I'm Confused...

I am very confused about something; I just don't get it.

Why would a parent contact a teacher right before Spring Break, when grades are due before we leave, and ask what their child can do over the break to improve their grade?

Now, maybe if the parent didn't know when grades are due, that might make more sense. But as we had just had a parent conference, emails exchanged that begins to border on epic, and phone calls, all mentioning that grades are due before the break, it wasn't news.

This particular child had been doing nothing all 9 weeks. Nothing. So much nothing that she only had a 26%, and honestly, my absolute lowest kid (who is not capable of much, though the sweetest thing you'll ever meet) has managed a 69% this 9 weeks, so it's not the rigor of the work she cannot handle. She just won't do anything.

Not even classwork! Or group classwork!

Since at the time of progress reports her grade was low across the board, we had a parent conference and explained what the problem was. There was tears, promises, and threats exchanged during that conference, but the next day, the very next day, she did not have her homework, nor even a pencil to do her work!

I know that parents are not at school with their children, and they cannot control their every movement. Speaking from experience, however, if I had tried any of the stuff this child is pulling (and I did have my own troubles with schooling), I would have been punished so severely I don't know if I'd remember my name.

But I digress.

Why would you ask what to do to improve her grade? Even if you had her do everything she was missing in all of her classes (which I would make her do, myself, if I was her parent, regardless of if she got credit for any of it... it would teach her that she can't get out of the work by being lazy), as a team, we don't accept late work. If we made a super-huge exception, and offered 1/2 credit, she still would be failing, since she didn't do her classwork and she failed her tests.

Not only the fact that it's too late, we told you when we met a very short time ago what to do to improve her grade, but nothing happened. It's too late. The grades are in. I am not going through the humongous hassle of submitting a grade change for your child since she did nothing all this 9 weeks and you knew she was doing nothing.

So I am confused as to what you want to happen.

Well, actually, I know you just want her to get a passing grade, as you've told us that. And I know you want us just want us to "make it work," which I am guessing means just give her the passing grade.

But I'm not going to do that, as it's not fair to the students who have worked their rears off this 9 weeks, and it's not fair to the teachers, who have tried to work with you, and it's not fair to the 7th grade teachers, who will get your child next year, unable to do 6th grade work, let alone be up to doing 7th grade work.

I'm sorry, but sometimes children just need to fail, and learn there is a consequence to failure. It's not polite to talk about, but it's true.

So let her fail, teach her how to change it, and move on.

And please don't ask me, again, to change her grade!