Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Why can't teachers be more organized?

Sorry to derail this thread! I don't believe that he is going to change her grade on that assignment. The grades are already in for the quarter. I am more worried that he is going to grade future assignments more harshly if they aren't massively better than the last essay b/c he now thinks that she should be able to write much, much better than she did if that essay only took her 1.5 hours the night before it was due.

I agree with the others about how outrageous this is on its face. If it was me and a teacher changed a grade solely because he found out that the essay was written the night before, I'd be inclined to write to the principal. Unless he made it clear that writing it the night before would trigger a penalty (?) and also penalized others for doing this, he's singling out your daughter.

By refusing to provide a due date, he's also being unprofessional (IMHO!). Projects, whether for school or work, typically have due dates. Why are his special? How can anyone plan until they know the date?

He should also apply the same standards to everyone, which means that he should have a standard for an A, regardless of whether the essay was written in 90 minutes last night or last week.

Just my 2c; sorry you have to suffer this. He sounds like he could be bullying here.

Val

I don't think this is a derailment. I think it's a great example of the lower standards of organization and consistency that I was originally gripping about.

I hesitate to describe is as "lower standards of professionalism" but I can't think of a more neutral way.

Both another mother and I who brought this point up at conferenced (minus calling him unprofessional ), were given the same spiel regarding how "if I was having a house built, I'd want the house to be built the way I wanted it even if it took longer. I'd rather the builder took an extra week than finished it on time and it wasn't done right." While there do appear to be deadlines in his mind by which the assignments must be done (like the end of the quarter maybe), he feels that it benefits the students to not have those deadlines and to just work away at their best product and turn it in when it is done which is, presumably, before the deadline he has in mind (which has not been shared with the kids).

I believe that I used that exact quote in my conversation with the teacher. Dd has too much other homework to be planning to write rough drafts of essays so the final product is her best work if she doesn't even know when the final product is due. If she knew when it was due, then she'd plan in time for work on his stuff too and not focus solely on what feels like more pressing assignments from other classes that have actual due dates.

I get the impression that we are going to be muddling through this year without it being a great year either way. She's having ongoing issues with algebra this year as well due to the fact that the teacher has decided not to teach this year. She spends a few minutes at the start of the class introducing what they are going to be working on and then gives them an assignment to work on independently or in a group and then that's it. She either spends the rest of the period sitting at her desk correcting papers or wanders around the room to see how everyone is doing. It seems to be "independent study algebra" which basically means that dd comes home with stuff she hasn't learned and I run a second class at home once or twice a week to show her how to do the work. She isn't a natural in math where she picks it up with no instruction. That conversation was had with the math teacher as well. I hope that, too, doesn't cause dd problems.

Overall, this year doesn't look like it's going to work too well for dd and she's fortunate that she has me at home to help her deal with this mess.

I have to comment. Has he ever worked in the real world that included having multiple projects, priorities, and resources? I can't believe he doesn't provide a due date.

His example of a builder taking an extra week? I assume he has an unlimited budget to pay this builder an extra week? Ha! The builder is only working on his project, alone? Ha! The builder didn't book any future projects because who knows when this one will be finished? Ha ha!

Is your DD expected to show her drafts?

You'll probably need to set your own due dates for the paper and just assume they are due sooner than later. Get it done and then set it aside.

The teacher's actions and words shows what he believes to be his reality. Would consistent, ongoing, gentle, kind prodding help sway his belief? (so as not to have him feel defensive)

I'm sorry to hear it has been a difficult start.

I really like Jesse's observations about builders.

"Unprofessional" was probably too strong a word and I knew it when I wrote it...shouldn't post when I'm tired.


If he's been using this approach for a long time, it's unlikely that his opinion will be changed.

I like the idea of setting a date independent of him and just moving on.

Perhaps this guy will respond well to a classic snow job: set your own date, go along with what he wants, and ignore the rest. Your daughter could use the experience as a lesson in the a) cockeyed ways that the world can work sometimes and b) how do deal with the lunacy constructively.

Val

*eyeroll* Says the guy who's obviously never had a house built. I know it's not meant to be taken literally, but if he told a builder to "build it the way I want it" with no particular due date, then sprang a due date on the builder at the last minute, he'd have a house that was neither what he wanted, nor finished in the time frame he hoped.

I've never known anyone who worked better without knowing the deadline, for a project that had an actual deadline.

lol! I wish that I had been fast enough thinking to tell him that when he gave me said analogy. Thanks for the laugh, though .

Okay, so I have an update and am really livid with this teacher at this point. Dd's grades last quarter (which just ended) were primarily A+s. She got 100% on all but three assignments. She still had As on all of the non-100% assignments. I, honestly, can't remember a time ever in her school career when she got below an A on any writing or language arts assignment.

Post my conversation with dd's lit teacher, her first writing grade for this quarter is posted on the website where parents can access grades. She got a 75%. Her semester grade is now a B and she has a C for this quarter. I realize that it is early in the quarter and she can easily bring this grade up if the teacher's subjective opinion of her work quality isn't now that she deserves lower grades b/c she was getting As with little work.

I spoke with the another parent whose child is in the same class and who had virtually the same conversation with this teacher at conferences. Her child got an even worse grade than mine on this past writing assignment. I believe that this other child, too, had an A last quarter.

I don't know -- maybe the whole class did poorly on this one assignment, maybe dd had an off day. However, it looks highly suspicious given the timing. I have left a msg for the GT coordinator. Beyond discussing my concerns with her, any thoughts?

It sounds like you might be dealing with a jerk who enjoys exerting power (and his builder comment is ridiculous). I suspect your daughter's grades will be engineered so that she still ends up with an A at the end of the quarter, but only after he "teaches her a lesson" and she learns from his great teaching. So maybe you don't need to do anything?

Does he make the students call him Mr. whatever his first initial is? Sounds like the type.

Or maybe I'm reading too much into this.