Aa
Help! Advice needed.
This is a parent teacher "relationship" question.
My DS's grade dropped after the final exam. He maintained an A all year but after the final received a B+ (he missed the A by less than a point). I contacted the teacher to ask for her to double check DS's work. She would not do this and said the grade was final.
In discussing with my DS, I find out the teacher did several things out of normal and the final could not be studied for. I am at a total loss.
I don't feel this is right when it had such an impact and I feel her refusal to review his grades is unfair. I also feel that she failed to do review and giving them a test they could not prepare for is unfair.
She will not budge. I feel more strongly about it somewhat because of her refusal to discuss.
What would you do, if anything?
My DS's grade dropped after the final exam. He maintained an A all year but after the final received a B+ (he missed the A by less than a point). I contacted the teacher to ask for her to double check DS's work. She would not do this and said the grade was final.
In discussing with my DS, I find out the teacher did several things out of normal and the final could not be studied for. I am at a total loss.
I don't feel this is right when it had such an impact and I feel her refusal to review his grades is unfair. I also feel that she failed to do review and giving them a test they could not prepare for is unfair.
She will not budge. I feel more strongly about it somewhat because of her refusal to discuss.
What would you do, if anything?
When are you going to discuss your issues with the principal? That's my question.
This so-called website is nothing more than students giving their opinions; doesn't sound objective at all. What does this have to do with YOUR situation? Plus, those students who mentioned these teachers by name are possibly setting themselves up for legal troubles. I would NEVER recommend anyone doing this.
This so-called website is nothing more than students giving their opinions; doesn't sound objective at all. What does this have to do with YOUR situation? Plus, those students who mentioned these teachers by name are possibly setting themselves up for legal troubles. I would NEVER recommend anyone doing this.
Hi specialmom. Didn't mean to scare you. I wouldn't post names or try to defame (I mean I am complaining but I've not told you who or where...).
I honestly thought this was just a good forum to get unbiased feedback.
Everyone pretty much told me to suck it up, and I think ultimately that is true.
Again I think it just boils down to the teacher being unwilling to discuss a student with the parent. It's a little too authoritarian for me and hasn't been the case the few other times I've reached out to a teacher.
And, I did feel better seeing that the experience was much the same for others.
But should say that a majority of the teachers had good reviews. For instance, the bio teacher being hard BUT fair.
Anyway, I didn't mean to alarm you. Sorry.
I honestly thought this was just a good forum to get unbiased feedback.
Everyone pretty much told me to suck it up, and I think ultimately that is true.
Again I think it just boils down to the teacher being unwilling to discuss a student with the parent. It's a little too authoritarian for me and hasn't been the case the few other times I've reached out to a teacher.
And, I did feel better seeing that the experience was much the same for others.
But should say that a majority of the teachers had good reviews. For instance, the bio teacher being hard BUT fair.
Anyway, I didn't mean to alarm you. Sorry.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Whew, really glad they marked out the name as I wouldn't want to defame someone from a website like that. Please let's stay away from that. thank you
Thanks all for the input.
RockRose, I hear what you're saying.
I actually agree with everything. Ultimately I think I was just so annoyed at the teachers refusal to respond. I didn't ask for any special consideration. The brick wall and knowing that she did things that, even if they didn't make it worse, certainly didn't help (I know my kid has to pull his own weight, but clearly the teacher is there for a reason, not just to not make things worse, right?!).
I was with a group of other moms over the weekend enjoying a much needed break. School of course came up and people were sharing their own horror stories when someone mentioned a website (rateyourteacher.com). Said we should check it out.
I looked and it did make me feel better, validated and gave me a good laugh!
Some of the comments for this teacher are:
04/09/14 - Ms. ***** is a nazi dictator of a teacher and a complete pyschopath. She constantly brings up conversations about crack,drugs,murder, and sex and targets them at students. If you have her switch out or buy a machete you will need it.:
12/20/13 - I will admit that he is one of the only Spanish teachers I have ever had in ****** who can actually speak the language fluently. Unfortunately, that is the only positive thing I have to say about her. This class was TERRIBLE and I dreaded coming in every day. You can tell that she simply does not like kids and would rather be anywhere else. She is a very cold and weird lady, I would recommend switching out of her class.
07/19/12 - Worst class of my life. Dreaded it every day. get out while you can. most unhelpful teacher i have ever experienced.
06/19/12 - Meanest teacher ever. Doesn't like children, shouldn't be a teacher.
11/04/10 - She makes the students feel incompatent and practically yells at you when you don't understand something. If you have her, switch out. Not worth the pain and suffering if you ask me
10/21/13 - Although she is very intelligent and knows a lot about subject matter, she is very "old school". Her class is kind of like a Nazi concentration camp. You cannot go to the bathroom beside once a semester. She doesn't offer extra help after the first semester, and is not sympathetic when you are going through stressful times. If you start to do anything less than a B, you are a bad student in her eyes, and you cannot do better. She expects absolute perfection and punctuality, always.
And, for the record, the site isn't used just to bash. There are glowing comments for other teachers. This is DS's AP bio teacher.
05/29/13 - One of the best teachers I've ever had. She's nice and easy going, but the class isn't a free for all. We all behave because we respect her, and her lessons are informative and clear. She was a research scientist clearly knows her field, and is excited to share it with us. Plus her edmodo is hilarious! I really felt prepared for the AP exam because of her. Yes she can be a hard grader, but if you go to extra help she explains everything perfectly for your learning style. Gotta love mama z
02/29/12 - Absolutely one of my favorite teachers. She uses the smartboard for all of her lessons, so if you're a visual learner it's perfect. She's also very funny and young, and you can treat her as a friend. Her tests are a bit difficult, but there's never anything on them that she hasn't gone over in class. Also, if you're not good with understanding the textbook, don't worry because she's clarifies everything in class! Bio H was amazing with her. :)
12/13/11 - She is so awesome. Her tests are very hard but if you study for them they are manageable. Apparently she is the best bio teacher out of them all! She is really funny and makes our class laugh all the time. I enjoy going to bio and I am sooooo glad I have her as a teacher.
Anyway, I feel better knowing that our take on the class and teacher was very much the same as others had experienced. Too bad there wasn't another teacher to switch to.
Nonetheless, thank you all for your input. I do appreciate the unbiased input!
RockRose, I hear what you're saying.
I actually agree with everything. Ultimately I think I was just so annoyed at the teachers refusal to respond. I didn't ask for any special consideration. The brick wall and knowing that she did things that, even if they didn't make it worse, certainly didn't help (I know my kid has to pull his own weight, but clearly the teacher is there for a reason, not just to not make things worse, right?!).
I was with a group of other moms over the weekend enjoying a much needed break. School of course came up and people were sharing their own horror stories when someone mentioned a website (rateyourteacher.com). Said we should check it out.
I looked and it did make me feel better, validated and gave me a good laugh!
Some of the comments for this teacher are:
04/09/14 - Ms. ***** is a nazi dictator of a teacher and a complete pyschopath. She constantly brings up conversations about crack,drugs,murder, and sex and targets them at students. If you have her switch out or buy a machete you will need it.:
12/20/13 - I will admit that he is one of the only Spanish teachers I have ever had in ****** who can actually speak the language fluently. Unfortunately, that is the only positive thing I have to say about her. This class was TERRIBLE and I dreaded coming in every day. You can tell that she simply does not like kids and would rather be anywhere else. She is a very cold and weird lady, I would recommend switching out of her class.
07/19/12 - Worst class of my life. Dreaded it every day. get out while you can. most unhelpful teacher i have ever experienced.
06/19/12 - Meanest teacher ever. Doesn't like children, shouldn't be a teacher.
11/04/10 - She makes the students feel incompatent and practically yells at you when you don't understand something. If you have her, switch out. Not worth the pain and suffering if you ask me
10/21/13 - Although she is very intelligent and knows a lot about subject matter, she is very "old school". Her class is kind of like a Nazi concentration camp. You cannot go to the bathroom beside once a semester. She doesn't offer extra help after the first semester, and is not sympathetic when you are going through stressful times. If you start to do anything less than a B, you are a bad student in her eyes, and you cannot do better. She expects absolute perfection and punctuality, always.
And, for the record, the site isn't used just to bash. There are glowing comments for other teachers. This is DS's AP bio teacher.
05/29/13 - One of the best teachers I've ever had. She's nice and easy going, but the class isn't a free for all. We all behave because we respect her, and her lessons are informative and clear. She was a research scientist clearly knows her field, and is excited to share it with us. Plus her edmodo is hilarious! I really felt prepared for the AP exam because of her. Yes she can be a hard grader, but if you go to extra help she explains everything perfectly for your learning style. Gotta love mama z
02/29/12 - Absolutely one of my favorite teachers. She uses the smartboard for all of her lessons, so if you're a visual learner it's perfect. She's also very funny and young, and you can treat her as a friend. Her tests are a bit difficult, but there's never anything on them that she hasn't gone over in class. Also, if you're not good with understanding the textbook, don't worry because she's clarifies everything in class! Bio H was amazing with her. :)
12/13/11 - She is so awesome. Her tests are very hard but if you study for them they are manageable. Apparently she is the best bio teacher out of them all! She is really funny and makes our class laugh all the time. I enjoy going to bio and I am sooooo glad I have her as a teacher.
Anyway, I feel better knowing that our take on the class and teacher was very much the same as others had experienced. Too bad there wasn't another teacher to switch to.
Nonetheless, thank you all for your input. I do appreciate the unbiased input!
Let me ask - too - what has he lost here? Is this going to jeopardize him being in the top quarter at graduation, or jeopardize being in the top 10 graduates, etc? Because if this grade change would make a very huge difference in the outcome of his 4 years, it's more worth fighting than if it's just kind of a nothingballer.
There are a couple things here.
I've got some small amount of experience in dealing with parent complaints in the school system, and grade complaints and academic fairness.
It does seem the teacher didn't follow protocol in giving a review, and also scheduled a test on a non test day. So those two things are in your favor.
The core of this, though, is whether a B+ best reflects his level of mastery of the course, or whether an A- is more fair.
I don't know the exact particulars of the structured test, but if he did really very poorly on usage it doesn't seem plausible the review would have helped him. So, he didn't master the curriculum enough to earn an A, which is complete mastery. I would say, if he really didn't understand correct usage, he should be grateful for a B. So I think although the principal can't share other student's grades with you, or even really comment in general that the class did better or worse than him, I'm sure that will be looked at in this appeal process. If, in general, your son did much worse on the comprehension portion of the final than other students did who earned a B, I don't think you will have much success pressing this.
There are some very compelling reasons to argue unfairness - but I'm not sure arguing missing an hour and a half review would explain doing very poorly on the usage portion of the final.
So while you're trying to teach your son to stick up for himself if he's been wronged (this is a GREAT thing to teach, btw) I think it's important to also ask the biggest question - did you earn an A in Spanish. Although he carried an A for the year because the tests didn't reveal that he wasn't learning the material, in fact, he didn't learn it.
So, I don't think he's necessarily been wronged here. I think he fair and square didn't perform at A level.
Best wishes. By the way, do y'all do EOC's that are standardized by your state? Is that coming to your state? I think that would be the great equalizer. Some schools hand out A's for showing up, and other schools you have to work to make a C. With EOC's, it would be obvious which schools are doing a good job and it would end graduating kids who don't have better than an 8th grade education.
I've got some small amount of experience in dealing with parent complaints in the school system, and grade complaints and academic fairness.
It does seem the teacher didn't follow protocol in giving a review, and also scheduled a test on a non test day. So those two things are in your favor.
The core of this, though, is whether a B+ best reflects his level of mastery of the course, or whether an A- is more fair.
I don't know the exact particulars of the structured test, but if he did really very poorly on usage it doesn't seem plausible the review would have helped him. So, he didn't master the curriculum enough to earn an A, which is complete mastery. I would say, if he really didn't understand correct usage, he should be grateful for a B. So I think although the principal can't share other student's grades with you, or even really comment in general that the class did better or worse than him, I'm sure that will be looked at in this appeal process. If, in general, your son did much worse on the comprehension portion of the final than other students did who earned a B, I don't think you will have much success pressing this.
There are some very compelling reasons to argue unfairness - but I'm not sure arguing missing an hour and a half review would explain doing very poorly on the usage portion of the final.
So while you're trying to teach your son to stick up for himself if he's been wronged (this is a GREAT thing to teach, btw) I think it's important to also ask the biggest question - did you earn an A in Spanish. Although he carried an A for the year because the tests didn't reveal that he wasn't learning the material, in fact, he didn't learn it.
So, I don't think he's necessarily been wronged here. I think he fair and square didn't perform at A level.
Best wishes. By the way, do y'all do EOC's that are standardized by your state? Is that coming to your state? I think that would be the great equalizer. Some schools hand out A's for showing up, and other schools you have to work to make a C. With EOC's, it would be obvious which schools are doing a good job and it would end graduating kids who don't have better than an 8th grade education.
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