Any education questions?

[93Devil]

As I was posting on the Memories of a Kindergartner thread, I realized that I might be of some use to many people on this board. You see, two of my three college degrees are in education. I also gave up writing to work in an administrative capacity for a large school district. No I am not a principal, but I am qualified to be one. I also have a handful of years in the classroom.

I know many of you have kids in school, and you might have questions about why/how certain things are done. Look at me as free advice.

I know some of you might think I am an idiot, but trust me, I know a fair amount about education's laws, rules and regulations. That includes special ed.Think of me as an unbiased advocate.

Fire away or PM me any questions you might have.

 

[Point of Order]

Is our children learning?

 

[93Devil]

Is our children learning?

Sometimes too much. Sometimes not enough.

 

[KG]

OK, can you explain how my roommate's son missed four out of 20 spelling words on his test and made a 40 for the final grade? I didn't look at it, but he was talking about it last night and it made absolutely no sense to me. What kind of grading scale is that?

 

[93Devil]

OK, can you explain how my roommate's son missed four out of 20 spelling words on his test and made a 40 for the final grade? I didn't look at it, but he was talking about it last night and it made absolutely no sense to me. What kind of grading scale is that?

No clue. Did the student take it late? 40 is half of 80 which is what 16/20 is.

If you have a photocopier at home/work, photocopy the quiz then staple the original to the student's agenda/homework book/whatever their school calls it and just ask for a quick explanation of the grade.

Be nice. Honey gets you a lot better response than being mad.

Better yet, send the teacher an email. Most teachers prefer emails since it saves time (you don't have to find the number, find a phone, wait for you to get to a phone).

 

[EStreetJoe]

What do you think of a college professor who gives a student a C on a 45-page paper that followed every requirement of the assignment to the letter. But yet gives a student who turns in a 65-page paper on the same assignment a B when that student did not follow all of the requirements of the assignment. The professor's excuse was that the B student's answers were "more complete" than the other student's answers.

(Yes it happened way back when I was in college)

 

[Ace]

What about an eighth grader who seems to really have a beef with a teacher?

My son -- who admittedly chats too much and probably drives her crazy -- is always saying how his math teacher will do things like forget to give him a copy of a sheet she is handing and he will go to her desk to ask for it and she is on the phone and tells him to go sit down.

So then he says she is off the phone and notices him not doing his worksheet and asks why he didn't ask for one.

I hear stories like this every other day.

 

[Lugnuts]

Preschool program before age 3 (sometimes called a "Twos Program")... Good idea or not?

 

[Buck]

I always think: How would my parents have handled it?
For example, if I missed four out of 20 words on a spelling quiz, my parents first response would not have been 'Why did the teacher give you a 40?'
My parents first response would have been 'Why did you miss four words on a spelling quiz?'
If I told my parents 'The teacher's got it in for me,' they would say 'Why? What are you doing to make the teacher dislike you?'

 

[Ace]

I always think: How would my parents have handled it?
For example, if I missed four out of 20 words on a spelling quiz, my parents first response would not have been 'Why did the teacher give you a 40?'
My parents first response would have been 'Why did you miss four words on a spelling quiz?'
If I told my parents 'The teacher's got it in for me,' they would say 'Why? What are you doing to make the teacher dislike you?'

I'm just misspellin' words, Ma!

 

[93Devil]

What do you think of a college professor who gives a student a C on a 45-page paper that followed every requirement of the assignment to the letter. But yet gives a student who turns in a 65-page paper on the same assignment a B when that student did not follow all of the requirements of the assignment. The professor's excuse was that the B student's answers were "more complete" than the other student's answers.

(Yes it happened way back when I was in college)

Writing is a subjective topic, and it's the toughest thing to grade. There is no rhyme or reason to why someone thinks something is good or bad, or if a paper followed the rules or not. I mean how many of you use a topic sentence in your paragraphs?

One teacher will dock you a letter grade for turning a : to a ; on a reference page, while the next one could care less.

Never take a writing grade to heart. This is from someone who failed English 101 his freshman year. No lie. I flunked it.

Sure grammar and punctuation are straightforward, but style and voice? It's like trying to get people to agree on Geddy Lee and Rush.

 

[93Devil]

What about an eighth grader who seems to really have a beef with a teacher?

My son -- who admittedly chats too much and probably drives her crazy -- is always saying how his math teacher will do things like forget to give him a copy of a sheet she is handing and he will go to her desk to ask for it and she is on the phone and tells him to go sit down.

So then he says she is off the phone and notices him not doing his worksheet and asks why he didn't ask for one.

I hear stories like this every other day.

Has he ever had a beef with a teacher before?

If not, then you probably got a crappy teacher. Should you change teachers? No. I am 100 percent against changing teachers.

Some teachers (old school) really do not like kids that talk a lot in class. Just the way it is.

Is the kid getting a bad grade?

Try this, although he may hate it. Have the student send an email to the teacher (blind copy it or CC it to you) and apologize for talking in class and state that he really wants to do well and for her help. Say that he promises to pay better attention when things are being handed out, and he enjoys school much more when they are not at odds and he is doing well.

That should work.

 

[Ace]

What about an eighth grader who seems to really have a beef with a teacher?

My son -- who admittedly chats too much and probably drives her crazy -- is always saying how his math teacher will do things like forget to give him a copy of a sheet she is handing and he will go to her desk to ask for it and she is on the phone and tells him to go sit down.

So then he says she is off the phone and notices him not doing his worksheet and asks why he didn't ask for one.

I hear stories like this every other day.

Has he ever had a beef with a teacher before?

If not, then you probably got a crappy teacher. Should you change teachers? No. I am 100 percent against changing teachers.

Some teachers (old school) really do not like kids that talk a lot in class. Just the way it is.

Is the kid getting a bad grade?

Try this, although he may hate it. Have the student send an email to the teacher (blind copy it or CC it to you) and apologize for talking in class and state that he really wants to do well and for her help. Say that he promises to pay better attention when things are being handed out, and he enjoys school much more when they are not at odds and he is doing well.

That should work.

Not a bad idea. He actually is doing well in her class, but she is the one who gave him detention for forgetting to wear a belt.

He seems to have lost all respect for her and I am afraid he is going to pop off one time and it's going to cost him.

 

[93Devil]

Preschool program before age 3 (sometimes called a "Twos Program")... Good idea or not?

You can never go wrong with education. The more you have the better. If your child has a better working knowledge before they enter kindergarten than the other students, it can only be a positive.

Does it cost money? Is this a form of daycare or is it along the lines of Head Start?

Reading to your kid aloud for 15 minutes every night with them following along in the book is the best thing you could ever do with your child.

 

[93Devil]

What about an eighth grader who seems to really have a beef with a teacher?

My son -- who admittedly chats too much and probably drives her crazy -- is always saying how his math teacher will do things like forget to give him a copy of a sheet she is handing and he will go to her desk to ask for it and she is on the phone and tells him to go sit down.

So then he says she is off the phone and notices him not doing his worksheet and asks why he didn't ask for one.

I hear stories like this every other day.

Has he ever had a beef with a teacher before?

If not, then you probably got a crappy teacher. Should you change teachers? No. I am 100 percent against changing teachers.

Some teachers (old school) really do not like kids that talk a lot in class. Just the way it is.

Is the kid getting a bad grade?

Try this, although he may hate it. Have the student send an email to the teacher (blind copy it or CC it to you) and apologize for talking in class and state that he really wants to do well and for her help. Say that he promises to pay better attention when things are being handed out, and he enjoys school much more when they are not at odds and he is doing well.

That should work.

Not a bad idea. He actually is doing well in her class, but she is the one who gave him detention for forgetting to wear a belt.

He seems to have lost all respect for her and I am afraid he is going to pop off one time and it's going to cost him.

Forgetting to wear a belt? Were his boxers showing?

 

[93Devil]

I always think: How would my parents have handled it?
For example, if I missed four out of 20 words on a spelling quiz, my parents first response would not have been 'Why did the teacher give you a 40?'
My parents first response would have been 'Why did you miss four words on a spelling quiz?'
If I told my parents 'The teacher's got it in for me,' they would say 'Why? What are you doing to make the teacher dislike you?'

No grade should be below a 50 on a quiz. Zeros or low scores are death in a points based system.

For example...

A + F = C in regular old school grading.

95 (A) + 30 (F) = 125/2 = 62.5 which is a low D.

 

[bigpern23]

What do you think of a college professor who gives a student a C on a 45-page paper that followed every requirement of the assignment to the letter. But yet gives a student who turns in a 65-page paper on the same assignment a B when that student did not follow all of the requirements of the assignment. The professor's excuse was that the B student's answers were "more complete" than the other student's answers.

(Yes it happened way back when I was in college)

Man, I got a C on a term paper in college for a film class where the professor was from the art department not the english department. It was my first written paper lower than a B-plus since my first paper freshman year of high school. To this day, I'm convinced it's because the professor disagreed with my stance, even though it was well supported, well researched and well written.

I sent the guy an email asking about the grade and got no response. It was the end of my final semester of senior year, so I never bothered following up. Still pissed about it, though, because I know I was twice the writer anyone else in that class was and probably three times the writer he ever was.

(Yes, I'm bitter about that damned C. ****er.)

[/end rant]

 

[Ace]

What about an eighth grader who seems to really have a beef with a teacher?

My son -- who admittedly chats too much and probably drives her crazy -- is always saying how his math teacher will do things like forget to give him a copy of a sheet she is handing and he will go to her desk to ask for it and she is on the phone and tells him to go sit down.

So then he says she is off the phone and notices him not doing his worksheet and asks why he didn't ask for one.

I hear stories like this every other day.

Has he ever had a beef with a teacher before?

If not, then you probably got a crappy teacher. Should you change teachers? No. I am 100 percent against changing teachers.

Some teachers (old school) really do not like kids that talk a lot in class. Just the way it is.

Is the kid getting a bad grade?

Try this, although he may hate it. Have the student send an email to the teacher (blind copy it or CC it to you) and apologize for talking in class and state that he really wants to do well and for her help. Say that he promises to pay better attention when things are being handed out, and he enjoys school much more when they are not at odds and he is doing well.

That should work.

Not a bad idea. He actually is doing well in her class, but she is the one who gave him detention for forgetting to wear a belt.

He seems to have lost all respect for her and I am afraid he is going to pop off one time and it's going to cost him.

Forgetting to wear a belt? Were his boxers showing?

Nah. School uniforms.

 

[93Devil]

Oh ok, Ace. I was wondering how the school justified the detention for a wardrobe issue.

 

[Ace]

Oh ok, Ace. I was wondering how the school justified the detention for a wardrobe issue.

Don't get me started.