself? Giving them out to people on her Christmas list? I'm in shock.

Good luck getting it all straightened out for your ds...

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That is some sound advice - Thank You. I did already call and leave a message for her to call me so I will have to deal with the call but I will tell him to talk to her tomorrow. He said he had until Nov 2 to bring the candle in for credit.

No candles are being brought in and if his absence was excused due to illness, he will be making up the grade opportunity.

This is high school, not college--so a zero tolerance absence policy for projects/tests (I have had a zero tolerance policy in college and you learn to deal)

...with absurd and costly make ups via a purchase or other avenue requiring money is tantamount to the teacher asking a bribe.

for the teachers sake I really do hope your son completely misunderstood--but at 15/16, I was capable of comprehending instructions and I just don't see how something like this could be a misinterpretation.

If the teacher confirms this, automatic report to the principle followed up by the school board if it is not handled properly. There simply is no excuse for her doing this at all. If she is willing to accept bribery, then she should willingly be reported.

But again, I hope your son was wrong.

And the fact that she was absent and he couldn't do it on the original day--again, double whammy wrong.

I recall in high school that there were ways around this and a students grade wouldn't be in jeopardy if they were too physically ill to come to school. In college--different story!

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

My son is in 10th grade and I am a teacher...No way would I expect him to handle this himself. We talk about this all the time...how this is the time when parents step away and let kids handle things themselves and sometimes, the kids just aren't ready or the situation calls for parental involvement.

This is a situation that calls for parental involvement. What I would do...I would clarify it "calmly" with the teacher to make sure exactly what she is asking, preferably in email so you have something you can show, and then I would go to administration. This is grades, and these count for college, so I wouldn't fool around.

I am torn about this - I want him to be able to handle situations like this however he has a very non confrontational personality - he rather avoid conflict and take a 0. I do believe that I will need to talk to the teacher. I will be calm and see what she says. Emailing would probably be the best way to go forward on this so I will type something out to her this evening to ask for clarification and then take it from there.

 

[tiggger1]

Trying to figure out what she's doing with those candles? Donating them to a worthy cause? Keeping them for herself? Giving them out to people on her Christmas list? I'm in shock.

Good luck getting it all straightened out for your ds...

the only thing I could think of is maybe she using them for some sort of raffle or even in a Food basket for Thanksgiving?

 

[teacups]

I cant wait to hear the follow up to this one!

I had two thoughts:
1) take an already burned candle, all blackened and gross.
2) Tell her you wont report her if she gives you all the candles. Your Christmas shopping can be half done!

But serioulsy, if it is what it sounds like, its SO not ok.
I dont care if she is donating them. Thats just wrong.
And considering SHE missed Wednesday, its almost insane.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

I cant wait to hear the follow up to this one!

I had two thoughts:
1) take an already burned candle, all blackened and gross.
2) Tell her you wont report her if she gives you all the candles. Your Christmas shopping can be half done!

But serioulsy, if it is what it sounds like, its SO not ok.
I dont care if she is donating them. Thats just wrong.
And considering SHE missed Wednesday, its almost insane.

LOL- I like #2

I will definately update after I figure out what is going on.

 

[Avalon_toon]

I just had to subscribe to this thread so I don't miss how it all ends! This is seriously one of the craziest teacher stories I've read, and I'm a teacher. Assuming your son understood correctly, how can she possibly think this is acceptable?!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Okay, I'm on this thread. I've just got to find out what happens. I taught about a hundred years ago, and I'm just flabbergasted.

I do know of a teacher who almost never gave out extra credit, but once a year, did if her students volunteered for some annual event or other. I don't remember what it was, just that it was hard, manual labor for the city and it was in the fall. And every year, the kids just lined up to get that extra credit from her and work their fannies off one Saturday.

And I and several other teachers used to give credit for canned goods for the food pantry or that sort of thing. (I remember giving kids 5 points a day during Homecoming if they dressed up for Spirit days!)

But I've never heard of ANYTHING like this!

 

[torinsmom]

I wouldn't ask my 10th grade son to handle this himself. Some teachers do not appreciate being confronted and questioned by a student, and could reprimand him for being disrespectful. When the teacher calls, I would just ask if your son understood her correctly about bringing in a candle for test credit. If she said yes, I would ask if that is customary in high school now. An excused absence should warrant making up anything missed on the day of the absence. If she says no, just thank her for clarifying.

Maybe she should bring all the kids a candle since she was out when they were supposed to give their presentation.

Marsha

 

[KirstenB]

Maybe she was just joking?