I have been Called to the Principal's Office

[Cecilie1200]

Since the beginning of the school year about a month ago, I have requested that:

Teachers send me ONE graded paper per week per subject

I stipulate it must be a paper, graded, as opposed to their practice of simply showing the grade in an online gradebook called "Infinite Campus."

My intent is to SEE whatever the hell they're teaching, and if it is being learned. You cannot do this just by looking at the grade

I also stated that if I didn't see graded papers, then I'd need to see THEM AND the graded papers, and we could arrange a meeting.


WELL, apparently this is proving to be An Issue for which I must see the principal!!!???

It seems some teachers are just overwhelmed with the prospect of teaching anything that may be worth assessing the value on a weekly basis!!!!!

GODDAMN? WTF??

Am I being completely unreasonable???

Why don't they just send the graded assignments home with your spawn?

Isn't that how they do it? Or do teachers these days horde all the assignments?

Well, the slave isn't the most reliable conveyance, but after a fuckin' month I expect him to have the proceeedure of receiving a paper, transporting it home, letting me know he has it, and if necessary returning it to school.

Some complain that I'm interfering with their horde, arguing that they like to wait until "The end of the Unit" to send all the graded work home. But what I'm seeing is lost of grade entries that do not require ANY objective evaluation: "Participation" grades, and very few quizzes, tests, and things that require a student to place their pencil to a piece of paper!!

Not to mention that "waiting until the end of the unit" isn't helpful if your plan is to nip bad behavior in the bud.

 

[Ravi]

Since the beginning of the school year about a month ago, I have requested that:

Teachers send me ONE graded paper per week per subject

I stipulate it must be a paper, graded, as opposed to their practice of simply showing the grade in an online gradebook called "Infinite Campus."

My intent is to SEE whatever the hell they're teaching, and if it is being learned. You cannot do this just by looking at the grade

I also stated that if I didn't see graded papers, then I'd need to see THEM AND the graded papers, and we could arrange a meeting.


WELL, apparently this is proving to be An Issue for which I must see the principal!!!???

It seems some teachers are just overwhelmed with the prospect of teaching anything that may be worth assessing the value on a weekly basis!!!!!

GODDAMN? WTF??

Am I being completely unreasonable???

It's the teachers fault your 10th grader is a fuck up?

Interesting.

 

[Cecilie1200]

If I don't go through my kids' backpack every day I miss all sorts of things...and their homework is sent home. But I walk into their classroom at least once a week, ostensibly to give Wallybaba his eyeglasses or pay for lunches or something. But that contact is never amiss, I'm able to sort of keep on top of what is going on.

I love it that my kids are in a charter school. This year the focus is on the watershed! How cool is that! The whole school is going to go canoeing at some point....

I like my son's charter school very much, as well. He has an advisor, with whom he meets twice a week to review his progress, discuss any problems he may be having, and finetune his educational path (schedule extra lab time, connect with a tutor, etc.). I can waltz into the school any time I like and have a sit-down with his advisor and get an up-to-the-minute progress report on him, both academically and socially, because she's actually plugged into his day-to-day school activities.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Why don't they just send the graded assignments home with your spawn?

Isn't that how they do it? Or do teachers these days horde all the assignments?

Well, the slave isn't the most reliable conveyance, but after a fuckin' month I expect him to have the proceeedure of receiving a paper, transporting it home, letting me know he has it, and if necessary returning it to school.

Some complain that I'm interfering with their horde, arguing that they like to wait until "The end of the Unit" to send all the graded work home. But what I'm seeing is lost of grade entries that do not require ANY objective evaluation: "Participation" grades, and very few quizzes, tests, and things that require a student to place their pencil to a piece of paper!!

Good luck. They bypassed the principal altogether and I got called to the District Office last year after discovering by sheer accident that my pups had been yanked from their educational environment and placed in enrichment classes twice a week so I demanded to see their IEP's - as required by law - to find out exactly what "enriching" activities they were participating in. I won. Eventually.

May I ask what "enriching" activities they were participating in?

 

[Cecilie1200]

What grade is the child in? How long has school been in session? Were there problems last year?

10th

about a month: I know, not much time, but GET THE LEAD OUT!

Problems EVERY year....wait until 9 weeks are up, then WFT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING??? has been SOP. Not so this year.

English 10, for example....I have not seen a graded paper for the past TWO WEEKS?

Biology? Nothing but one paper with three questions graded.

I don't remember ever having that much homework in biology, it was mostly in class activities.
And maybe you should ask your children every night what they are learning.

We had homework AND class activities in biology. There's no point in the school purchasing a fetal pig for me to hack up if I haven't bothered to study the correlating section in the book first so that I know what I'm looking at.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I agree with the more in-depth lessons having a longer timeline.

But does that preclude lessons with a shorter timeline?

It seems to me quite natural to expect there would be something NEW learned every DAY, if not every WEEK, and that some evaluative tool be applied to that learning.

The fact is, teachers don't want to construct the test, grade the test, or deal with parents that question the grade. The less frequently they grade, the easier their lives are.

That's why meeting with principal, student, teacher and yourself is probably a good idea. Classes are probably 45-50 minutes. Depending on the subject and project to be assessed, the class time might well be used to teach how to address aspects of the assignment. Then again, that should be clear by syllabus.

Lower grades tend to have 'daily work' as much of the work is actually teaching the process of mastering work. By 7th or 8th grades, the student should know how he needs to acquire mastery of tasks. (For instance, learning how to memorize vocab. Learning math facts-kids learn different ways of getting to the same end.)

Needed vocabulary is listed in each text at the beginning or end of each lesson. By high school it's assumed the student recognizes such. The student is expected to be using the skills learned, not for grade, but because they are intricate to mastery.

While I agree with this, I see no need to "assume the student recognizes such" for vocabulary, or anything else. I'm not asking for a daily assessment. I simply want a weekly quiz. 5 questions?

Is that too much to freakin' ask? If so, why?

To my way of thinking, if your kid already knows all the relevant vocabulary, then that means they're just reviewing things he's already learned instead of teaching him anything new. It's not like biology vocabulary - for example - is commonly used in everyday language. It's technical jargon, for crying out loud, and if the subject matter's new, then it is by God going to have new vocabulary he's never heard or used before.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I just don't get why they are not giving back graded work right away. We always got our work back right away.

Last year when we had to write an essay in my Chinese history class, my teacher had them all back within in two to four days, and these were not short essays. And he had other classes. I don't remember waiting that long for assignments to come back when I was high school, maybe a week. If we corrected them in class, it was usually the next day, and that was only so they could input our grades.

One could guess that the teacher simply doesn't want to put in the time necessary to grade the papers that quickly, if one were cynical and pessimistic. Otherwise . . .

 

[Cecilie1200]

Since the beginning of the school year about a month ago, I have requested that:

Teachers send me ONE graded paper per week per subject

I stipulate it must be a paper, graded, as opposed to their practice of simply showing the grade in an online gradebook called "Infinite Campus."

My intent is to SEE whatever the hell they're teaching, and if it is being learned. You cannot do this just by looking at the grade

I also stated that if I didn't see graded papers, then I'd need to see THEM AND the graded papers, and we could arrange a meeting.


WELL, apparently this is proving to be An Issue for which I must see the principal!!!???

It seems some teachers are just overwhelmed with the prospect of teaching anything that may be worth assessing the value on a weekly basis!!!!!

GODDAMN? WTF??

Am I being completely unreasonable???

Me. I don't worry about it. My 17 year old senior seems to already know EVERYTHING!!!

Quick! Have him go get a job and start supporting you NOW, while he still knows it all!

 

[Samson]

Since the beginning of the school year about a month ago, I have requested that:

Teachers send me ONE graded paper per week per subject

I stipulate it must be a paper, graded, as opposed to their practice of simply showing the grade in an online gradebook called "Infinite Campus."

My intent is to SEE whatever the hell they're teaching, and if it is being learned. You cannot do this just by looking at the grade

I also stated that if I didn't see graded papers, then I'd need to see THEM AND the graded papers, and we could arrange a meeting.


WELL, apparently this is proving to be An Issue for which I must see the principal!!!???

It seems some teachers are just overwhelmed with the prospect of teaching anything that may be worth assessing the value on a weekly basis!!!!!

GODDAMN? WTF??

Am I being completely unreasonable???

Yes, you are being unreasonable. You see, it's tough for a Theater Education major to teach Earth Science. It's really hard for a person with seven degrees, all related to Special Education and Athletics to teach Algebra. But that doesn't even scratch the surface, because there are all these new requirements like that SIX WEEK course on MICROSOFT WORD getting in the way of the History major struggling to teach Biology.

Then there's the problem of the Principal who is too busy with the grants for the new Library to put together a means to be in touch with the involved parents (since that's what he complained about for two years, bad students being the product of uninvolved parents) to take the EIGHT WEEK course on MICROSOFT OUTLOOK. So you see, you are just being unreasonable.

And don't even think about homeschooling your 10th grader because while your kid will be quite proficient in all the basics, she won't the get the "social skills" that public school teaches so well. Well unless they are like my kids, where they can socialize on the playground, at dance class, in church youth group, in scouts, and anytime our families get together. That's apparently not sufficient to the guidance counselor who has never had kids and thinks churches are oppressive and scouts is just a hotbed of racism and homophobia. He has a law degree (never passed the bar) so he knows these things.

BAH!

I applaud you for trying, but that's why my kids are in private school

Yes, I appreciate the very accurate parody of the public school system.

I've actually considered the home schooling option, but don't believe he's anywhere NEAR mature enough to do it.

I'm guessing the Principal wants to talk to me about the broadcast e-mail I send to all his teachers at the end of the week, praising the amount of grading I see in World History and Health, and then wondering if he did anything in Biology or English or Geometry?

My guess is that the teachers hate the competition I've created among themselves to do anything.

At any rate, I'll agree to seperate the email recipients, if I can get graded work back on a weekly basis.

 

[asterism]

Since the beginning of the school year about a month ago, I have requested that:

Teachers send me ONE graded paper per week per subject

I stipulate it must be a paper, graded, as opposed to their practice of simply showing the grade in an online gradebook called "Infinite Campus."

My intent is to SEE whatever the hell they're teaching, and if it is being learned. You cannot do this just by looking at the grade

I also stated that if I didn't see graded papers, then I'd need to see THEM AND the graded papers, and we could arrange a meeting.


WELL, apparently this is proving to be An Issue for which I must see the principal!!!???

It seems some teachers are just overwhelmed with the prospect of teaching anything that may be worth assessing the value on a weekly basis!!!!!

GODDAMN? WTF??

Am I being completely unreasonable???

Yes, you are being unreasonable. You see, it's tough for a Theater Education major to teach Earth Science. It's really hard for a person with seven degrees, all related to Special Education and Athletics to teach Algebra. But that doesn't even scratch the surface, because there are all these new requirements like that SIX WEEK course on MICROSOFT WORD getting in the way of the History major struggling to teach Biology.

Then there's the problem of the Principal who is too busy with the grants for the new Library to put together a means to be in touch with the involved parents (since that's what he complained about for two years, bad students being the product of uninvolved parents) to take the EIGHT WEEK course on MICROSOFT OUTLOOK. So you see, you are just being unreasonable.

And don't even think about homeschooling your 10th grader because while your kid will be quite proficient in all the basics, she won't the get the "social skills" that public school teaches so well. Well unless they are like my kids, where they can socialize on the playground, at dance class, in church youth group, in scouts, and anytime our families get together. That's apparently not sufficient to the guidance counselor who has never had kids and thinks churches are oppressive and scouts is just a hotbed of racism and homophobia. He has a law degree (never passed the bar) so he knows these things.

BAH!

I applaud you for trying, but that's why my kids are in private school

Yes, I appreciate the very accurate parody of the public school system.

I've actually considered the home schooling option, but don't believe he's anywhere NEAR mature enough to do it.

I'm guessing the Principal wants to talk to me about the broadcast e-mail I send to all his teachers at the end of the week, praising the amount of grading I see in World History and Health, and then wondering if he did anything in Biology or English or Geometry?

My guess is that the teachers hate the competition I've created among themselves to do anything.

At any rate, I'll agree to seperate the email recipients, if I can get graded work back on a weekly basis.

Bring a tape recorder.

 

[Samson]

What really amuses me about this is that teachers and other public school affiliates love to blame the declining quality of public education on a lack of parental involvement.

The Irony will not be lost during my meeting on Monday

Not to mention that "waiting until the end of the unit" isn't helpful if your plan is to nip bad behavior in the bud.

Yes...duh! You'd think this would be OBVIOUS wouldn't you?

I like my son's charter school very much, as well. He has an advisor, with whom he meets twice a week to review his progress, discuss any problems he may be having, and finetune his educational path (schedule extra lab time, connect with a tutor, etc.). I can waltz into the school any time I like and have a sit-down with his advisor and get an up-to-the-minute progress report on him, both academically and socially, because she's actually plugged into his day-to-day school activities.

Hope the school goes through HS.

We had homework AND class activities in biology. There's no point in the school purchasing a fetal pig for me to hack up if I haven't bothered to study the correlating section in the book first so that I know what I'm looking at.

Exactly! And how does anyone know if you bothered to study anything? They just assume that as a responsible 10th grader, you did it? They ask,"Hey did you read the section," and if you say, "Yes" you get a 100% participation grade??? WTF???

 

[Samson]

Yes, you are being unreasonable. You see, it's tough for a Theater Education major to teach Earth Science. It's really hard for a person with seven degrees, all related to Special Education and Athletics to teach Algebra. But that doesn't even scratch the surface, because there are all these new requirements like that SIX WEEK course on MICROSOFT WORD getting in the way of the History major struggling to teach Biology.

Then there's the problem of the Principal who is too busy with the grants for the new Library to put together a means to be in touch with the involved parents (since that's what he complained about for two years, bad students being the product of uninvolved parents) to take the EIGHT WEEK course on MICROSOFT OUTLOOK. So you see, you are just being unreasonable.

And don't even think about homeschooling your 10th grader because while your kid will be quite proficient in all the basics, she won't the get the "social skills" that public school teaches so well. Well unless they are like my kids, where they can socialize on the playground, at dance class, in church youth group, in scouts, and anytime our families get together. That's apparently not sufficient to the guidance counselor who has never had kids and thinks churches are oppressive and scouts is just a hotbed of racism and homophobia. He has a law degree (never passed the bar) so he knows these things.

BAH!

I applaud you for trying, but that's why my kids are in private school

Yes, I appreciate the very accurate parody of the public school system.

I've actually considered the home schooling option, but don't believe he's anywhere NEAR mature enough to do it.

I'm guessing the Principal wants to talk to me about the broadcast e-mail I send to all his teachers at the end of the week, praising the amount of grading I see in World History and Health, and then wondering if he did anything in Biology or English or Geometry?

My guess is that the teachers hate the competition I've created among themselves to do anything.

At any rate, I'll agree to seperate the email recipients, if I can get graded work back on a weekly basis.

Bring a tape recorder.

 

[xotoxi]

Although when I was in school we did have some teachers that didn't even grade homework and such until the end of the semester, they made you do it then lug it around in a binder all semester, if you lost that binder you were screwed. I always thought those teachers were lazy.

Did you think it was the teachers responsibility to keep track of your shit?

 

[syrenn]

Yank then out of public school and enroll them in a private school.

Start asking the principal for the papers see how that goes over.

 

[Samson]

Although when I was in school we did have some teachers that didn't even grade homework and such until the end of the semester, they made you do it then lug it around in a binder all semester, if you lost that binder you were screwed. I always thought those teachers were lazy.

Did you think it was the teachers responsibility to keep track of your shit?

I did it.

Here's the deal I'd give students:

You have 10 homework problems to do.....I want them on your desk for me to check when class begins...I check 5 of them (the lowest grade you get is a 50). Then you bring the paper home, get it signed, bring it back, and I give you 20 MORE points up to a 100.

At the end of class I pick up papers from anyone that wants to turn them in, record the grades, and put them in a file. If a mom or dad wants to see their kids work I get the file out, sift through the pile, get their kids papers, and we look at them.

Of course, there was never the uncomfortable case, where no paper was available, because even a BLANK signed paper would get a 50.

 

[Samson]

Yank then out of public school and enroll them in a private school.

Start asking the principal for the papers see how that goes over.

Yeah, he'll probably ask me to go through him, but that was the plan all along if the teachers proved uncooperative.

I'm not spending money on private school.

 

[Samson]

Why don't they just send the graded assignments home with your spawn?

Isn't that how they do it? Or do teachers these days horde all the assignments?

Well, the slave isn't the most reliable conveyance...

Use these:

And the back of the shirt.

I'm considering one of these:

And his forehead.

 

[syrenn]

Yank then out of public school and enroll them in a private school.

Start asking the principal for the papers see how that goes over.

Yeah, he'll probably ask me to go through him, but that was the plan all along if the teachers proved uncooperative.

I'm not spending money on private school.

You do realize that this would not be an issue if they were in private school don't you?

I tell ya, the principal will get fed up eventually and turn it all over to the teacher in the end. This is going to be a squeaky wheel deal.

 

[Samson]

Yank then out of public school and enroll them in a private school.

Start asking the principal for the papers see how that goes over.

Yeah, he'll probably ask me to go through him, but that was the plan all along if the teachers proved uncooperative.

I'm not spending money on private school.

You do realize that this would not be an issue if they were in private school don't you?

I tell ya, the principal will get fed up eventually and turn it all over to the teacher in the end. This is going to be a squeaky wheel deal.

I'm astonished its an issue in a public school!

I really expected that IF the teachers whined about MY POLICY, then the admin would tell the teacher to grow a pair, and get a fucking graded paper out ONCE A GODDAMN WEEK!!

I'm wondering if there's something I'm not aware of that has made this principal such a weinie.

 

[syrenn]

Yeah, he'll probably ask me to go through him, but that was the plan all along if the teachers proved uncooperative.

I'm not spending money on private school.

You do realize that this would not be an issue if they were in private school don't you?

I tell ya, the principal will get fed up eventually and turn it all over to the teacher in the end. This is going to be a squeaky wheel deal.

I'm astonished its an issue in a public school!

I really expected that IF the teachers whined about MY POLICY, then the admin would tell the teacher to grow a pair, and get a fucking graded paper out ONCE A GODDAMN WEEK!!

I'm wondering if there's something I'm not aware of that has made this principal such a weinie.

Public school and unions teachers, what did you expect? I am amazed you didn't think that it was going to be a problem. You are asking them to work and do their jobs you know.