Unclassified > The War Room
My parent/teacher conference
CindyLouWho:
It happened. I had to say my piece. I went over ok.
I went to my 6th grade daughters parent/teacher conference this past Monday. She is getting very good grades. She has had no behavioir issues. A stack of papers is put in front of me breaking down each class and each class into homewor, quizzes and tests and such. The teacher tells me that my dear daughter is not handing in her homeowrk in a timely manner. This was an issue for the first month of school and although it has improved, it remains an issue. So I'm listening to how my daughter needs to complete assignments and hand them in on time......particularly in spelling....and as I am listening, I look down at the spelling sheet she has neatly broken down into the aforementioned sections and see she has a 98% in the homework department. I am puzzled. I whip the paper around and show the teacher, there is a 98% in the homework department for spelling. She says "I know".....so I am staring at her you know with a what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about-then kind of look on my face - (smiling kindly you know) although I already know and I want her to say it.......she tells me - I shit you not - that she told everyone what their missing assignments are and that they have to be in by the end of the grading period to get credit.....so of course my dear daughter whipped those out and handed them in.....alas, a 98% in the homeowrk department. I asked the "Why did you give her, or anyone alse, a chance to make them up - for full credit, none-the less?" And the teacher replies with the story of how she has to show her kids can perform at such and such a level or catch hell. Hmmmmm. My face was hot. She tells me about how there are two or three kids in the class who are consistently not performing/not able to perofrm so she gives everyone - even the kids who are choosing to just slack but can whip the work out absolutely correctly in a matter of a recess period - a chance to make the work up so it looks like she /the school is hitting the mark. Oh you didn't just tell me that. So I tell her, if my daughter does not complete an assignment you should give her a big fat zero. That is how she is going to learn there is a consequence for it. Why bother with boring old spelling homework if there is no consequence for it. She knows she can spell those words and is reading at an 8th grade level. Shoot, if the A comes home on the report card, that's all that really matters, right? And what about the kids who can't perform where she is? Are they just getting pushed through afterall? So the school hits that mark and gets their funding? Sheesh. I told her "You do know it is the crap I hear - like this - that made us pull our son out of the public school system." I told her there has been a lot of reality checks for him. One reality being if your work isn't done - done right and on time in the manner in which you were asked to present it, sorry buddy, you don't get a grade. I told the teacher zero tolerance is something you guys talk about here but there are schools that actually institute it....there are places people can send their kids where they are taught responsibility for their actions - or lack thereof. Yes, it starts at home but when the people who spend eight hours a day out of thier lives are reinforcing it, it sure does help tremendously. They see a nearly immediate consequence. Funny this teacher agreed with me. Said they had attended private school and had the opportunity to spend time in private schools as a student. Seems young teachers enter the schhol system feeling like they are going to make a difference. I felt the same way as a fledgling in my field. Thing is, I still do most days. This teacher had an attitude that her hands are tied and that is just how it is for now. Well, then, I see I am going to be super broke for a while. I only wish I had been more aware of my children's education much sooner. I hope I haven't rambled too darned much. GAWD was I pissy about the whole meeting........
Zipper:
But you see... if they don't give the kids good grades they might hurt their feelings......(sarcasm of course)
You hit the nail on the head. Hopefully you can make a change, at least at your house.
NightmarePatrol:
Why do I see these in my future as well. Pass the Xanax please.
GROK:
I look forward to very "intimate" parent-teacher conferences in the future..........................................................oh, BTW did I mention my wife will be homeschooling our little girl! LOL
lifefeedsonlife:
We're homeschooling too. Had enough of what passes for education in the public school system here. Not a slam on teachers, who are very well intentioned people who try their best in a completely shitty system that has been ruined by a gigantic bureaucracy. When the locals had control of their own funding - our educational system seemed a bit more successful.
Once a bureaucracy becomes entrenched within a system - the system fails to perform up to expectations. What is bureaucracy's answer to that? Create more bureaucracy to figure out why.
It's been the American way since FDR.
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