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Post by misty on Dec 20, 2006 10:01:07 GMT -5
Shannon was doing so GREAT. She was on high honor roll for the first time EVER last grading period. Then yesterday mid-term reports for this grading period were sent home & shes slid from A's to D's in both Science & Social Studies. BOTH grades fell due to missing & incomplete homework assignments! I KNOW she's doing well other wise...I've seen the graded tests come home & they are all A's & B's. At the parent teacher conference in October I asked the teacher to let me know via the assignment book (which I check EACH day) when Shannon is missing anything. Well, apparently she did not. Each day the teacher just writes "Good day" or "great day" & thats IT! So when I sent the mid term paper back in with my signature today, I wrote my comments on it. I want to know why her grade was allowed to slip so drastically before I was informed there was a problem & why it was not noted in her assignment book that work was missing. And I want to know if she can do or find the missing work now & hand it in for at least partial credit.
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Post by Charlie Girl on Dec 20, 2006 10:13:37 GMT -5
Ok, all together now..... Hopefully the teacher will realize you need to be told and start filling you in. Better yet, she will help Shannon go through her stuff and find the missing work. If she is doing that well on her tests, the teacher should have realized she must be doing the work so it has to be somewhere. You can always go back to the system of a folder for the work to be completed and one for all completed work, if you aren't doing that anymore.
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Post by puzzled on Dec 20, 2006 10:23:40 GMT -5
ARRGGHHH!!!
I feel your pain! Chase gets his grade card tomorrow, and luckily I went online a week and a half ago (after he finally told me the med wasn't lasting all day at school) and checked his report, and found 2 assignments in reading that were 0 out of 100% and the comment was "incomplete/missing". These were due 2 and 3 weeks ago! So, I brought them to his attention, he did them in one marathon night of work last Thursday, and got half credit....whew!! But puhlease! Why don't the teachers tell us right away?!
His reading grade had slipped from an A to a LOOOOWW C because of them, and he kicked butt doing extra credti questions on his pigskin geography worksheets (don't ask...they are the devil!) and without these 2 grades, had brought it up to an 82% according to what he says the teacher told him. That is in the low B range, and he has turned in at least 2 assignments besides the missing ones too...
It really is like a job that we have to do to keep up on all of this with our children...too bad we can't get paid...
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Post by lillian on Dec 20, 2006 11:33:15 GMT -5
See, I'm wondering how homework can effect a grade that severely. Bring it down one letter grade? Yes, that's pretty common. But bring it down three letter grades? Huh? What does that mean? Homework counts 50% of her grade? 10% is standard, not 50%.
Hmm. Something is really odd about this.
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Post by lillian on Dec 20, 2006 11:36:29 GMT -5
How often do you get these reports? Do you get them every three weeks, six weeks, nine weeks? And, it's a progress report, not a report card, right?
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Post by puzzled on Dec 20, 2006 12:23:52 GMT -5
Misty
Can you check an online site? Our school has an online site that is updated maybe weekly, and I can check on all assignments and see if he completed them and what grade he got. There is a section for comments, and the teacher can put in like "Late, incomplete, missing, never turned in.." or whatever...that way I am not so bowled over at progress report time, which for me is halfway through the 9 week grading period...
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Post by misty on Dec 20, 2006 13:55:10 GMT -5
Lillian...we only get one progress report halfway through each grading period. This is really bothering me too. I'm waiting to see the answers to the questions I wrote the teacher this morning. I will definately be going forward from there once I see what she has to say.
Puzzled, no...our district is in the middle of closing schools, opening others, rearranging what students will go where next year. They never updated their website for this year.
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Post by notellin on Dec 20, 2006 17:46:48 GMT -5
That would definately make my hair stand on end. And when it came down, I'd call her every single day 5-10 min after school got out to ask in a sweet voice if she had received my child's assignment that day. Then after a few weeks of that, maybe I'd ask if it would be easier for her to just send a note home whenever an assignment is missing. GRRR!
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Post by katiekat on Dec 21, 2006 0:05:15 GMT -5
Oh Misty I know how frustrating that lack of communication thing is!!!
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Post by crazyhouse on Dec 21, 2006 6:19:51 GMT -5
Misty you are so not alone on this, my bestfriend has 5 kids ranging from 15 yrs to 15 mths. Three of her kids have this problem. They are great in the beginning she sees good grades at parent teacher conferences then they slack off and she sees it on a progress report in November after they have missed a month and a half of work! She has to call the teachers and go to school off and on she signs note books she sits down and does homework with them at the table. The high school here has a program where you can pay 79.99 to view your childs grades every day on line. I swear it is a ploy to get you to put out more money I have watched her go through grades with 3 of her kids and she spends a lot of time trying to catch the teacher or catch the kids up on all the homework they missed. With one of her kids he has ADHD and Depression. A plan was put in place with the staff that if he came to every class prepared with no checks for missing homework or misbehaving at the end of the day he would take that to the principal and would recieve a reward (candy) everyday after a month he would get McD's or BK this has helped him greatly. It used to be 4 checks you got a detention now it's no checks you get a candy. The principal has used it on other children and so far it is doing well. She offered to supply the candy and lunch but the principal said it would not be a problem to take care of it through the school. I hope this helps <<<<<hugs>>>>> I hope it gets better
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Post by puzzled on Dec 21, 2006 9:06:45 GMT -5
I personally think that notellin's suggestion is a great one...show her just how easy she can keep you informed...
crazyhouse...I cannot believe that they charge that much for the online checking! Our tiny school district (2 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 high school) charges nothing, though I do not think it is updated daily...and I really wish that homework assignments were posted at least weekly(as they are assigned, not only after graded)...I can keep a closer eye on it, like once a week it is updated..
I hope that you get to the bottom of this Misty and get Shannon back on track, I know how frustrating it can be!
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Post by misty on Dec 21, 2006 9:20:31 GMT -5
Thanks for all the suggestions. I did get a letter back from the teacher. She said she did not tell me sooner because she likes to give the kids a chance to get the work in on their own. Because Shannon has an IEP, the teacher did give her some extra reminders & time & yes, she handed in most of them since the progress report had been mailed & her grades are now a B & a C instead of 2 Ds! I really want to try to deal with this teacher in a friendly manner because she's actually a VERY nice person & really cares about the kids. Plus, Shannon LIKES her. Last year Shannon & I both hated her teacher & I didn't mind if I had to get mean..LOL!
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Linda
Founding Member
Good friends are like stars.........You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
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Post by Linda on Dec 21, 2006 19:39:35 GMT -5
misty....that happened to us when Paul was in middle school!!! His progress report was great but when we went to conference....turns out he was failing! I did get mean and I got results!
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Post by crazyhouse on Dec 22, 2006 5:32:05 GMT -5
Good for her to get caught up, once you are behind it is so hard to focus on the goal and continue learning the new stuff too, and puzzled I live in a suburb near Chicago everything is expensive out here. It was either 79.99 or 49.99, I dont remember which but this is the second year they are offering it to this particular high school. It is not even offered in the elementary schools yet or Jr High. I'm guessing it eventually will become more available with time but for now you have to pay to play
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Post by misty on Dec 22, 2006 11:45:45 GMT -5
I think her learning support teacher helped her get caught up. Hes a great teacher & has helped her in the past.
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Post by lostmyshoe on Dec 22, 2006 21:37:05 GMT -5
Hi Misty, Looks like we are both going through the same thing, except in our situation the person at fault is my daughter. She got some bad grades because she is slacking off and she has been told if it continues there will be privileges taken away. Her attitude is really changing too. Sometimes I feel like I have a stranger in the house. I have been very sad lately and I'm hoping that our counselor can give me some advice. I think the social aspects of 7th grade are a big factor too. I'm glad to hear Shannon's getting caught up and her grades are improving. Becca did some makeup work and I'm hoping that will raise her grades, but the attitude has to improve too and people tell me it's going to get worse before it gets better, guess I'm in for it.........
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Post by lillian on Dec 31, 2006 12:56:45 GMT -5
Misty,
I'm glad you like this teacher, and I'm glad the teacher is nice to Shannon. Neither of those things take away from the teacher's responsibility to follow an IEP, however. Shannon has the accommodations she has for homework because she is ADD/LD, and both of these can cause severe memory deficits, problems with organization, and defiance (ADHD for the latter). Perhaps, as time goes on, she will learn how to help compensate for these issues. I know my son's organizational skills and defiance over homework have improved as he has matured. Until Shannon matures, she will continue to need the accommodations she has, and that's why they are in her IEP. The teacher doesn't have the option of changing the IEP because the teacher wants to, no matter how nice the teacher is.
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Post by misty on Jan 2, 2007 20:35:43 GMT -5
Lillian, The thing is, there is nothing in her IEP addressing missed work. She does have to have more time to finish her work, and the option of going to the learning support room if she needs a less distracting environment. She does have less homework than the other kids, but this was class work, not homework. Her teacher has been very diligent about keeping to Shannon's IEP.
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