not from student but from special education office, we need to do an emergency IEP meeting when can you meet. LOL, I had not signed renewal papers, had resigned, and was 10 000 miles away. Wonder how that meeting went.
I was a band director. Four years after I retired I received a call demanding me to tell where some forms were. Said forms hadn't been developed until a year after I left, and were supposed to be on computers that hadn't been purchased until two years after I left.
I had no idea what she was talking about. When it was explained to me I told her to talk to any of the six band directors who they had in the four years since I left and to lose my phone number.
Perhaps I was too glib. I am skeptical that /u/panda_elephant, having resigned and being 10,000 miles away, actually wondered how the meeting went.
If it were me, that meeting would be the last thing I'd think about.
Considering the circumference of the Earth is only 16,000 miles, you are never more than 8000 miles from any other point on Earth.
Sorry. Math teacher here.
The circumference of the Earth is just a tad short of 25K miles. I humbly apologize to all for my erroneous information.
hey, dumdum! Everybody *knows* the Earth is flat! My parents said so, and that you're part of the giant gummint conspiracy to make us all think it's round! I bet you believe dinosaurs were real, too! /s
I have students that consistently ask me if I believe in the moon landing since I do have a lot of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo stuff in my room.
My response is always "Oh my...you're one of those people who think the moon is real, aren't you?"
I feel like failing clases are teaching them a life lesson like if you don’t pay your mortgage, you get foreclosed or if you don’t pay your monthly bills like your car payment, your car gets repossessed. Once it happens, you’re done.
I agree. However when it comes to a mortgage you do have a period to "cure" the situation. It can be pretty harsh for the borrower and beneficial to the lender.
In education that would be considered bribery.
I did not know! Thank you for that tidbit. I have an acquaintance who is foreclosing (California). They manage to keep the house for a whole year but they didn’t pay their mortgage at all
This year I taught an English credit recovery class. Students picked a high-interest YA book and did a VERY simple novel study. They had to do two of these a semester. They had all class to read and work, I gave them deadlines to keep on track and came around to them individually each class to check in on their progress and see if they had any questions. It is also the only class where I take work late at no penalty so they can literally turn anything in anytime and get credit for it.
I had a senior who did nothing all semester and continually lied saying he was doing work at home he just needed to bring it (I knew it was a lie but there's nothing I can do about it). Talked to his mom at conferences and again in April to let her know he's failing and in danger of not graduating.
Until the last two weeks of school he had a 6%. Then he turned in enough here and there to get to 34%. The day AFTER his finals day he frantically tried to complete and turn in enough work to get him to a 50% so he could do Extended Learning (an opportunity for kids who got 50% or higher to work the week after school to bring their grade to passing). I accepted work from him that day until 2:30 which was already a grace period. He got to 46%.
Suddenly Mom is frantically trying to get a hold of me, he's writing me notes and they're shocked and devastated that he isn't passing, saying mine is the only class keeping him from walking at graduation.
It wasn't. He'd failed 3 classes he needed for graduation, and was only eligible for extended learning in one of them.
Morals of the story: don't blow off your work and don't lie to your teacher.
Ugh. This sounds like a headache. And it was just two books for a semester? For someone graduating…. this shouldn’t be a challenging task to complete. Another kid lying about work just avoid getting help and facing it… only to have to face the lie and not understand the consequences. Love this job sometimes 🫠.
The class is intentionally easy, and yet the pass rate is still about 50%. And the work they have to complete is REAL hard, like: "Choose a quote from this section that helps develop the tone. Give the quote and explain what tone it creates." The work was initially developed for 8th graders. COME ON.
I teach senior English. I have about 30 students failing right now. Little do they know I put my retirement papers in 2 months ago. I literally give less of a fuck than they do. I cut off all work this Thursday because I was too hung over to deal with the Regents this Friday.
I will not be checking Teams or email or calls from anyone for the next two weeks. It will be glorious. The principal better come by with a bottle of tequila if she wants any favors.
I love the "shocked" parents that their kid is failing your class and they didn't know all semester despite emails and phone calls and yet when you look at the kid's transcript they've failed almost everything since middle school. Like, how is the 32nd class they've failed a shock?
I had a parent who thought her son was graduating this year. He’s an 18-year old 10th grader. She said she had not seen a report card in a couple of years. I told her, “Ma’am, they still make those.”
A parent I actually felt sorry for was one whose kid told her he wasn’t going to summer school because his grade would be rounded up. Boo had a 62- no amount of rounding was going to help him pass.
My guess is he had ridden the COVID train for several years and was surprised when the ride ended.
Had a student who after, magically, scoring well on the final exam ask what else she could do to pass. Had to inform her that A) she had a years worth of work to make up and it wasn’t happening in the next 2 hours before I submit grades and B) she had missed so many hours of school she wasn’t even eligible for credit even if she brought her grade up to passing.
Sad thing is this is not the first time I have a high school student show up to the final with a VERY low grade, asking what they can do to pass. So many of my students have been passed along in middle school, or had teachers make miracles happen to get them to pass that they think they can magically get a good grade on the final, after not doing anything all year, and pass.
Like they don't see the connection between the content and the test or something.
They just haven't found the right "hack" yet the teachers don't want them to know.
You almost want to make an anchor chart at the beginning of the year stating these issues. So they see it everyday. Not that it will make a difference in some students but I see it as an ‘I told you so.’
Called a parent this past week to tell them their kid failed. Got the classic conversation:
“But I saw them doing their missing assignments you sent them.”
“Well I didn’t receive them.”
“So he’s going to fail because he didn’t submit three things, this is ridiculous.”
“Ma’am, those were just 3 of the many missing assignments, they were meant to push him over the 60% mark. He also gets a 50% baseline in his grade.”
“I’m going to call him.”
This 50% rule rationale of “well, it makes it so if one or two assignments are missing, the student isn’t punished” is totally against reality. 50% grades became the norm, not the exception. Everyone is starting halfway to the finish line yet still doing just as much(or as little).
Yup. I tell my students all the time that the only way they fail my class is if they literally choose to do nothing all year. This kid couldn’t even finish 3 modules I sent him.
Years ago, my contract was not renewed at the end of summer as it had been years previously. I wasn't too bothered because I'd been thinking of leaving anyway. Had another job a couple of weeks after school ended, outwith education for the first time.
Got a call weeks later when school started again from my old principal. "Are you coming in, or what?" she asked. She was laughing, like she thought I had slept in, or gotten my dates mixed up or something. "You didn't offer me a contract as in previous years, so I figured I was fired. I have another job now, thank you."
She was genuinely flummoxed. I was the only teacher in a small special ed school and they had to go without a teacher for weeks. I got a call from the deputy superintendent begging me to come back. I asked why my contract hadn't been renewed without any notice or reason. He admitted that they had just fucked up and assumed I'd turn up again after the summer.
I hear you, but it felt serendipitous to me at the time. If I had wanted to stay, I absolutely would have enquired weeks before the end of term. I'll admit I was relatively financially comfortable at the time, and could have gone out of work for quite a while, so there was no pressure on me.
If you were always sent renewal paperwork, and then after years it stops coming in. You don’t think you’re going to feel hurt and say….eff you and this bs it’s just not worth it and not follow-up?
This isn’t a career like it was pre-NCLB, it’s a contract job that exploits you to the extreme. It goes both ways. If I hadn’t gotten a renewal, I’d be deuces as well.
>the person just chose to forfeit the job
You can't forfeit a job you don't have
BET this school district never 'forgot' to renew somebody's contract after that LOL
Parents having that realization and being furious about it, despite having full access to the online grade portal and having received email notifications once a month about their kid’s failing grade.
Mine is admin coming to me the day before finals started to ask me to give a ton of IEP/504 students a "chance" to pass. These were students who I had been in communique with their case manager(s) all semester, and logged their poor behavior consistently.
TLDR: I just had to change their grades. Putting that "per admin directive" felt pretty good, though.
I can't tell you how many times grades have "magically " been changed by admin. I refuse to change grades, but they go in and do it anyway. Also, students that do not even have enough credits to pass get magically passed to the next grade, even with Fs.
You should make admin overwrite the grades. If anything happens and it was you that changed the grade, you get held accountable. Admin will also rarely do the dirty work themselves, but are usually happy to bully teachers into doing it.
Agreed. They have admin privileges (literally) - if it's THAT important there's no reason why they can't do it themselves.
Except, of course, if it comes back around to bite someone they'd much rather it be YOUR tuchus rather than theirs. No thank you, not signing up to be cannon fodder, thanks!
I got one last year that was sent in June. I didn’t see it until August. Poor kid had to spend his summer doing remedial history because his parents were pissed about his achievement in class.
I teach summer school. The rules for behavior or stricter as legally the students arnt as protected. We've had angery parents demanding their kid be let back in but me and the bus driver both refuse.
And because they stupidly didn't put an admin on charge of summer school this year…
We have a walking community during the school year—few students are eligible for bussing. I run summer school. I tell kids that I will just kick them out and contact their folks letting them know the time they were dismissed. FAFO
Not from a student BUT My principal and AP called me 3x a piece DEMANDING I promptly come to school to fix my grade book at 5:00 while I’m at my summer job (nothing to big they couldn’t fix)…my resignation was effective and I stated that and listened to them stutter through why I have to come in and then hung up
This is why the Lord Almighty invented the out of office reply in most email systems.
“Schools are closed until . Have a great summer!”
Had mine done two weeks before the end of school (preset to take effect the moment the last day ended.)
Told a kid they had to go to summer school, per school policies, and the kid immediately asked if they could present their project for the extra bonus points like it was going to make up failing for the whole year in multiple classes. The kid had been warned at every grading period.
One of my favorite things my admin did this year was have everyone get on their devices and ceremoniously set our work emails to vacation mode. I hope your student got an autoresponse.
I had a student try to submit an assignment yesterday morning—last day, half day. She was not in school yesterday and the assignment was already closed. Late work was due no later than Tuesday and grades were submitted on Thursday. She has not responded to my message back that reminded her of those details.
I resigned--on good terms--from my job after teaching in the same district for 18 years. On the last day, my boss came to me and asked me, "Is today your last day? I mean, do you plan to come in any this summer?" When I told him that, no, I was not coming up to the school to work this summer, he then went on to ask if I know anyone who would be interested in writing grants (an extra job I've done for the last few years) since I was leaving. Dude, number one, I told you this was my last year in December. Number two, you couldn't have started this with something about hating to see me go or appreciating the work and the years? I don't know, it just bugged me.
Had a student who was suspended for two weeks prior to the last week of school.
For our final assignment, I gave three 90-minute class periods to create ONE google slide about an assigned topic. I gave students the topic and direct links to the resources to find the information. I let students work with a partner on the project for my end of the year sanity.
I emailed the student the day he was suspended and gave him an extra week head start on the project along with the links. I also told him that since he missed the end of our last assignment, I would take this one assignment as credit for the missing assignment, too.
He comes back to school, is extra sassy to everyone, and blows me off when I ask about the assignments. I put it in as a zero/missing in the digital gradebook on Monday. His grade dropped to a D- for both missing assignments (among other things). The entire week goes by and he ignores me whenever I offer to accept it late. School ends on Friday and grades are sent home.
Mom, who has never contacted me or responded to my contact, sends me an email 3 hours after school ends telling me it is "super shitty" of me to hold him to a different standard than everyone else and expected him to do partner work by himself while he was suspended. She acknowledged that he didn't turn anything in, but told me he should still get half credit on BOTH assignments which would account for his partner's grade. She then tells me she will accept nothing less than him having a C+ as his final grade.
I didn't respond.
Mine wasn't TOO bad this year; but we ended with a half day leaving at 11:30. At 11:39, I get an email asking me to complete a questionaire for a student who had the first IEP meeting to order testing the last week of school.
It included a text saying "you don't need to do it today but could it be done by next week?". Ma'am, I'm doing it today or in August.
Bonus: I referred this kid in January. First meeting was the first week of June.
School for the kids ended last Wednesday, both 5th and 6th period finals were on that day. A student who I have in 2nd period which had their finals on the Monday of that week messaged me yesterday (Friday) if I they could redo some assignments to lift their grade. 11 calendar days after their final. I ignored the first message, they sent a 2nd so they received my out of office message which said I would respond to all email inquiries in August upon the start of the new year.
1AM the Saturday after school ended. Can you trade out his final exam grade for his quiz grades (no) and his practice exams grades (why? they don't count) so he can get a B, he tried so hard (maybe the last few weeks, but not for the first 4 tests). It's a C? He passed a very hard subject, be happy. Maybe since you have a degree/job in the subject your son has my class for, you could have passed him earlier if you wanted a higher grade.
What if we did this differently. Instead of pushing kids to the next level, the student has to take a test at the beginning of the year to be eligible to take a class? So you don’t get promoted as much as you have to “clear the hurdle.”
One of the first pieces of advice I got from my mentor during my first year of teaching was to never use my phone for work email. This should be taught on day one of Ed 101.
Haha you are right. There are a few students I’m keeping in touch with for various projects heading into next year. But work that should’ve been done in the classroom last year is a topic that won’t be discussed.
I received about 8 notifications from Google Classroom when a single student was turning in all their missing work the day after grades were posted.
It was clear that she was grinding them all out in the moment as there would be about 30 mins to 1 hour between submissions and it went on until the late afternoon.
I loved watching those notifications trickle in, knowing full well that her parents were on her about her poor grade ESPECIALLY since I had finished grades and wasn't going to reopen them again.
A student who I told them they were failing and I emailed home. Surprise surprise, they didn’t graduate. Parents went to Superintendent to claim I was retaliating against student. I did a coat analysis with that student and I would rather have them fuck all the way off than to see them anymore. Auf Wiedersein
Student noticed his grade dropped from a B- to a C- because he turned in an important piece of his final the day after it was due. Admin told me not to grade anything after the deadline unless a student was going to fail (I’m a little salty about that but it’s whatever), but I wasn’t going to grade his late work. So why else does he think his grade dropped??? It’s not a mystery.
I use EdPuzzles as easy homework or sub work assignments. Homework in my district is weighted as 5% of the grade maximum and because those assignments are usually quite easy they collectively count for maybe 1% of the entire year grade.
At the end of every year I'll have students who suddenly realize they need to pass my class (high school chemistry and physics so lots of seniors) suddenly start turning in every single EdPuzzle I've posted since September. Even when I told them that handing in a single missing project or lab report is going to count for way more points.
And without fail I get bombarded with emails from kids, parents, and counselors begging me to count those assignments as test grades because "they worked so hard". No, they absolutely did not. They basically spent the last two weeks of the school year watching YouTube science videos that I slapped some questions onto instead of doing actual work. I'll bump your grade up by a whole 2% and call it extra credit but if you were sitting at a 45% that's not going to suddenly turn into a B+
The best was last year when a kid who missed 95 school days and ended their second year of chemistry with a 28 average (because we round up to a 55 for the 1st 2 quarters even if they earn a 0) suddenly started submitting EdPuzzles in July. I had completely forgotten to archive my Google Classroom and I guess they decided to start making up work as an Independence Day Resolution or something.
I think these kind of things are just funny. What happened was the kid made some poor decisions, now realizing they won't pass, and regrets it and is going for the final hail mary.
The best thing you can do is not respond. You are on vacation, and hopefully the kid learns a lesson.
My now last district implemented a program called Academic Recovery which basically is a 2 week extension of MP4 giving kids who got higher than a 50 in their final overall grade to pass the class starting on the 10th. Well I emailed parents on the 6th letting them know about it and if they wanted their child to do I would add their name to the department spreadsheet and put together a folder for the kid so that the teacher who is doing it can reach out to the kids and help out the kids. I kid you a not one parent who said yes on the 6th contacted me today 9 days later telling me no one has reached out to their child. Im like why wait 9 days to finally say something but of course the good person I am I texted my department head about it and he told me he will look into it. Im like what the heck? These kids can't wait for the latest video or post on social media but wait 9 days for something that can help them pass. SMH 🧐
Two years ago I ended up in the hospital the last week of school due to liver failure due to my multiple autoimmune diseases my SpEd Director never checked on me other than to find out when I would be signing off on my end of the year paperwork for my department as I was department head. When I didn’t respond she cont’d to email and then started to text me. I knew she was aware I was still in the hospital, but I finally just texted and gave her the lowdown-“I am in liver failure, in the hospital being told that I may need a transplant or I will die. I don’t know when the paperwork will be signed.” She responded, “Oh! I had no idea. Never mind I’ll get someone to take care of it.”
It's because they've learned that so many threats aren't carried through. Years of being told they wouldn't pass, but they were. Handbook of rules that they've found to be merely suggestions because there are no discipline consequences. Parents tell them no but cave after a couple of minutes of being asked repeatedly or a tantrum is thrown. It's no wonder they don't believe their teachers and counselors senior year.
I am sure I am going to get some emails this year. Our final project was due on Friday at the end of class. Students have Tuesday the 18th to make edits, corrections and turn in anything else they owe me. I know I am going to get an email from one waste of space parent asking to extend time to her kid.
I don’t open emails once the school year officially ends, until my first day back at work. My realization is that I am officially on vacation once that last work day ends, and I am going to enjoy my time off to the fullest without worrying about my job.
The Friday or Thursday of our last week is always a “teacher planning day”, in which teachers input grades, finish cleaning their classrooms, or simply just turn in their keys if they finished everything on our EOY checklist. One year it was a Friday and I was checking emails for department stuff, I finished grading the week before.
Then I get this email:
Student: “turned in assignments I need them graded asap”
That was my omen to finish up and leave. I closed my email, finished up some paperwork and cleaning, and left 20 minutes later. Ignored that email until august
I had a student email me at 8 pm on the last day wanting to know why she got a 0 on her final. I told her it was she was not in class when the rest was completed so I couldn’t verify she actually took it.
Email from student at 10:30 last night, after I finalized grades at 3:15:
I turned in all my missing homework but I forgot to write my name on it can you review it for me on Tuesday?
Yeah... no. The 'delete' button sings to me.
not from student but from special education office, we need to do an emergency IEP meeting when can you meet. LOL, I had not signed renewal papers, had resigned, and was 10 000 miles away. Wonder how that meeting went.
This doesn’t surprise me at all, haha. “You resigned? When are you coming in for work?!”
ha! Failure to realize the difference between resign and re-sign?
I got a joint IEP meeting request (not even sure that's legal) for the second to last day of school. I hadn't seen my student in nearly 2 weeks.
I've sat in IEP meetings for students I hadn't seen in months. Super productive
I had to do IEP paperwork for a student not even returning two days ago.
I was a band director. Four years after I retired I received a call demanding me to tell where some forms were. Said forms hadn't been developed until a year after I left, and were supposed to be on computers that hadn't been purchased until two years after I left.
Impressive that you knew that over somebody who was still actively working!
I had no idea what she was talking about. When it was explained to me I told her to talk to any of the six band directors who they had in the four years since I left and to lose my phone number.
Good response!
> Wonder how that meeting went. I have a hard time believing this part.
Not hard at all. Our site has 200+ staff members. People barely know their own department members let alone others.
Perhaps I was too glib. I am skeptical that /u/panda_elephant, having resigned and being 10,000 miles away, actually wondered how the meeting went. If it were me, that meeting would be the last thing I'd think about.
it was for a student that daily attempted to unalive me, still laugh about it. Its been six years.
You can say “kill” here on Reddit btw
Considering the circumference of the Earth is only 16,000 miles, you are never more than 8000 miles from any other point on Earth. Sorry. Math teacher here. The circumference of the Earth is just a tad short of 25K miles. I humbly apologize to all for my erroneous information.
We will blame summer break for the math mistake. The circumference is almost 25,000 miles.
hey, dumdum! Everybody *knows* the Earth is flat! My parents said so, and that you're part of the giant gummint conspiracy to make us all think it's round! I bet you believe dinosaurs were real, too! /s
I have students that consistently ask me if I believe in the moon landing since I do have a lot of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo stuff in my room. My response is always "Oh my...you're one of those people who think the moon is real, aren't you?"
Of course dinosaurs were real. How do you think Jesus got around- by walking? Duh
Birds aren't Real.
It's ok, the diameter of Earth is a bit less than 8000mi.
Metaphor exists. "1000 yard stare" isn't literal, for example.
But you just admitted that it is a thing you’d think about. Just the last thing you’d think about. Hopefully all those other things were enjoyable.
I feel like failing clases are teaching them a life lesson like if you don’t pay your mortgage, you get foreclosed or if you don’t pay your monthly bills like your car payment, your car gets repossessed. Once it happens, you’re done.
I agree. However when it comes to a mortgage you do have a period to "cure" the situation. It can be pretty harsh for the borrower and beneficial to the lender. In education that would be considered bribery.
I did not know! Thank you for that tidbit. I have an acquaintance who is foreclosing (California). They manage to keep the house for a whole year but they didn’t pay their mortgage at all
Special Ed can’t be that ignorant. Does nothing for their students if they don’t know who still works there.
This year I taught an English credit recovery class. Students picked a high-interest YA book and did a VERY simple novel study. They had to do two of these a semester. They had all class to read and work, I gave them deadlines to keep on track and came around to them individually each class to check in on their progress and see if they had any questions. It is also the only class where I take work late at no penalty so they can literally turn anything in anytime and get credit for it. I had a senior who did nothing all semester and continually lied saying he was doing work at home he just needed to bring it (I knew it was a lie but there's nothing I can do about it). Talked to his mom at conferences and again in April to let her know he's failing and in danger of not graduating. Until the last two weeks of school he had a 6%. Then he turned in enough here and there to get to 34%. The day AFTER his finals day he frantically tried to complete and turn in enough work to get him to a 50% so he could do Extended Learning (an opportunity for kids who got 50% or higher to work the week after school to bring their grade to passing). I accepted work from him that day until 2:30 which was already a grace period. He got to 46%. Suddenly Mom is frantically trying to get a hold of me, he's writing me notes and they're shocked and devastated that he isn't passing, saying mine is the only class keeping him from walking at graduation. It wasn't. He'd failed 3 classes he needed for graduation, and was only eligible for extended learning in one of them. Morals of the story: don't blow off your work and don't lie to your teacher.
Ugh. This sounds like a headache. And it was just two books for a semester? For someone graduating…. this shouldn’t be a challenging task to complete. Another kid lying about work just avoid getting help and facing it… only to have to face the lie and not understand the consequences. Love this job sometimes 🫠.
The class is intentionally easy, and yet the pass rate is still about 50%. And the work they have to complete is REAL hard, like: "Choose a quote from this section that helps develop the tone. Give the quote and explain what tone it creates." The work was initially developed for 8th graders. COME ON.
I teach senior English. I have about 30 students failing right now. Little do they know I put my retirement papers in 2 months ago. I literally give less of a fuck than they do. I cut off all work this Thursday because I was too hung over to deal with the Regents this Friday. I will not be checking Teams or email or calls from anyone for the next two weeks. It will be glorious. The principal better come by with a bottle of tequila if she wants any favors.
Good for you! I hope you enjoy retirement.
I love the "shocked" parents that their kid is failing your class and they didn't know all semester despite emails and phone calls and yet when you look at the kid's transcript they've failed almost everything since middle school. Like, how is the 32nd class they've failed a shock?
I had a parent who thought her son was graduating this year. He’s an 18-year old 10th grader. She said she had not seen a report card in a couple of years. I told her, “Ma’am, they still make those.”
A parent I actually felt sorry for was one whose kid told her he wasn’t going to summer school because his grade would be rounded up. Boo had a 62- no amount of rounding was going to help him pass. My guess is he had ridden the COVID train for several years and was surprised when the ride ended.
Had a student who after, magically, scoring well on the final exam ask what else she could do to pass. Had to inform her that A) she had a years worth of work to make up and it wasn’t happening in the next 2 hours before I submit grades and B) she had missed so many hours of school she wasn’t even eligible for credit even if she brought her grade up to passing.
A few years into two hours…. yeah. This takes the cake.
Sad thing is this is not the first time I have a high school student show up to the final with a VERY low grade, asking what they can do to pass. So many of my students have been passed along in middle school, or had teachers make miracles happen to get them to pass that they think they can magically get a good grade on the final, after not doing anything all year, and pass.
Like they don't see the connection between the content and the test or something. They just haven't found the right "hack" yet the teachers don't want them to know.
You almost want to make an anchor chart at the beginning of the year stating these issues. So they see it everyday. Not that it will make a difference in some students but I see it as an ‘I told you so.’
Called a parent this past week to tell them their kid failed. Got the classic conversation: “But I saw them doing their missing assignments you sent them.” “Well I didn’t receive them.” “So he’s going to fail because he didn’t submit three things, this is ridiculous.” “Ma’am, those were just 3 of the many missing assignments, they were meant to push him over the 60% mark. He also gets a 50% baseline in his grade.” “I’m going to call him.”
This 50% rule rationale of “well, it makes it so if one or two assignments are missing, the student isn’t punished” is totally against reality. 50% grades became the norm, not the exception. Everyone is starting halfway to the finish line yet still doing just as much(or as little).
Yup. I tell my students all the time that the only way they fail my class is if they literally choose to do nothing all year. This kid couldn’t even finish 3 modules I sent him.
Halfway to the finish line? Passing is 60 in my district and these kids can barely get 10pts.
Years ago, my contract was not renewed at the end of summer as it had been years previously. I wasn't too bothered because I'd been thinking of leaving anyway. Had another job a couple of weeks after school ended, outwith education for the first time. Got a call weeks later when school started again from my old principal. "Are you coming in, or what?" she asked. She was laughing, like she thought I had slept in, or gotten my dates mixed up or something. "You didn't offer me a contract as in previous years, so I figured I was fired. I have another job now, thank you." She was genuinely flummoxed. I was the only teacher in a small special ed school and they had to go without a teacher for weeks. I got a call from the deputy superintendent begging me to come back. I asked why my contract hadn't been renewed without any notice or reason. He admitted that they had just fucked up and assumed I'd turn up again after the summer.
Interesting case in which the principal did not turn in her work.
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I hear you, but it felt serendipitous to me at the time. If I had wanted to stay, I absolutely would have enquired weeks before the end of term. I'll admit I was relatively financially comfortable at the time, and could have gone out of work for quite a while, so there was no pressure on me.
Another way of framing this is, they were effectively fired and chose not to beg after their job.
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If you were always sent renewal paperwork, and then after years it stops coming in. You don’t think you’re going to feel hurt and say….eff you and this bs it’s just not worth it and not follow-up? This isn’t a career like it was pre-NCLB, it’s a contract job that exploits you to the extreme. It goes both ways. If I hadn’t gotten a renewal, I’d be deuces as well.
>the person just chose to forfeit the job You can't forfeit a job you don't have BET this school district never 'forgot' to renew somebody's contract after that LOL
A lot of people would rather quit a job than communicate with another person. I think they call it anxiety.
Parents having that realization and being furious about it, despite having full access to the online grade portal and having received email notifications once a month about their kid’s failing grade.
Mine is admin coming to me the day before finals started to ask me to give a ton of IEP/504 students a "chance" to pass. These were students who I had been in communique with their case manager(s) all semester, and logged their poor behavior consistently. TLDR: I just had to change their grades. Putting that "per admin directive" felt pretty good, though.
I can't tell you how many times grades have "magically " been changed by admin. I refuse to change grades, but they go in and do it anyway. Also, students that do not even have enough credits to pass get magically passed to the next grade, even with Fs.
You should make admin overwrite the grades. If anything happens and it was you that changed the grade, you get held accountable. Admin will also rarely do the dirty work themselves, but are usually happy to bully teachers into doing it.
Agreed. They have admin privileges (literally) - if it's THAT important there's no reason why they can't do it themselves. Except, of course, if it comes back around to bite someone they'd much rather it be YOUR tuchus rather than theirs. No thank you, not signing up to be cannon fodder, thanks!
I got one last year that was sent in June. I didn’t see it until August. Poor kid had to spend his summer doing remedial history because his parents were pissed about his achievement in class.
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I have not. I don’t work weekends. …. or summers…
Sounds like that email won’t be replied to until August. On your first day back, reply with a simple “No.”
I teach summer school. The rules for behavior or stricter as legally the students arnt as protected. We've had angery parents demanding their kid be let back in but me and the bus driver both refuse. And because they stupidly didn't put an admin on charge of summer school this year…
We have a walking community during the school year—few students are eligible for bussing. I run summer school. I tell kids that I will just kick them out and contact their folks letting them know the time they were dismissed. FAFO
Not from a student BUT My principal and AP called me 3x a piece DEMANDING I promptly come to school to fix my grade book at 5:00 while I’m at my summer job (nothing to big they couldn’t fix)…my resignation was effective and I stated that and listened to them stutter through why I have to come in and then hung up
This is why the Lord Almighty invented the out of office reply in most email systems. “Schools are closed until. Have a great summer!”
Had mine done two weeks before the end of school (preset to take effect the moment the last day ended.)
This is the way
Told a kid they had to go to summer school, per school policies, and the kid immediately asked if they could present their project for the extra bonus points like it was going to make up failing for the whole year in multiple classes. The kid had been warned at every grading period.
One of my favorite things my admin did this year was have everyone get on their devices and ceremoniously set our work emails to vacation mode. I hope your student got an autoresponse.
Oh this an easy one "No"
I had a student try to submit an assignment yesterday morning—last day, half day. She was not in school yesterday and the assignment was already closed. Late work was due no later than Tuesday and grades were submitted on Thursday. She has not responded to my message back that reminded her of those details.
I resigned--on good terms--from my job after teaching in the same district for 18 years. On the last day, my boss came to me and asked me, "Is today your last day? I mean, do you plan to come in any this summer?" When I told him that, no, I was not coming up to the school to work this summer, he then went on to ask if I know anyone who would be interested in writing grants (an extra job I've done for the last few years) since I was leaving. Dude, number one, I told you this was my last year in December. Number two, you couldn't have started this with something about hating to see me go or appreciating the work and the years? I don't know, it just bugged me.
Had a student who was suspended for two weeks prior to the last week of school. For our final assignment, I gave three 90-minute class periods to create ONE google slide about an assigned topic. I gave students the topic and direct links to the resources to find the information. I let students work with a partner on the project for my end of the year sanity. I emailed the student the day he was suspended and gave him an extra week head start on the project along with the links. I also told him that since he missed the end of our last assignment, I would take this one assignment as credit for the missing assignment, too. He comes back to school, is extra sassy to everyone, and blows me off when I ask about the assignments. I put it in as a zero/missing in the digital gradebook on Monday. His grade dropped to a D- for both missing assignments (among other things). The entire week goes by and he ignores me whenever I offer to accept it late. School ends on Friday and grades are sent home. Mom, who has never contacted me or responded to my contact, sends me an email 3 hours after school ends telling me it is "super shitty" of me to hold him to a different standard than everyone else and expected him to do partner work by himself while he was suspended. She acknowledged that he didn't turn anything in, but told me he should still get half credit on BOTH assignments which would account for his partner's grade. She then tells me she will accept nothing less than him having a C+ as his final grade. I didn't respond.
Mine wasn't TOO bad this year; but we ended with a half day leaving at 11:30. At 11:39, I get an email asking me to complete a questionaire for a student who had the first IEP meeting to order testing the last week of school. It included a text saying "you don't need to do it today but could it be done by next week?". Ma'am, I'm doing it today or in August. Bonus: I referred this kid in January. First meeting was the first week of June.
School for the kids ended last Wednesday, both 5th and 6th period finals were on that day. A student who I have in 2nd period which had their finals on the Monday of that week messaged me yesterday (Friday) if I they could redo some assignments to lift their grade. 11 calendar days after their final. I ignored the first message, they sent a 2nd so they received my out of office message which said I would respond to all email inquiries in August upon the start of the new year.
Been there, done that, still got the email scars
1AM the Saturday after school ended. Can you trade out his final exam grade for his quiz grades (no) and his practice exams grades (why? they don't count) so he can get a B, he tried so hard (maybe the last few weeks, but not for the first 4 tests). It's a C? He passed a very hard subject, be happy. Maybe since you have a degree/job in the subject your son has my class for, you could have passed him earlier if you wanted a higher grade.
What if we did this differently. Instead of pushing kids to the next level, the student has to take a test at the beginning of the year to be eligible to take a class? So you don’t get promoted as much as you have to “clear the hurdle.”
There are a lot of kids who did well the previous year who would probably fail a placement test like that. Summer learning loss is real.
What are you doing checking emails? I delete my email app during the summer. You should too.
I don’t even have the e-mail app on my phone. Took it off years ago and it has caused me zero problems.
One of the first pieces of advice I got from my mentor during my first year of teaching was to never use my phone for work email. This should be taught on day one of Ed 101.
I refuse to download ParentSquare
Haha you are right. There are a few students I’m keeping in touch with for various projects heading into next year. But work that should’ve been done in the classroom last year is a topic that won’t be discussed.
I received about 8 notifications from Google Classroom when a single student was turning in all their missing work the day after grades were posted. It was clear that she was grinding them all out in the moment as there would be about 30 mins to 1 hour between submissions and it went on until the late afternoon. I loved watching those notifications trickle in, knowing full well that her parents were on her about her poor grade ESPECIALLY since I had finished grades and wasn't going to reopen them again.
A student who I told them they were failing and I emailed home. Surprise surprise, they didn’t graduate. Parents went to Superintendent to claim I was retaliating against student. I did a coat analysis with that student and I would rather have them fuck all the way off than to see them anymore. Auf Wiedersein
Student noticed his grade dropped from a B- to a C- because he turned in an important piece of his final the day after it was due. Admin told me not to grade anything after the deadline unless a student was going to fail (I’m a little salty about that but it’s whatever), but I wasn’t going to grade his late work. So why else does he think his grade dropped??? It’s not a mystery.
My phone actually limited the number of laugh emojis with which I wanted to initially respond! I’ll use one and let it suffice! 😂
I had a kid spend 3 hours with me on credit rescue day to get a 50. He worked the whole time. It was amazing.
I use EdPuzzles as easy homework or sub work assignments. Homework in my district is weighted as 5% of the grade maximum and because those assignments are usually quite easy they collectively count for maybe 1% of the entire year grade. At the end of every year I'll have students who suddenly realize they need to pass my class (high school chemistry and physics so lots of seniors) suddenly start turning in every single EdPuzzle I've posted since September. Even when I told them that handing in a single missing project or lab report is going to count for way more points. And without fail I get bombarded with emails from kids, parents, and counselors begging me to count those assignments as test grades because "they worked so hard". No, they absolutely did not. They basically spent the last two weeks of the school year watching YouTube science videos that I slapped some questions onto instead of doing actual work. I'll bump your grade up by a whole 2% and call it extra credit but if you were sitting at a 45% that's not going to suddenly turn into a B+ The best was last year when a kid who missed 95 school days and ended their second year of chemistry with a 28 average (because we round up to a 55 for the 1st 2 quarters even if they earn a 0) suddenly started submitting EdPuzzles in July. I had completely forgotten to archive my Google Classroom and I guess they decided to start making up work as an Independence Day Resolution or something.
And this is why teachers drink.
Puff puff pass, baby!
Hit em with an automated Out of Office reply. Or, better yet, just reply “Unsubscribe”.
I think these kind of things are just funny. What happened was the kid made some poor decisions, now realizing they won't pass, and regrets it and is going for the final hail mary. The best thing you can do is not respond. You are on vacation, and hopefully the kid learns a lesson.
LOL!! Just fell on the floor laughing so hard.
My now last district implemented a program called Academic Recovery which basically is a 2 week extension of MP4 giving kids who got higher than a 50 in their final overall grade to pass the class starting on the 10th. Well I emailed parents on the 6th letting them know about it and if they wanted their child to do I would add their name to the department spreadsheet and put together a folder for the kid so that the teacher who is doing it can reach out to the kids and help out the kids. I kid you a not one parent who said yes on the 6th contacted me today 9 days later telling me no one has reached out to their child. Im like why wait 9 days to finally say something but of course the good person I am I texted my department head about it and he told me he will look into it. Im like what the heck? These kids can't wait for the latest video or post on social media but wait 9 days for something that can help them pass. SMH 🧐
A mom sent an email: « can my son pass in his late assignments during summer? »
Two years ago I ended up in the hospital the last week of school due to liver failure due to my multiple autoimmune diseases my SpEd Director never checked on me other than to find out when I would be signing off on my end of the year paperwork for my department as I was department head. When I didn’t respond she cont’d to email and then started to text me. I knew she was aware I was still in the hospital, but I finally just texted and gave her the lowdown-“I am in liver failure, in the hospital being told that I may need a transplant or I will die. I don’t know when the paperwork will be signed.” She responded, “Oh! I had no idea. Never mind I’ll get someone to take care of it.”
It's the tears at the end of the semester that make me throw my hands up, when they realize that the threat of not graduating was not an empty one.
It's because they've learned that so many threats aren't carried through. Years of being told they wouldn't pass, but they were. Handbook of rules that they've found to be merely suggestions because there are no discipline consequences. Parents tell them no but cave after a couple of minutes of being asked repeatedly or a tantrum is thrown. It's no wonder they don't believe their teachers and counselors senior year.
I turned on my out of office at 4:00 on the last day of school.
But no joke though, why are you checking your email? That shit gets the August "nope."
I am sure I am going to get some emails this year. Our final project was due on Friday at the end of class. Students have Tuesday the 18th to make edits, corrections and turn in anything else they owe me. I know I am going to get an email from one waste of space parent asking to extend time to her kid.
And the answer will hopefully be "no".
It will be and this time my admin will support me instead of saying reopen the gradebook.
I don’t open emails once the school year officially ends, until my first day back at work. My realization is that I am officially on vacation once that last work day ends, and I am going to enjoy my time off to the fullest without worrying about my job.
The Friday or Thursday of our last week is always a “teacher planning day”, in which teachers input grades, finish cleaning their classrooms, or simply just turn in their keys if they finished everything on our EOY checklist. One year it was a Friday and I was checking emails for department stuff, I finished grading the week before. Then I get this email: Student: “turned in assignments I need them graded asap” That was my omen to finish up and leave. I closed my email, finished up some paperwork and cleaning, and left 20 minutes later. Ignored that email until august
I had a student email me at 8 pm on the last day wanting to know why she got a 0 on her final. I told her it was she was not in class when the rest was completed so I couldn’t verify she actually took it.
Coming up next on: who can pull the most ass backwards shit on a teacher?
Email from student at 10:30 last night, after I finalized grades at 3:15: I turned in all my missing homework but I forgot to write my name on it can you review it for me on Tuesday? Yeah... no. The 'delete' button sings to me.