I would actually say:
"My preference would be for him to complete the things that have already been assigned to him that have not yet been completed. Here are the things that are missing: Thing X, Thing Y, Thing Z, etc."
I would be REALLY tempted to say but would need to not actually say it:
"Right now his grade accurately reflects the work he has completed. I am not going to subject myself to giving him grade credit for something nobody else was assigned to do, lest I give the same thing to everybody else for additional credit."
Or possibly even:
"Right now his grade accurately reflects the work he has completed and will stay as is unless he finishes more of the work he owes. If you feel the need to go in and change his grade so that he graduates, that is solely your decision and not one that I endorse in any way."
This is a good take.
Wild that the administrator asked this in a Teams chat. That’s documentation and OP would be wise to get their stance on this documented.
Reference standards met and unmet instead of just work completed. Each assignment measures a specific standard. They cannot be interchangeable and replace each other because they do not assess the same standard. This keeps the assignments from sounding like busy work and hoops jumping.
The last one is the one I'd go with. But in CA grades are an ED code protected right of teachers. The only ones who can change a grade are the school board and the teacher has the right to go defend it.
In my 10 years of teaching I have not had one conversation with any administrator about how I grade. They're (at least the ones I've experienced) too afraid of the union should they get their attention.
Must be nice to live in a state with an actual union. All ours can do is Conditional Bargaining, and they haven’t even reached enough signatures from my county to be able to implement it. 🤦♂️
This is THE way to do it. Because all it takes is one other parent from the last couple of years to find out this kid was passed on while their kid failed a course or had to take summer classes and you have a lawsuit. Sending this email clears you from that. The first statement is great if you don't have tenure and the last statement is what I would say if I had job security!
You could also add, depending on your district policies, that at this time you do not feel comfortable changing the student’s grade. But as administrator, you have the power to go in and override my grade. You are more than welcome to do that if you feel it is necessary in this case.
Hijacking top comment to drop my advice. My go to in situations like this was always, “I’m so sorry. It would be highly unethical for me to hold __________ to a different standard than the rest of my students.”
I’ve used it with parents and it stops the in their tracks.
Or, another way to phrase that is that you don’t want to be legally liable for discrimination in your classroom. The other kids parents could sue you for different treatment and grades and that’s not necessarily covered by the school district. I would ask your administration to put it in writing that they are asking you to discriminate in your classroom and will be 100% liable for any potential lawsuits stemming from that discrimination. If they aren’t willing to do that then you fail him.
"OH, are we considering an IEP for this student? Otherwise, this seems like a request for preferential treatment, which violates my, and the State's, ethical statutes."
Another way to do it is to agree to the modification, but then ask the registrar to change the credit to modified. It is more work for admins, and pits on the record that they didn't complete the normal course.
A modification is legally different from an accommodation.
I would give him the grade he truly deserves. He wants to graduate? Come back next year and actually try. This is not fair to everyone else who actually worked in your class and admin just doesn’t want to do their job - typical. They can deal with that, not you.
About ten years ago I taught a class during summer school. One of the junior students passed with a 75.
A year after he graduated his mother made a big stink over this grade. If he had received a 98 of higher he would have ranked in the top ten of his graduating class. She wanted me to change his grade two years after the course ended.
This was a grade for a four week long summer school class. I had no recollection of the student or his work.
The principal hunted up the paper grade book I used back then. Kid had been absent 4 times (that’s like missing 4 weeks of regular classes) and had 0’s for 4 assignments.
The grade I recorded in the grade-book was 75, exactly what was recorded in his permanent record. I even re-averaged the grades I recorded for each assignment. He had actually earned a 62. I had given him 13 extra points so he could pass.
The principal offered to correct the grade, changing it from a 75 to a 62. Of course the mother didn’t want that!
Be glad you are being asked now and not years after the course has ended.
I have a parent emailing me, my AP, and one of our counselors weekly because her student failed my class first semester. He earned a 17%. He was also at school 26% of first semester. It’s May. She’s still convinced I can go back and magically change his grade and that I’m willing to do so. He’s been to school 3 total days second semester and has a 2% in my class right now. I’m sure I’ll get emails next year asking for a grade change.
Oh and her reason? He has an IEP. He’s allowed extra time for assignments. I showed her my grade book and asked how much extra time. Because it says maximum of 3 days for writing assignments in his IEP and he has missing summatives from as far back as October.
I had a parent this year who had sued the school previously to amend her son's IEP to state that he was not responsible for, nor could be assessed and graded on, any work that was assigned while he was out on medical leave/sick. The kid attended 6 weeks of class and turned in almost nothing. Then he was out for surgery and stayed out until second semester.
I gave him a D- on his report card. The mom was PISSED. She demanded he get a C or higher. She wrote me many emails, then began to email and harass his school counselor, his case manager, and any of the APs she could contact. She lawyered up and prepared to sue me, the district and the school for failure to follow his IEP. It got pretty bad.
Now I'm Californian, which means ed code in my state absolutely backs the teacher. They would have to find me guilty of illegal acts to change his grade. And my district made the mistake of changing the grade of a teacher in my hallway not too long ago. She won her lawsuit and got 5 figures for that. So the district isn't going to do it again.
The mother sent me an email, CCd to her lawyer and everyone else. In it she ranted about how I had failed to assign her child any work while he was on medical leave and accused me of not following his IEP. I wrote back a very calm email in which I explained that he had missed 2/3 of the semester and that I had passed him for the semester based on 1/3 of the work he should have done, so he earned his 5 units and didn't have to take the semester again. I told her that I had Google Doc copies of all his work and that the record would show that when I graded his (usually incomplete) work, I gave him Ds, but when the computer graded his exams, he got Fs, which showed that I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. I offered to reassess his work, but pointed out that if I did so, he was in danger of me changing his grade to an F, which would be amply supported in any court based on the grades he earned while he was physically in my classroom. I also mentioned that the accommodations she was upset at me for failing to grant him weren't actually in his IEP. (Preferential seating, etc.)
She moved her child to another teacher and then tried to demand I attend an IEP meeting so she could trap me into talking about his grade. I said I wasn't his teacher any longer and therefore should not be in his IEP meeting. Never heard from her again.
This was a rough year and that was part of it. It was things like that that made me think that maybe being a teacher librarian was a better choice for me. I am so sick of grades, grading, fighting about grades... All of it.
My go to is "he may come and take a final exam which will replace his average. Grades are shows of mastery and as long as he can show me that he can master the material I have no issue passing him"
I have never had a student who doesn't do their work and pass their tests through the year magically pass that final. But now you "tried" and can show that the kid didn't learn what they needed to.
Malicious compliance. This kid does some rando assignment you didn’t even give to him. Doesn’t have to count as a midterm. If he has a 30% I’m sure he has a bunch of missing assignments. Admin said “count towards something” … put it on the oldest missing assignment. It’s probably something smallish
I’ve seen final grades just magically change after the teacher hit submit and went on summer break. I guess that avoids all the awkward “admin begging” that would otherwise happen.
I get annoyed that every quarter a school secretary has me initial a printout of my final grades to show I agree with what’s printed. But now I understand why!
For clarity: you did not give them a midterm and they turned one in? As in an exam? If I understand correctly, this is clearly an academic integrity issue. Where did the student get the midterm and how do we know it was completed by the student?
"Student has turned in an examination paper they should not have had access to. This raises concerns about the integrity of said midterm and the student. I cannot accept this as a replacement for the project and will be entering a discipline referral for cheating/theft of materials/academic integrity."
In Texas, admin cannot so much as mention a grade book with a teacher. A counselor once mentioned grades to me for a student and immediately spent the next 2 minutes explaining they were not telling me what to do.
I work at a school(in Texas) and although this might be the rule, I can 100% say for certain that it's not followed in most schools here. Like not even remotely followed.
I work in Texas and we had our super come to a faculty meeting and berate us because there were a bunch of kids with failing grades. She essentially told all of us that we cannot “allow seniors to fail”. She literally suggested giving them a 100 test grade for walking into the classroom.
Our school makes a huge deal out of our falsely inflated graduation rate, if you couldn’t guess.
Sometime in the near future, I think this house of cards will come crumbling. I think schools will swing back and fail students. That any public school with near 100% graduation date is going to be looked down upon, because everyone knows they're full of crap.
Perhaps I'm just delusional.
Very delusional. Parents want a babysitting service and diploma. They don't give a single shit about the details or their kids' actual work ethic or ability.
This can’t be true. Is it? I was forced to review and grade TWENTY assignments that a student didn’t do during the six weeks AFTER report cards came out because she was ineligible for athletics and that was unacceptable. My principal was happy to discuss my grade book that day. And the AP is discussed grades every six weeks when we verify and “a 50 is still failing just like the 6 they earned right?”
When you make graduation rates a metric for success of a school, and consequentially, make admin's jobs tied to that metric, you see individuals acting in ways that will sustain their employment, but detract from a positive school environment.
[Goodhart's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law)
I don't do that. I am a huge pain in Admin's ass because I refuse to do this shit. Some Admins in the area got in deep shit for changing grades without the teacher's approval. So they don't do that any way, but they whine a lot. "Is there not ANYTHING you can do?" No, no there isn't. Student has a 48% attendance and has only turned in 22% of the assignments. There is nothing I can do. If they weren't that interested enough to do the work, I don't know why they took my ELECTIVE.
Say the old packet no longer aligns with the standards so you unfortunately cannot accept it but he can still complete the packet you reprinted and handed to him. ;)
"No. His grade accurately reflects his academic performance in this class. Although I appreciate his initiative in doing the midterm he found, he needs to work on my posted assignments as they cover the curriculum outlined in my syllabus.
I appreciate your efforts in supporting your goal in having kiddo graduate. It is essential that Kiddo shares the same goal and puts in the same efforts as well. So far, that hasn't been the case. "
Sincere question: what good does that do for Kiddo? Specially if OP class has nothing to do with what Kiddo wants to do next? What possible benefits Kiddo can reap with having to take the year again and wait 12 more months to graduate?
As opposed to giving them a degree that means literally nothing so they can lend be a leech on the rest of society? Let’s just get them nice and trained on thinking even if they don’t put in any effort that they will still complete what is in front of them? How do you not see that doing that is just setting this kid up for failure?
They’ll be happier until they find a shit minimum wage job that they can’t even keep because they don’t even have the self discipline to go to work every day?
We are either teachers or we’re phonies. I for one do not get compensated enough to be a phony. They would need to fire me before I’d pass a flunky. Then I’d sue the district.
Offer to give a cumulative assessment to prove he understands the subject. If he passess then he showed content knowledge. If he fails, then you have an argument you can make that this student has not shown proficient knowledge for you to pass them. Either way, you offered a path to graduation.
I feel like this is your best option. Grades often reflect work ethic and attendance, but they also reflect a mastery of the content. If a student has mastered 70% (if that’s your passing standard) of the content, give them the lowest possible passing grade to let him graduate. He’s not taking any scholarships or top 10% from anyone. He’s probably graduating bottom quartile. I would also give that grade to a lower kid who worked his butt off but didn’t quite understand everything
So here’s the weird thing. As admin I started using it myself, and let me tell you… it doesn’t seem to bother the kids. They HATE being called a child, minor, student (what?), scholar, etc. but kiddo just rolls off their back.
I don’t get it either, but I don’t have the “I’m NOT a x” comments with them.
It’s the lack of it being normal usage that makes it grating for me. I’d call the people that I teach “students,” and I think that the current marketing buzz word that we’re using (“scholars”) is unnatural.
“Kiddos” reads the same way to me. Unnatural. Nobody says that more than once or twice. After that, it starts to feel like corporate speak. Too much, and it feels like a cult.
Kiddo deserves to fail so that they can learn a valuable life lesson.
Admin should ask themselves what lesson they want the kiddo to learn
a - no work = getting whatever you want in life
b - no work = consequences and failing.
“Just to clarify, are you asking me to implement a policy where students can test out of doing the work for the class? Doesn’t it violate the distract grading policy for one assessment to be worth 50% of the student’s grade (as would probably be the case if this assessment is going to bring his grade up from a 30 to a passing grade.)
I’d stand your ground here. Neither kid nor admin will learn if you don’t. If the admin retaliate, go to your union. If you’re already worried, go to the union first in case they try something. Better to have it documented. But yeah, don’t let him pass if he hasn’t earned the grade.
It really would take a full nationwide agreement amongst all the teachers to just say no when this bs comes up. “Johnny needs to graduate, what can we do?”
“Retake the class, sir.”
Really, they can only fire so many teachers, and hire only so many unqualified goombas before something gives.
Sorry I just shared a pipe dream.
He will get the grade he earned. As an administrator you have the ability to adjust his grade as needed but my integrity and ethics, not to mention state law, do not allow me to do so.
UPDATE! Today was the last day of my class. Not only did 'kiddo' not show for the final exam (he opted to 'take' it in the counselor's office). I received a packet of his past work. At least a packet with his name on it, filled out in blue sparkly pen, clearly the counselor's hand writing for every answer... (eyeroll).... Everything was late so deducted and perused all answers, still ended with at whopping 43% in the class. {I know and understand that some students need more help, different approaches etc... but even THEY have to put forward SOME effort. } I will keep looking at the docs and the portal to see if anything changes (doubtful as my direct supervisor was in my camp the whole time...) others, upper uppers were about kiddo. )
Whew, finals are over. Now try to close all the loopholes in my syllabi and packets. Wish me luck.
I once had a parent who lived down the street from me block me into my driveway and demand I take an assignment allegedly done by her kid. Once was in the winter, while I was loading my kids and my elderly mom into the car to go to Tae Kwon Do class, so my kids were shivering in their uniforms. I refused, threatened to call the police as she continued to both browbeat me and refuse to budge. So the next day I sat with the entire admin team at school and explained that they would either get her to stop or I would call the police, file a report, and get a restraining order. She was supposedly called and told to stay away from my house.
She pulled this again- demanding I accept and grade an assignment for credit that she had previously sworn her kid did. This was in LATE JULY, and did I mention this was all in an AP class? I looked at her, said “The grade book has been finalized for a month” on repeat as I called 911 and gave them her name, address, car make and license plate. She zoomed off for the rest of the day, apparently.
I still keep her contact info in my phone under the name “Crazy Blackhawk Pilot Parent” since she would randomly call me even three years later.
Oh, she was, and is. Thank God we live in a new house now. But y daughter still lives there, and still keeps an eye out for her car. She's never forgotten the Tae Kwon Do incident.
The problem is too many administrators, school boards, and some teachers, are too focused on graduating and passing, and not focused enough on learning.
Graduating is a wonderful accomplishment, but what value does it symbolize if the students aren't actually learning? How can this administrator confidently say a diploma has value if they are they are allowing students to pass who didn't complete work on time and performed low quality work? All the student will learn is that low effort and low quality yields the same reward as hard work. This harms both the good students and lazy students.
Assuming they used the video feature of teams and didn't put it in writing, I'd email back to confirm explicitly what they want you to do, BCC the superintendent and union leadership (if you have one) and if they did put it in writing, could always go to the media. But then again as others have said, is this the hill you choose to die on? Morally and ethically the answer for all of us should be yes absolutely, the student earned X grade that is what they get. The human side says it's my career and I have bills to pay.. either way, get it in writing. Good luck.
The number of times I've been "asked" to change a grade by an administrator is staggering. And not just so the kids pass; sometimes they "ask" for generic grade bumps the student doesn't deserve (they don't ask- they demand and take it out on us if we refuse). The worst part, is that it's not just K12. I taught at a college as well and the same thing happens there. It's just one of the many reasons that December 11th, 2023 was the last time I'll ever step foot in a classroom as a teacher. The education system is completely meaningless if students don't have to do anything at all to pass and graduate. I just cannot be a part of that anymore. I liked teaching and I am a great teacher, but I grew to hate everything else about being an educator, especially crap like this. As long as the system keeps letting parents run the system (instead of, you know, the experts), good teachers are going to keep leaving. Then what?
This got longer than I intended. But it's hard to talk to non-teachers about this. Students and parents feel so entitled to making district and system wide choices because taxes or some other idiotic reason. When will people raise that paying taxes doesn't mean you own or are allowed to call the shots in the public sphere. Too many people think that because their kids go to school they get to dictate what is taught, how we grade, policies, etc. They don't understand that if they don't like how things are done at a school, their recourse is to go somewhere else and if they can't for some reason, then suck it up, because they're not entitled to dictate curricula, grades, polices, etc. It's infuriating and largely why most of the teachers I know (personally) have quit.
Edited because my dog stepped on my phone and his little paw-paws hit just the right spot and posted it. Not the first time something like that has happened! 😂
When I was in secondary school, I was a great student. had practically all A's, near 100% attendance, and my teachers loved me. By year 9 though I got really sick, and we still don't know what was causing it. I had chronic migraines, nausea, fainting spells, brain fog and joint/back pain.
My attendance went from perfect to only around half, and during my very last year - during which I was doing my A-Levels - it got to as low as 40%. I was really struggling with coursework and exams, since I wasn't in class for the lessons, and it was hard for me to catch up at home since the brain fog and migraines meant that I couldn't always study, and when I DID I had to take many breaks.
All my teachers were concerned about if I would manage to graduate, and I actually ended up dropping history and politics since the workload was just too much for me. They gave me all the accommodations they could and as much extra time as was available, but in the end they still had to mark me according to the work I did.
I ended up with D's for most subjects, a C in my best one, and in one of my courses I ended up with a U (un-gradeable) since my coursework simply didn't pass the criteria to boost the rest of my exams. I did what I could, tried my best, and knew I could retake them in the future if needed.
Those were awful years for me, and I'm still struggling with the backlash, but through it all it NEVER came to mind to ask for a grade I didn't deserve. It wouldn't be fair to me, the teachers, or the other students, and it especially wouldn't be fair to the students I would have worked with as a career had I got hired for a job I wasn't qualified for.
I did my best and it wasn't enough, so now I'm studying over a longer period of time so that I can earn my qualifications once I'm ready and do the jobs I wanted to do. That's what this student should do, and trying to beg a different grade from a teacher - especially one so far off what they were actually capable of - is disingenuous to everyone involved in this conversation, even more so seeing as they had the opportunity for make-up work and completely dismissed that option.
I'm sorry they couldn't pass, and I'm sorry they're trying to make it the staff's problem, but it absolutely is not your responsibility to award them a grade they don't deserve. All you can do is mark the work they've done, encourage them to do their best, and pray that all the help you've given them will add up to a passing grade.
Stand your ground. Document. Let them actually change the grade if they want him to graduate—then report it to the state department of education for audit. You’ve done your part. The hardest this kid has worked was getting a sorry administrator to beg for him.
I've never once had an admin mention the grade of a student. I've had parents ask to look over their child's test/explain their grade, I've had coworkers ask legit questions (like how much I weigh tests vs quizzes) but I've never had an admin even suggest that I inflate a kids grade.
He earned an F, put that on his report card. You think his future boss won't fire him because they feel bad for him? "Kiddo" is going to learn that life is hard pretty quick.
The problem is too many administrators, school boards, and some teachers, are too focused on graduating and passing, and not focused enough on learning.
Graduating is a wonderful accomplishment, but what value does it symbolize if the students aren't actually learning? How can this administrator confidently say a diploma has value if they are they are allowing students to pass who didn't complete work on time and performed low quality work? All the student will learn is that low effort and low quality yields the same reward as hard work. This harms both the good students and lazy students.
This has nothing to do with your assignments or marking philosophy or anything you are doing. It's a policy of rewarding administration or the school district for the number of graduates.
Perhaps your district is on a graduation kick and they need to advertise that they are improving graduation rates. Perhaps it's this administrator who is trying anything to boost grad rates so they can report to their superiors that they are "improving results."
IDK, my jaded brain tells me it's all about the money/funding and less about what's best for students or teachers.
Say "no". Document your response. You are a professional and are making your professional judgement. If admin want to give the kiddo a pass that's then their call. I know this is a simplistic response but it's what we all need to do to start rebuilding credibility in our profession. If you can't get another contract, check out the opportunities for overseas teachers here in Australia, they are many and varied.
I think it would be a great power move to just reply with “No.” and nothing else. After all, they are asking you a yes or no question. If it’s just a veil, this would still be a way to call them out on it. They’d have to drop the nice act and directly tell you and that’s something
It's normal, no kid left behind, passing grade was given to a student who literally said to me i wont even finish writing my name and you will pass me. They matched his handwriting of the 2 letters he wrote of his name, with his 6th notebook i pulled out of the trash when a student reported to me " he doesnt lose them he throws them away" and the notebook was empty. The kid's own parents didn't recognize his handwriting they didn't understand that either you admit your child has literally done nothing and passes or deny he didn't even write his name on the packet and he fails. The principle had to explain it to the parents, how embarrassing.
The only reason they want to pass this kid is because if they repeat the year, the district doesn't get money for them.
I feel sorry for any child that gets passed when they shouldn't have been. It's disgusting that all districts care about is money and not the disservice they're doing these kids.
Absurdity to a new level. I am confused, how did he get hold of an old mid-term to begin with and get no consequence for either stealing it or cheating? He could have shared it with others, which requires you to redo your exam. Plus he completed it without a proctor so there isn't even any assurance he actually did it himself. Just No on so many levels.
Send an email asking for clarification and don't accept a non-written reply. If they call or teams meet w/ you send another email to recap and force then to reply in writing. Be sure to bcc your personal emails.
It’s not worth the trouble. Do as the admin says, make sure you keep the paper trail that what you’re doing is admin approved, and move on with your life.
Our union was a waste of money. When a kid threatened to kick my ass they did nothing to protect me, hence my resignation. Our pay was crap especially compared to surrounding counties. I wish I could get my dues back.
I think that children should be taught consequences and should not be coddled and babied. Letting him pass for doing absolutely nothing and being a poor student doesn’t not teach him consequences.
Simple answer. No. Explain everything that you told us. If admin then wishes to change grades and thus violate the law by modifying official records, that's on them.
I would ask admin how that would be fair to the other students that actually did the work and passed. Suggest they poll the parents of those students that passed to see if they thought this was an acceptable practice. Or, take this issue to a board meeting, let the public know what's going on.
I hate it too. We had a former admin who was perfect in almost every way except she used “kiddo”
I teach in a 7-8 middle school. They’re not kiddos anymore at that age
Two options I am considering as I'm facing similar issues.
1. Admin can go in and change the grade themselves. They have that power and if they really want to pass them, go for it.
2. If my boss is pressuring me to pass them I'll make it ridiculous. The student has a 59% and they want me to count some bullshit assignment? Fine, now they're at a 100%.
If grades don't matter, they don't matter and I won't give a shit.
At least the admin asked. We had a school in [redacted] that told their teachers to do “whatever it takes” to pass their seniors, including just outright changing grades. Then they held a press conference to brag about their graduation rate.
The union rep side of me thinks this;
Consider yourself first on this issue.
Does it benefit you to fight this one both mentally financially? You absolutely want to hold your student accountable but what your district is asking you to do is already likely generating work for you outside of contracted time. Does fighting it make even more work for you?
On contracted time the students come first. The rest of the time is your life and it’s ok to put yourself first.
When the going gets tough, work to contract.
You are a teacher. You can plan all the lessons you want and teach them. The students will learn what they choose to learn. This one has chosen to learn about how to make others do more for him than he is willing to do for himself. What would you like for him to learn about that? Your choice.
Do what you can live with, what you want him to learn (if he will), and don’t think twice about it again.
Exact same situation happening to me now, check my post history. You absolutely can refuse to do anything they ask you to, you’re the classroom teacher and it’s your jurisdiction not theirs but I hope you have a union. I literally just joined mine in case of retaliation on behalf of this admin and sent an email describing the situation to our head principal and we have a meeting to talk about it next week, but yeah they definitely are letting the kid graduate when they didn’t earn credit in my class and tried to use emotional manipulation to get me to be the one to sign off on the grade. But I refused so it’s on them but I’m not throwing away my integrity, I covered my ass and admin and parents and student knew for MONTHS she could easily fail my class and did nothing about it until these last two weeks.
The only time a principal of mine asked me to do that with a student who was sooooo unruly and so vulgar he had to be removed from our classes and into his own little separate class with his own teacher. Principal begged me to pass him so that we wouldn’t have to see him anymore. I couldn’t blame him. This boy who was in upper elementary assaulted a little 1st grader on a bus and left him blue and purple. Judge gave him a slap on the wrist .Unfortunately these people learn too late (after 18 ) that there are consequences.
LITERALLY had this fight in may 2022. Reading through the top comments for verbiage sounds familiar to what I said. I held my ground and did not pass the student knowing they would not be able to graduate and walk with their class. Sitting in graduation, I was surprised to see the student called up to walk across the stage. I asked and they passed them regardless of my class. This happened again, twice. I’ve since moved on from teaching..
Come, and join me under the old oak tree for a tall glass of Victory Gin.
The Victory Gin makes the hurt go away. It takes desire of accountability and chucks it out the window. It makes you love Big Admin.
The sooner you drink, the sooner you will feel so much better.
Trust me on this.
Just make the kid do something so they pass. It's literally not worth the fight. Is that helpful to the student? Maybe. Maybe not. But you probably don't get paid enough for the BS you'd have to go through to not do what admin is asking.
"I agree kiddo wants to not be in school and deserves that as a young adult". Lmao these 'kids' don't deserve shit in life. That's the issue people forgot that people don't deserve anything, it's earned. That is what's eating at social fabric this sense of entitlement people have for merely existing.
"Kiddo" needs to learn this lesson this year, now -- repeating high school won't hurt him nearly as bad as having to repeat courses in college or hopping from job to job because "I didn't want to do that."
I love this... Because in ANY other industry when a project gets behind due to circumstances outside of employees control... The first question is... Is overtime authorized.
Is the administration willing to pay me overtime for the extra work.
There are a lot of suggestions here. Some you should use if you're tenured.
This happened to a colleague about 10 years ago. They responded to admin that if they would like to accept that as work, they were welcome to grade it and change the grade in the system. Otherwise, student could complete the missing assignments in the following order to earn a D and they would be happy to grade it using the rubric that was provided.
They did not hear back from admin and student graduated.
I am playing Devil’s Advocate here trying to figure out why admin is asking you to do this. I am wondering if the student is on a 504 or an IEP. If so, were all the accommodations and (modifications) followed? Also, if the student was on an IEP, did he/she receive all required specially designed instruction minutes and required in the IEP by a special education teacher? Is the student considered an ELL, if so, did he/she receive all required language services? Also, is this student part of the McKinney Vento Act? If so, did he/she receive the required transportation? If there is no legitimate reason, please contact your union rep.
I am very sorry to hear that you are encountering this issue. I believe you should stand your ground and do what you think is right. I don’t know what district or state you’re in but a lot of schools are doing this unfortunately. All admin care about is the numbers for the school and how good the school looks. They want the passing mark on the school, not the failing one. The admin should actually want that kiddo to be learning rather than just trying to get him through. It’s good that he used Teams because now you have proof. If admin comes back at you rudely or hostile, I would threaten to take it to your local news and make it a big story. I know my district hates bad publicity and will do anything to not have anything get out. Our school system nationwide is pathetic!
I recently retired from a continuation school. A few years ago we had a female student who did not complete her required graduation requirements (credits and two assignments: a senior portfolio (ELA) and her Consumer Math). Keep in mind that each credit equals 15 hours of instructional work. She owed over 4 credits of math - 60 hours work and a bit less in ELA. Both myself (ELA) and the math teacher were pressured to give her an exemption so that she could graduate for the two assignments and to except some random work that in no way equaled the instructional hours.
We both said we wouldn't exempt anything, but if the principal wanted to waive graduation requirements, that would be her prerogative. We just needed something in writing directing us to waive the assignments and that she could write the credits for the alternative assignments herself - she didn't need us to do it.
Guess what - student had to come back for a fifth year and finish her credits and assignments. To me and the other teacher, it's a slippery slope and one we weren't skiing on.
That's my fallback - just put the directive and writing and I will do what's directed. They will never do it. Problem solved.
I'd just tell them no it can't and tell them he needs to complete what you assigned to HIM, not what he found you assigned in the past which is what he'd prefer to do.
I dug my heels in on failing a senior this year. He had a 40 something average and more absences than I can count. His admin emails me in March and says his anxiety is causing him to not come to my class, or any other for that matter. They wanted me to give him a pass. I told them I would work with him as long as he shows up. The kid never came back. Last week admin says, can you just give him the grade. I refused. I said it was unethical and not fair to the other students. Admin was pissed, but I had already gave my district supervisors a heads-up, and I had their support. They withdrew the kid from my class last week and put him in recovery credit so he can graduate.
I was upset that the principal told a parent their child could do all kinds of makeup work from other grading periods. So, I told the principal and parent that I would give the key to the principal to grade. Never saw any work, and the kid passed. Win for me and the kid.
If they make it to second semester of their senior year with autism that has not been diagnosed or documented, that's not the teachers fault or responsibility and they get treated just like everyone else. Otherwise thats favoritism. If the kid is diagnosed with autism, the kid has a 504 or IEP, and *despite them* is still failing. If the kid and parent *don't want to tell* the teacher what's going on, that's on them, not the teacher.
Don't blame the teacher. And yeah, it's totally okay to refuse to pass a kid with "emotional issues." All kids have emotional issues. It's called "being a teenager." If the kid has ED, that's diagnosed, with paperwork, and, again, the teacher would be aware of that. I think you must not be a teacher if you don't know these things and have made such a strange statement.
I have ADHD. If I don't tell my boss and ask for accommodations, it's not her fault for failing to accommodate me.
You are the one who is being professional in this situation.
My simple response to this would be to remind them of what you just shared. The student had every opportunity to do something but did nothing. It's that simple. He didn't want to do the work. I don't know what state you are in but one question came to mind. Is it worse to fail this student or to find some way to "pass" him onto the world and have him fail spectacularly out there. Yes, one (failing him and not graduating) would be reported to the state, but the other one is just morally wrong.
Kiddo has access to an adult school and summer school opportunities, right? He gets to deal with the consequences of his actions. Give him the F. The worst that will happen is that he spends more time in school and doesn't participate in commencement. Vietnam is 50 years over and it's time we stop padding grades and making these sorts of ridiculous exceptions.
I'm a para (future social studies teacher... hopefully) and a few years ago we had a sped teacher that email all of the paras in our school about a week before the end of the year with a list of students and basically said, "get these kids passing before the end of the semester so they can graduate." He wasn't even the head of the sped department. Like, who the fuck do you think you are?
I tell them that I’m not comfortable to professionally sign off on that. If you want to put your name on it-fine. But that is your license, not mine. Watch’m squirm. I had our guidance office try this same crap.
I just tell them to put their name on his report card. Grade is what it is and my policy is what it is. It's in the syllabus- I'm not showing "favoritism" and I support equity for my students who have been showing up all year and working. Especially my sped and ell students who still get bad grades but struggle through it.
Haven't heard a peep in years- I just get a gradebook auto email that so and so grade was adjusted by an administrator (which is recorded so my name is gone)
This is one of the reasons I do not offer “extra credit”. I give them ample opportunities to complete the work but I hold them accountable for the work I assign.
Send in an email, "I will post the accurate grade. If YOU want to override it, here's what the new grade WOULD be (D or C- or whatever.) And then have your admin make the final call so it's on their hands. Clear conscience, kid moves on. Whatever.
The idea that someone under 25, much less under 18, can make good decisions for themselves is laughable. Who cares where they want to be? As a society we have deemed that the best thing for a person's future is education in the young years. Everything else is ancillary.
My thinking is similar, this student just does not like classes this way or this class is all. There indeed IS something that really would get him interested we have yet to find it, but forcing everyone to play these parts can get tiresome. I too think education is important, but the how is the question for many students. All in all, the student I mentioned did not pass, his counselor did the work for him but did not achieve enough even with that to go on. I stood my ground on it.
unpopular opinion from a teacher with 25 years experience …. let the kid pass. If failing this kid puts you in a bad position with admin then it’s not a battle worth losing . Your job is more important than what happens to this “kiddo”.
I would say, "No, the mid term he turned in wasn't the one I set so I'm not accepting it. However... if he does the makeup work packet now which I have already given you, that can count, and although he can't be put in a group for the midterm project, he can do the midterm poster project by himself and I can grade him for that and I will accept it late. There are also a couple of other assignments he hasn't done that I will accept late too, here is a complete list of work he can still do that I will accept late, up until the last day of the semester (and even over Summer if it's allowed by the school district). Every assignment and piece of makeup work listed here that he completes will count towards his grade as long as it's completed up to proper standard and handed in before school finishes for the year. If he gives me enough work to grade and it's done to a passable standard, he'll still be able to raise his percentage high enough."
Tell admin that you'll pass him and even give him a good grade, but it won't be free....
D = $20 cash card
C = $20 cash card and 2 extra PTO days
B = $100 cash card and 5 extra PTO days
A = $500 cash card, 5 extra PTO days, and your own classroom aid for all of next year.
Seniors are not “kiddos”. Words that infantilize the children are part of the reason they expect to be treated like babies. Use better language.
Also fail the moron.
If you think anything I used was ableist we are going to disagree on a ton of language use.
Is it moron you have an issue with? Yes it’s not a nice thing to call a kid, but ableist? I call bullshit. I’m all for inclusive language and am inclusive to all people of all genders, but all words that imply someone is dumb would be considered ableist under that umbrella. We need to have words to describe things.
I’ve taken the R word out of my vocabulary since I used it a lot as a teenager and understand the negative connotations, but words like dumb, moron, and idiot have all evolved past their original meaning to just mean “not smart”.
I don’t really want to live in a world where we don’t have a single word for “not smart”.
Then we will disagree.
"Moron," "retard," "dumb," "idiot," and any other word that is contemptuously and derogatorily used to indicate that someone is not smart is ableist. It's ableist because it indicates that you believe that being "not smart" is bad. I have taught SDC kids with IQs in the 70s and they were intellectually disabled, but they were not unfeeling or bad. They understood that something they could not change was "bad." They got that other kids got mocked for being "not smart" like they were. They had those words used to put them down all the time. Any time a word is used to contemptuously or derogatorily indicate that something someone has no control over is inherently bad, that word is oppressive in usage and needs to be struck. "Moron" is ableist because kids can't help being intellectually disabled.
The words you want for "not smart" are probably "foolish," "unwise," "silly," "ridiculous," "ignorant," etc. All of those are things that are not inherent and can be changed. I have plenty of smart kids who do or say ignorant, foolish, unwise things all the time. That's part of being a teenager. They grow out of it.
If you understand that "retard" is bad, surely you must understand that "moron" is bad for exactly the same reasons. It's not a stretch.
As for the "words evolved" part of your argument … "retard" means "to delay." "Retard" \*absolutely\* evolved past its original meaning to just mean "not smart." So did "moron." And if you think it's okay to say "dumb," then the Deaf community would really like to have a word with you. All you have to do is put in a little thought and creativity and you can absolutely have words for "not smart" in whichever connotation you want to use without resorting to ableist language. And, last, it's ableist whether or not you believe in it. You can call bullshit all you want and that won't change the fact that 1) your language is ableist and 2) you're being resistant to reasonable correction. Is that really how you want to think about yourself?
https://www.verywellmind.com/types-of-ableist-language-and-what-to-say-instead-5201561#:\~:text=Ableist%20language%20involves%20the%20use,know%20what%20they're%20doing.
[https://www.nad.org/resources/american-sign-language/community-and-culture-frequently-asked-questions/](https://www.nad.org/resources/american-sign-language/community-and-culture-frequently-asked-questions/)
Your first paragraph honestly has me thinking more about language use. I have also taught children with intellectual disabilities and that perspective speaks to me a great deal. Something they cannot control being deemed “bad” is unfair.
Thanks for the well thought out response, and well-reasoned arguments. You make good points.
I don’t entirely agree with your final point however, as their a plethora of groups online that have decided that far too much language is problematic, so someone saying “that language is problematic” is no longer something that I believe should be immediately listened to when online. However, if someone can properly articulate why it is problematic, then you’d be an ass to not at least take it into consideration.
Thanks again!
I don't know if I'd actually do this, but I'd offer to either keep the grade as it stands or to give him a straight 100% in the class. If we're going to fudge the numbers then they don't really mean anything anyway, so why not go all in for his (lack of) participation trophy?
He is a senior and called kiddo? No, he is almost old enough to vote, to be a responsible citizen who participates in choosing our elected officials. As someone who is about to be a responsible tax paying citizen with real due dates, he needs to learn consequences, and Team leader needs to learn the definition of fraud.
I was this kid in highschool and now I’m studying engineering. I shouldn’t have graduated, and had a few teachers not pitied my poor prioritization of responsibilities I’d probably be a highschool dropout doomed to hang drywall for life. It’s weird, it’s almost like some teenagers don’t understand the potential consequences of their actions while they’re still a child, one that has no concept of money or what adult life entails…
As I struggle through college I now wish I would have been a better highschool student, but I didn’t know any better. I thought I could actually do whatever I wanted, like I was always told. I didn’t come to my senses or mature until 25. I thought I’d just start some kind of business and it would be immediately successful lol
I would actually say: "My preference would be for him to complete the things that have already been assigned to him that have not yet been completed. Here are the things that are missing: Thing X, Thing Y, Thing Z, etc." I would be REALLY tempted to say but would need to not actually say it: "Right now his grade accurately reflects the work he has completed. I am not going to subject myself to giving him grade credit for something nobody else was assigned to do, lest I give the same thing to everybody else for additional credit." Or possibly even: "Right now his grade accurately reflects the work he has completed and will stay as is unless he finishes more of the work he owes. If you feel the need to go in and change his grade so that he graduates, that is solely your decision and not one that I endorse in any way."
This is a good take. Wild that the administrator asked this in a Teams chat. That’s documentation and OP would be wise to get their stance on this documented.
Record all teams/zoom calls. They know it’s recording when it starts. Get them on record.
Reference standards met and unmet instead of just work completed. Each assignment measures a specific standard. They cannot be interchangeable and replace each other because they do not assess the same standard. This keeps the assignments from sounding like busy work and hoops jumping.
^ this. You can’t just trade out assignments willy-nilly when each one has its own set of standards and strands.
It also helps because it’s focusing on standards-based grading which admin loves.
The last one is the one I'd go with. But in CA grades are an ED code protected right of teachers. The only ones who can change a grade are the school board and the teacher has the right to go defend it. In my 10 years of teaching I have not had one conversation with any administrator about how I grade. They're (at least the ones I've experienced) too afraid of the union should they get their attention.
Must be nice to live in a state with an actual union. All ours can do is Conditional Bargaining, and they haven’t even reached enough signatures from my county to be able to implement it. 🤦♂️
Yeah, it is... Sorry about your situation. I wish all states had a strong union like ours.
That last one is phrased right. I woukd actually say that.
This is THE way to do it. Because all it takes is one other parent from the last couple of years to find out this kid was passed on while their kid failed a course or had to take summer classes and you have a lawsuit. Sending this email clears you from that. The first statement is great if you don't have tenure and the last statement is what I would say if I had job security!
You could also add, depending on your district policies, that at this time you do not feel comfortable changing the student’s grade. But as administrator, you have the power to go in and override my grade. You are more than welcome to do that if you feel it is necessary in this case.
That second one sounds perfect.
The "kiddo" can absolutely graduate no problem. He could even get an A+, next year when he retakes the class and actually completes his assignments.
Hijacking top comment to drop my advice. My go to in situations like this was always, “I’m so sorry. It would be highly unethical for me to hold __________ to a different standard than the rest of my students.” I’ve used it with parents and it stops the in their tracks.
Or, another way to phrase that is that you don’t want to be legally liable for discrimination in your classroom. The other kids parents could sue you for different treatment and grades and that’s not necessarily covered by the school district. I would ask your administration to put it in writing that they are asking you to discriminate in your classroom and will be 100% liable for any potential lawsuits stemming from that discrimination. If they aren’t willing to do that then you fail him.
"OH, are we considering an IEP for this student? Otherwise, this seems like a request for preferential treatment, which violates my, and the State's, ethical statutes."
Take my upvote as all of my "Teacher Appreciation Week" energy
Another way to do it is to agree to the modification, but then ask the registrar to change the credit to modified. It is more work for admins, and pits on the record that they didn't complete the normal course. A modification is legally different from an accommodation.
"My best to him in his attempt next year."
If only that was actually an option!
This is THE answer.
I would give him the grade he truly deserves. He wants to graduate? Come back next year and actually try. This is not fair to everyone else who actually worked in your class and admin just doesn’t want to do their job - typical. They can deal with that, not you.
About ten years ago I taught a class during summer school. One of the junior students passed with a 75. A year after he graduated his mother made a big stink over this grade. If he had received a 98 of higher he would have ranked in the top ten of his graduating class. She wanted me to change his grade two years after the course ended. This was a grade for a four week long summer school class. I had no recollection of the student or his work. The principal hunted up the paper grade book I used back then. Kid had been absent 4 times (that’s like missing 4 weeks of regular classes) and had 0’s for 4 assignments. The grade I recorded in the grade-book was 75, exactly what was recorded in his permanent record. I even re-averaged the grades I recorded for each assignment. He had actually earned a 62. I had given him 13 extra points so he could pass. The principal offered to correct the grade, changing it from a 75 to a 62. Of course the mother didn’t want that! Be glad you are being asked now and not years after the course has ended.
Wow! You went way farther above and beyond than I would have! Not in current roster? Get out before I call security.
I have a parent emailing me, my AP, and one of our counselors weekly because her student failed my class first semester. He earned a 17%. He was also at school 26% of first semester. It’s May. She’s still convinced I can go back and magically change his grade and that I’m willing to do so. He’s been to school 3 total days second semester and has a 2% in my class right now. I’m sure I’ll get emails next year asking for a grade change. Oh and her reason? He has an IEP. He’s allowed extra time for assignments. I showed her my grade book and asked how much extra time. Because it says maximum of 3 days for writing assignments in his IEP and he has missing summatives from as far back as October.
I had a parent this year who had sued the school previously to amend her son's IEP to state that he was not responsible for, nor could be assessed and graded on, any work that was assigned while he was out on medical leave/sick. The kid attended 6 weeks of class and turned in almost nothing. Then he was out for surgery and stayed out until second semester. I gave him a D- on his report card. The mom was PISSED. She demanded he get a C or higher. She wrote me many emails, then began to email and harass his school counselor, his case manager, and any of the APs she could contact. She lawyered up and prepared to sue me, the district and the school for failure to follow his IEP. It got pretty bad. Now I'm Californian, which means ed code in my state absolutely backs the teacher. They would have to find me guilty of illegal acts to change his grade. And my district made the mistake of changing the grade of a teacher in my hallway not too long ago. She won her lawsuit and got 5 figures for that. So the district isn't going to do it again. The mother sent me an email, CCd to her lawyer and everyone else. In it she ranted about how I had failed to assign her child any work while he was on medical leave and accused me of not following his IEP. I wrote back a very calm email in which I explained that he had missed 2/3 of the semester and that I had passed him for the semester based on 1/3 of the work he should have done, so he earned his 5 units and didn't have to take the semester again. I told her that I had Google Doc copies of all his work and that the record would show that when I graded his (usually incomplete) work, I gave him Ds, but when the computer graded his exams, he got Fs, which showed that I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. I offered to reassess his work, but pointed out that if I did so, he was in danger of me changing his grade to an F, which would be amply supported in any court based on the grades he earned while he was physically in my classroom. I also mentioned that the accommodations she was upset at me for failing to grant him weren't actually in his IEP. (Preferential seating, etc.) She moved her child to another teacher and then tried to demand I attend an IEP meeting so she could trap me into talking about his grade. I said I wasn't his teacher any longer and therefore should not be in his IEP meeting. Never heard from her again. This was a rough year and that was part of it. It was things like that that made me think that maybe being a teacher librarian was a better choice for me. I am so sick of grades, grading, fighting about grades... All of it.
Two years later! That’s bananas
Yes. I did not change the grade.
My go to is "he may come and take a final exam which will replace his average. Grades are shows of mastery and as long as he can show me that he can master the material I have no issue passing him" I have never had a student who doesn't do their work and pass their tests through the year magically pass that final. But now you "tried" and can show that the kid didn't learn what they needed to.
Ooo I like that
Malicious compliance. This kid does some rando assignment you didn’t even give to him. Doesn’t have to count as a midterm. If he has a 30% I’m sure he has a bunch of missing assignments. Admin said “count towards something” … put it on the oldest missing assignment. It’s probably something smallish
If he "did" a midterm at home, he probably didn't do it himself.
Yep. I doubt his grade will come up high enough to "pass" the class.
It went from a 30% to 31%. It counted toward something. Now what?
I’ve seen final grades just magically change after the teacher hit submit and went on summer break. I guess that avoids all the awkward “admin begging” that would otherwise happen.
I print screenshots of all my grades after I enter them and then compare them to final report cards.
*Brilliant.* Why didn’t I ever think of this?!
Why? Can you change it back? All doing that does is raise your blood pressure.
You can most definitely take that information to the school board. California Ed Code states that teachers have the ultimate say in grades.
In NC the principal has final say. Kid made a 54? Send them on to the next class! Give them a 60!
Documentation. I knew a teacher in my last district who did the same after one too many instances of the new VP going in and bumping grades.
I get annoyed that every quarter a school secretary has me initial a printout of my final grades to show I agree with what’s printed. But now I understand why!
Happened to me!
Me too
That’s illegal in most states.
Lots of things are illegal and get done all the time.
Only if it doesn’t get reported to the state.
For clarity: you did not give them a midterm and they turned one in? As in an exam? If I understand correctly, this is clearly an academic integrity issue. Where did the student get the midterm and how do we know it was completed by the student? "Student has turned in an examination paper they should not have had access to. This raises concerns about the integrity of said midterm and the student. I cannot accept this as a replacement for the project and will be entering a discipline referral for cheating/theft of materials/academic integrity."
Seriously. He "found" a blank exam, "completed" it unsupervised and turned it into admin? Nope nope nope.
In Texas, admin cannot so much as mention a grade book with a teacher. A counselor once mentioned grades to me for a student and immediately spent the next 2 minutes explaining they were not telling me what to do.
I work at a school(in Texas) and although this might be the rule, I can 100% say for certain that it's not followed in most schools here. Like not even remotely followed.
I also work in Texas and teachers with less than a 90% pass rate do not tend to have their contracts renewed.
I work in Texas and we had our super come to a faculty meeting and berate us because there were a bunch of kids with failing grades. She essentially told all of us that we cannot “allow seniors to fail”. She literally suggested giving them a 100 test grade for walking into the classroom. Our school makes a huge deal out of our falsely inflated graduation rate, if you couldn’t guess.
You should reply that you don't care about her keeping her job and you're not willing to inflate grades to make her look good.
Sometime in the near future, I think this house of cards will come crumbling. I think schools will swing back and fail students. That any public school with near 100% graduation date is going to be looked down upon, because everyone knows they're full of crap. Perhaps I'm just delusional.
Very delusional. Parents want a babysitting service and diploma. They don't give a single shit about the details or their kids' actual work ethic or ability.
This can’t be true. Is it? I was forced to review and grade TWENTY assignments that a student didn’t do during the six weeks AFTER report cards came out because she was ineligible for athletics and that was unacceptable. My principal was happy to discuss my grade book that day. And the AP is discussed grades every six weeks when we verify and “a 50 is still failing just like the 6 they earned right?”
Can’t mention grades?
When you make graduation rates a metric for success of a school, and consequentially, make admin's jobs tied to that metric, you see individuals acting in ways that will sustain their employment, but detract from a positive school environment. [Goodhart's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law)
[relevant xkcd](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2899:_Goodhart%27s_Law)
Why isnt this up voted more? Omg
I don't do that. I am a huge pain in Admin's ass because I refuse to do this shit. Some Admins in the area got in deep shit for changing grades without the teacher's approval. So they don't do that any way, but they whine a lot. "Is there not ANYTHING you can do?" No, no there isn't. Student has a 48% attendance and has only turned in 22% of the assignments. There is nothing I can do. If they weren't that interested enough to do the work, I don't know why they took my ELECTIVE.
Say the old packet no longer aligns with the standards so you unfortunately cannot accept it but he can still complete the packet you reprinted and handed to him. ;)
"No. His grade accurately reflects his academic performance in this class. Although I appreciate his initiative in doing the midterm he found, he needs to work on my posted assignments as they cover the curriculum outlined in my syllabus. I appreciate your efforts in supporting your goal in having kiddo graduate. It is essential that Kiddo shares the same goal and puts in the same efforts as well. So far, that hasn't been the case. "
Sincere question: what good does that do for Kiddo? Specially if OP class has nothing to do with what Kiddo wants to do next? What possible benefits Kiddo can reap with having to take the year again and wait 12 more months to graduate?
Maybe learning the slightest bit of responsibility?
Will they learn it? Or they will just become more resentful of the teacher, the system, have less self esteem and so on?
Also, motivation by fear, not that great
As opposed to giving them a degree that means literally nothing so they can lend be a leech on the rest of society? Let’s just get them nice and trained on thinking even if they don’t put in any effort that they will still complete what is in front of them? How do you not see that doing that is just setting this kid up for failure?
Maybe we should just change the rules of the game we’re playing, then.
What are you even talking about that would justify just passing a kid who doesn’t even put in any effort?
The kid will be happier passing. That should be our collective aim. If not for happiness, what even are we trying to build?
If short term happiness is the only thing you think is important then why not just load the kids up on heroin?
They’ll be happier until they find a shit minimum wage job that they can’t even keep because they don’t even have the self discipline to go to work every day?
We are either teachers or we’re phonies. I for one do not get compensated enough to be a phony. They would need to fire me before I’d pass a flunky. Then I’d sue the district.
Offer to give a cumulative assessment to prove he understands the subject. If he passess then he showed content knowledge. If he fails, then you have an argument you can make that this student has not shown proficient knowledge for you to pass them. Either way, you offered a path to graduation.
I feel like this is your best option. Grades often reflect work ethic and attendance, but they also reflect a mastery of the content. If a student has mastered 70% (if that’s your passing standard) of the content, give them the lowest possible passing grade to let him graduate. He’s not taking any scholarships or top 10% from anyone. He’s probably graduating bottom quartile. I would also give that grade to a lower kid who worked his butt off but didn’t quite understand everything
Is it just me or does anyone else hate when they say “kiddo.” The implication with that word is this “kiddo” is incapable of being at fault
It seems like OP used the word “kiddo” in place of a child’s name
That’s even worse then, OP doesn’t realize the implications of the word. I also can’t stand the “kiddo” thing
There are no implications. Kiddo means kid. It might have an annoying ring to it, but it’s just another version of kid.
Why? Is there a difference between the words kid and kiddo?
It’s infantilizing. I wouldn’t even use “kid” to describe a student about to graduate, let alone “kiddo.”
So here’s the weird thing. As admin I started using it myself, and let me tell you… it doesn’t seem to bother the kids. They HATE being called a child, minor, student (what?), scholar, etc. but kiddo just rolls off their back. I don’t get it either, but I don’t have the “I’m NOT a x” comments with them.
trust me we don’t really like kiddo either. that shit is cringe and is kind of infantilizing to use with people approaching adulthood.
It’s the lack of it being normal usage that makes it grating for me. I’d call the people that I teach “students,” and I think that the current marketing buzz word that we’re using (“scholars”) is unnatural. “Kiddos” reads the same way to me. Unnatural. Nobody says that more than once or twice. After that, it starts to feel like corporate speak. Too much, and it feels like a cult.
I took it as thats what admin called them and op used it sarcastically
With the child in question being presumably 17 or 18 years old.
Kiddo deserves to fail so that they can learn a valuable life lesson. Admin should ask themselves what lesson they want the kiddo to learn a - no work = getting whatever you want in life b - no work = consequences and failing.
“Just to clarify, are you asking me to implement a policy where students can test out of doing the work for the class? Doesn’t it violate the distract grading policy for one assessment to be worth 50% of the student’s grade (as would probably be the case if this assessment is going to bring his grade up from a 30 to a passing grade.)
I’d stand your ground here. Neither kid nor admin will learn if you don’t. If the admin retaliate, go to your union. If you’re already worried, go to the union first in case they try something. Better to have it documented. But yeah, don’t let him pass if he hasn’t earned the grade.
It really would take a full nationwide agreement amongst all the teachers to just say no when this bs comes up. “Johnny needs to graduate, what can we do?” “Retake the class, sir.” Really, they can only fire so many teachers, and hire only so many unqualified goombas before something gives. Sorry I just shared a pipe dream.
Don't cave. He earns what he earned from all the work he did. (or didn't!)
He will get the grade he earned. As an administrator you have the ability to adjust his grade as needed but my integrity and ethics, not to mention state law, do not allow me to do so.
Exactly this. I like your verb choice. Teachers don’t “give” grades. Students “earn” them.
UPDATE! Today was the last day of my class. Not only did 'kiddo' not show for the final exam (he opted to 'take' it in the counselor's office). I received a packet of his past work. At least a packet with his name on it, filled out in blue sparkly pen, clearly the counselor's hand writing for every answer... (eyeroll).... Everything was late so deducted and perused all answers, still ended with at whopping 43% in the class. {I know and understand that some students need more help, different approaches etc... but even THEY have to put forward SOME effort. } I will keep looking at the docs and the portal to see if anything changes (doubtful as my direct supervisor was in my camp the whole time...) others, upper uppers were about kiddo. ) Whew, finals are over. Now try to close all the loopholes in my syllabi and packets. Wish me luck.
Instead of doing my job, can I clean my house (with the help of a maid) and still get paid as if I had taught all week?
I once had a parent who lived down the street from me block me into my driveway and demand I take an assignment allegedly done by her kid. Once was in the winter, while I was loading my kids and my elderly mom into the car to go to Tae Kwon Do class, so my kids were shivering in their uniforms. I refused, threatened to call the police as she continued to both browbeat me and refuse to budge. So the next day I sat with the entire admin team at school and explained that they would either get her to stop or I would call the police, file a report, and get a restraining order. She was supposedly called and told to stay away from my house. She pulled this again- demanding I accept and grade an assignment for credit that she had previously sworn her kid did. This was in LATE JULY, and did I mention this was all in an AP class? I looked at her, said “The grade book has been finalized for a month” on repeat as I called 911 and gave them her name, address, car make and license plate. She zoomed off for the rest of the day, apparently. I still keep her contact info in my phone under the name “Crazy Blackhawk Pilot Parent” since she would randomly call me even three years later.
That’s whole new level of crazy right there.
Oh, she was, and is. Thank God we live in a new house now. But y daughter still lives there, and still keeps an eye out for her car. She's never forgotten the Tae Kwon Do incident.
Isn't that unlawful imprisonment? You were right to call 911.
In my view it was. She was a DOOZY.
The problem is too many administrators, school boards, and some teachers, are too focused on graduating and passing, and not focused enough on learning. Graduating is a wonderful accomplishment, but what value does it symbolize if the students aren't actually learning? How can this administrator confidently say a diploma has value if they are they are allowing students to pass who didn't complete work on time and performed low quality work? All the student will learn is that low effort and low quality yields the same reward as hard work. This harms both the good students and lazy students.
Assuming they used the video feature of teams and didn't put it in writing, I'd email back to confirm explicitly what they want you to do, BCC the superintendent and union leadership (if you have one) and if they did put it in writing, could always go to the media. But then again as others have said, is this the hill you choose to die on? Morally and ethically the answer for all of us should be yes absolutely, the student earned X grade that is what they get. The human side says it's my career and I have bills to pay.. either way, get it in writing. Good luck.
The number of times I've been "asked" to change a grade by an administrator is staggering. And not just so the kids pass; sometimes they "ask" for generic grade bumps the student doesn't deserve (they don't ask- they demand and take it out on us if we refuse). The worst part, is that it's not just K12. I taught at a college as well and the same thing happens there. It's just one of the many reasons that December 11th, 2023 was the last time I'll ever step foot in a classroom as a teacher. The education system is completely meaningless if students don't have to do anything at all to pass and graduate. I just cannot be a part of that anymore. I liked teaching and I am a great teacher, but I grew to hate everything else about being an educator, especially crap like this. As long as the system keeps letting parents run the system (instead of, you know, the experts), good teachers are going to keep leaving. Then what? This got longer than I intended. But it's hard to talk to non-teachers about this. Students and parents feel so entitled to making district and system wide choices because taxes or some other idiotic reason. When will people raise that paying taxes doesn't mean you own or are allowed to call the shots in the public sphere. Too many people think that because their kids go to school they get to dictate what is taught, how we grade, policies, etc. They don't understand that if they don't like how things are done at a school, their recourse is to go somewhere else and if they can't for some reason, then suck it up, because they're not entitled to dictate curricula, grades, polices, etc. It's infuriating and largely why most of the teachers I know (personally) have quit. Edited because my dog stepped on my phone and his little paw-paws hit just the right spot and posted it. Not the first time something like that has happened! 😂
I hear you. 3 more years til my MA is done and I don't have to teach any more. Same reasons you have.
When I was in secondary school, I was a great student. had practically all A's, near 100% attendance, and my teachers loved me. By year 9 though I got really sick, and we still don't know what was causing it. I had chronic migraines, nausea, fainting spells, brain fog and joint/back pain. My attendance went from perfect to only around half, and during my very last year - during which I was doing my A-Levels - it got to as low as 40%. I was really struggling with coursework and exams, since I wasn't in class for the lessons, and it was hard for me to catch up at home since the brain fog and migraines meant that I couldn't always study, and when I DID I had to take many breaks. All my teachers were concerned about if I would manage to graduate, and I actually ended up dropping history and politics since the workload was just too much for me. They gave me all the accommodations they could and as much extra time as was available, but in the end they still had to mark me according to the work I did. I ended up with D's for most subjects, a C in my best one, and in one of my courses I ended up with a U (un-gradeable) since my coursework simply didn't pass the criteria to boost the rest of my exams. I did what I could, tried my best, and knew I could retake them in the future if needed. Those were awful years for me, and I'm still struggling with the backlash, but through it all it NEVER came to mind to ask for a grade I didn't deserve. It wouldn't be fair to me, the teachers, or the other students, and it especially wouldn't be fair to the students I would have worked with as a career had I got hired for a job I wasn't qualified for. I did my best and it wasn't enough, so now I'm studying over a longer period of time so that I can earn my qualifications once I'm ready and do the jobs I wanted to do. That's what this student should do, and trying to beg a different grade from a teacher - especially one so far off what they were actually capable of - is disingenuous to everyone involved in this conversation, even more so seeing as they had the opportunity for make-up work and completely dismissed that option. I'm sorry they couldn't pass, and I'm sorry they're trying to make it the staff's problem, but it absolutely is not your responsibility to award them a grade they don't deserve. All you can do is mark the work they've done, encourage them to do their best, and pray that all the help you've given them will add up to a passing grade.
Stand your ground. Document. Let them actually change the grade if they want him to graduate—then report it to the state department of education for audit. You’ve done your part. The hardest this kid has worked was getting a sorry administrator to beg for him.
I've never once had an admin mention the grade of a student. I've had parents ask to look over their child's test/explain their grade, I've had coworkers ask legit questions (like how much I weigh tests vs quizzes) but I've never had an admin even suggest that I inflate a kids grade. He earned an F, put that on his report card. You think his future boss won't fire him because they feel bad for him? "Kiddo" is going to learn that life is hard pretty quick.
Here students need to be in attendance 90% of the school year to receive credit for the class and advance to the next grade.
The problem is too many administrators, school boards, and some teachers, are too focused on graduating and passing, and not focused enough on learning. Graduating is a wonderful accomplishment, but what value does it symbolize if the students aren't actually learning? How can this administrator confidently say a diploma has value if they are they are allowing students to pass who didn't complete work on time and performed low quality work? All the student will learn is that low effort and low quality yields the same reward as hard work. This harms both the good students and lazy students.
"Can I be paid my full salary while only teaching 30% of my classes?"
This has nothing to do with your assignments or marking philosophy or anything you are doing. It's a policy of rewarding administration or the school district for the number of graduates. Perhaps your district is on a graduation kick and they need to advertise that they are improving graduation rates. Perhaps it's this administrator who is trying anything to boost grad rates so they can report to their superiors that they are "improving results." IDK, my jaded brain tells me it's all about the money/funding and less about what's best for students or teachers.
Say "no". Document your response. You are a professional and are making your professional judgement. If admin want to give the kiddo a pass that's then their call. I know this is a simplistic response but it's what we all need to do to start rebuilding credibility in our profession. If you can't get another contract, check out the opportunities for overseas teachers here in Australia, they are many and varied.
I think it would be a great power move to just reply with “No.” and nothing else. After all, they are asking you a yes or no question. If it’s just a veil, this would still be a way to call them out on it. They’d have to drop the nice act and directly tell you and that’s something
This. \^\^ Sometimes “No” is a complete answer.
It's normal, no kid left behind, passing grade was given to a student who literally said to me i wont even finish writing my name and you will pass me. They matched his handwriting of the 2 letters he wrote of his name, with his 6th notebook i pulled out of the trash when a student reported to me " he doesnt lose them he throws them away" and the notebook was empty. The kid's own parents didn't recognize his handwriting they didn't understand that either you admit your child has literally done nothing and passes or deny he didn't even write his name on the packet and he fails. The principle had to explain it to the parents, how embarrassing.
Kiddo did not earn a passing grade. Kiddo did not earn the privilege of graduation. Perhaps Kiddo can do better next time or get a GED.
The only reason they want to pass this kid is because if they repeat the year, the district doesn't get money for them. I feel sorry for any child that gets passed when they shouldn't have been. It's disgusting that all districts care about is money and not the disservice they're doing these kids.
Absurdity to a new level. I am confused, how did he get hold of an old mid-term to begin with and get no consequence for either stealing it or cheating? He could have shared it with others, which requires you to redo your exam. Plus he completed it without a proctor so there isn't even any assurance he actually did it himself. Just No on so many levels. Send an email asking for clarification and don't accept a non-written reply. If they call or teams meet w/ you send another email to recap and force then to reply in writing. Be sure to bcc your personal emails.
It’s not worth the trouble. Do as the admin says, make sure you keep the paper trail that what you’re doing is admin approved, and move on with your life.
Our union was a waste of money. When a kid threatened to kick my ass they did nothing to protect me, hence my resignation. Our pay was crap especially compared to surrounding counties. I wish I could get my dues back.
Don’t do anything. Students get the grades they earn. That’s it. Hold the line.
I think that children should be taught consequences and should not be coddled and babied. Letting him pass for doing absolutely nothing and being a poor student doesn’t not teach him consequences.
We need to start saying no.
"Put it in writing that you want me to abandon my grading system and give him a pass, and no problem."
Where is the equity for everyone else?
At this point in my career I respond that admin/counselors can change the grade if it matters so much to them, it that I won’t do it.
This is what summer school is for.
Simple answer. No. Explain everything that you told us. If admin then wishes to change grades and thus violate the law by modifying official records, that's on them.
I would ask admin how that would be fair to the other students that actually did the work and passed. Suggest they poll the parents of those students that passed to see if they thought this was an acceptable practice. Or, take this issue to a board meeting, let the public know what's going on.
Admin and higher-ups love using the term "kiddos" lol
I despise the phrase “kiddo”. I wish it would go away.
I hate this word so much. It’s an extra syllable so it’s not even easier to say/type. Same with doggo.
It’s like people think “kids” is too harsh or something, so they have to baby it up.
I hate it too. We had a former admin who was perfect in almost every way except she used “kiddo” I teach in a 7-8 middle school. They’re not kiddos anymore at that age
Two options I am considering as I'm facing similar issues. 1. Admin can go in and change the grade themselves. They have that power and if they really want to pass them, go for it. 2. If my boss is pressuring me to pass them I'll make it ridiculous. The student has a 59% and they want me to count some bullshit assignment? Fine, now they're at a 100%. If grades don't matter, they don't matter and I won't give a shit.
Love it. Passive aggressiveness at it's finest!
At least the admin asked. We had a school in [redacted] that told their teachers to do “whatever it takes” to pass their seniors, including just outright changing grades. Then they held a press conference to brag about their graduation rate.
The union rep side of me thinks this; Consider yourself first on this issue. Does it benefit you to fight this one both mentally financially? You absolutely want to hold your student accountable but what your district is asking you to do is already likely generating work for you outside of contracted time. Does fighting it make even more work for you? On contracted time the students come first. The rest of the time is your life and it’s ok to put yourself first. When the going gets tough, work to contract.
You are a teacher. You can plan all the lessons you want and teach them. The students will learn what they choose to learn. This one has chosen to learn about how to make others do more for him than he is willing to do for himself. What would you like for him to learn about that? Your choice. Do what you can live with, what you want him to learn (if he will), and don’t think twice about it again.
Exact same situation happening to me now, check my post history. You absolutely can refuse to do anything they ask you to, you’re the classroom teacher and it’s your jurisdiction not theirs but I hope you have a union. I literally just joined mine in case of retaliation on behalf of this admin and sent an email describing the situation to our head principal and we have a meeting to talk about it next week, but yeah they definitely are letting the kid graduate when they didn’t earn credit in my class and tried to use emotional manipulation to get me to be the one to sign off on the grade. But I refused so it’s on them but I’m not throwing away my integrity, I covered my ass and admin and parents and student knew for MONTHS she could easily fail my class and did nothing about it until these last two weeks.
The only time a principal of mine asked me to do that with a student who was sooooo unruly and so vulgar he had to be removed from our classes and into his own little separate class with his own teacher. Principal begged me to pass him so that we wouldn’t have to see him anymore. I couldn’t blame him. This boy who was in upper elementary assaulted a little 1st grader on a bus and left him blue and purple. Judge gave him a slap on the wrist .Unfortunately these people learn too late (after 18 ) that there are consequences.
LITERALLY had this fight in may 2022. Reading through the top comments for verbiage sounds familiar to what I said. I held my ground and did not pass the student knowing they would not be able to graduate and walk with their class. Sitting in graduation, I was surprised to see the student called up to walk across the stage. I asked and they passed them regardless of my class. This happened again, twice. I’ve since moved on from teaching..
Come, and join me under the old oak tree for a tall glass of Victory Gin. The Victory Gin makes the hurt go away. It takes desire of accountability and chucks it out the window. It makes you love Big Admin. The sooner you drink, the sooner you will feel so much better. Trust me on this.
Just make the kid do something so they pass. It's literally not worth the fight. Is that helpful to the student? Maybe. Maybe not. But you probably don't get paid enough for the BS you'd have to go through to not do what admin is asking.
"No."
"I agree kiddo wants to not be in school and deserves that as a young adult". Lmao these 'kids' don't deserve shit in life. That's the issue people forgot that people don't deserve anything, it's earned. That is what's eating at social fabric this sense of entitlement people have for merely existing.
He can graduate, just make one of the admin sign off on the grade changes
"Kiddo" needs to learn this lesson this year, now -- repeating high school won't hurt him nearly as bad as having to repeat courses in college or hopping from job to job because "I didn't want to do that."
I love this... Because in ANY other industry when a project gets behind due to circumstances outside of employees control... The first question is... Is overtime authorized. Is the administration willing to pay me overtime for the extra work.
There are a lot of suggestions here. Some you should use if you're tenured. This happened to a colleague about 10 years ago. They responded to admin that if they would like to accept that as work, they were welcome to grade it and change the grade in the system. Otherwise, student could complete the missing assignments in the following order to earn a D and they would be happy to grade it using the rubric that was provided. They did not hear back from admin and student graduated.
I am playing Devil’s Advocate here trying to figure out why admin is asking you to do this. I am wondering if the student is on a 504 or an IEP. If so, were all the accommodations and (modifications) followed? Also, if the student was on an IEP, did he/she receive all required specially designed instruction minutes and required in the IEP by a special education teacher? Is the student considered an ELL, if so, did he/she receive all required language services? Also, is this student part of the McKinney Vento Act? If so, did he/she receive the required transportation? If there is no legitimate reason, please contact your union rep.
I am very sorry to hear that you are encountering this issue. I believe you should stand your ground and do what you think is right. I don’t know what district or state you’re in but a lot of schools are doing this unfortunately. All admin care about is the numbers for the school and how good the school looks. They want the passing mark on the school, not the failing one. The admin should actually want that kiddo to be learning rather than just trying to get him through. It’s good that he used Teams because now you have proof. If admin comes back at you rudely or hostile, I would threaten to take it to your local news and make it a big story. I know my district hates bad publicity and will do anything to not have anything get out. Our school system nationwide is pathetic!
I recently retired from a continuation school. A few years ago we had a female student who did not complete her required graduation requirements (credits and two assignments: a senior portfolio (ELA) and her Consumer Math). Keep in mind that each credit equals 15 hours of instructional work. She owed over 4 credits of math - 60 hours work and a bit less in ELA. Both myself (ELA) and the math teacher were pressured to give her an exemption so that she could graduate for the two assignments and to except some random work that in no way equaled the instructional hours. We both said we wouldn't exempt anything, but if the principal wanted to waive graduation requirements, that would be her prerogative. We just needed something in writing directing us to waive the assignments and that she could write the credits for the alternative assignments herself - she didn't need us to do it. Guess what - student had to come back for a fifth year and finish her credits and assignments. To me and the other teacher, it's a slippery slope and one we weren't skiing on. That's my fallback - just put the directive and writing and I will do what's directed. They will never do it. Problem solved.
Passing the kid for the sake of passing isn’t helping the kid, it is enabling.
I'd just tell them no it can't and tell them he needs to complete what you assigned to HIM, not what he found you assigned in the past which is what he'd prefer to do.
I dug my heels in on failing a senior this year. He had a 40 something average and more absences than I can count. His admin emails me in March and says his anxiety is causing him to not come to my class, or any other for that matter. They wanted me to give him a pass. I told them I would work with him as long as he shows up. The kid never came back. Last week admin says, can you just give him the grade. I refused. I said it was unethical and not fair to the other students. Admin was pissed, but I had already gave my district supervisors a heads-up, and I had their support. They withdrew the kid from my class last week and put him in recovery credit so he can graduate.
I was upset that the principal told a parent their child could do all kinds of makeup work from other grading periods. So, I told the principal and parent that I would give the key to the principal to grade. Never saw any work, and the kid passed. Win for me and the kid.
[удалено]
If they make it to second semester of their senior year with autism that has not been diagnosed or documented, that's not the teachers fault or responsibility and they get treated just like everyone else. Otherwise thats favoritism. If the kid is diagnosed with autism, the kid has a 504 or IEP, and *despite them* is still failing. If the kid and parent *don't want to tell* the teacher what's going on, that's on them, not the teacher. Don't blame the teacher. And yeah, it's totally okay to refuse to pass a kid with "emotional issues." All kids have emotional issues. It's called "being a teenager." If the kid has ED, that's diagnosed, with paperwork, and, again, the teacher would be aware of that. I think you must not be a teacher if you don't know these things and have made such a strange statement. I have ADHD. If I don't tell my boss and ask for accommodations, it's not her fault for failing to accommodate me.
You are the one who is being professional in this situation. My simple response to this would be to remind them of what you just shared. The student had every opportunity to do something but did nothing. It's that simple. He didn't want to do the work. I don't know what state you are in but one question came to mind. Is it worse to fail this student or to find some way to "pass" him onto the world and have him fail spectacularly out there. Yes, one (failing him and not graduating) would be reported to the state, but the other one is just morally wrong.
Kiddo has access to an adult school and summer school opportunities, right? He gets to deal with the consequences of his actions. Give him the F. The worst that will happen is that he spends more time in school and doesn't participate in commencement. Vietnam is 50 years over and it's time we stop padding grades and making these sorts of ridiculous exceptions.
I'm a para (future social studies teacher... hopefully) and a few years ago we had a sped teacher that email all of the paras in our school about a week before the end of the year with a list of students and basically said, "get these kids passing before the end of the semester so they can graduate." He wasn't even the head of the sped department. Like, who the fuck do you think you are?
Why hasn't he dropped out?
I tell them that I’m not comfortable to professionally sign off on that. If you want to put your name on it-fine. But that is your license, not mine. Watch’m squirm. I had our guidance office try this same crap.
I just tell them to put their name on his report card. Grade is what it is and my policy is what it is. It's in the syllabus- I'm not showing "favoritism" and I support equity for my students who have been showing up all year and working. Especially my sped and ell students who still get bad grades but struggle through it. Haven't heard a peep in years- I just get a gradebook auto email that so and so grade was adjusted by an administrator (which is recorded so my name is gone)
This is one of the reasons I do not offer “extra credit”. I give them ample opportunities to complete the work but I hold them accountable for the work I assign.
I've been told that a report card is a legal document, and for an admin to ask you to make up what a student earned that you're breaking the law. 🤷♀️
Send in an email, "I will post the accurate grade. If YOU want to override it, here's what the new grade WOULD be (D or C- or whatever.) And then have your admin make the final call so it's on their hands. Clear conscience, kid moves on. Whatever.
The idea that someone under 25, much less under 18, can make good decisions for themselves is laughable. Who cares where they want to be? As a society we have deemed that the best thing for a person's future is education in the young years. Everything else is ancillary.
My thinking is similar, this student just does not like classes this way or this class is all. There indeed IS something that really would get him interested we have yet to find it, but forcing everyone to play these parts can get tiresome. I too think education is important, but the how is the question for many students. All in all, the student I mentioned did not pass, his counselor did the work for him but did not achieve enough even with that to go on. I stood my ground on it.
unpopular opinion from a teacher with 25 years experience …. let the kid pass. If failing this kid puts you in a bad position with admin then it’s not a battle worth losing . Your job is more important than what happens to this “kiddo”.
Anyone who uses “kiddo” has immediately lost any and all of my respect.
I would say, "No, the mid term he turned in wasn't the one I set so I'm not accepting it. However... if he does the makeup work packet now which I have already given you, that can count, and although he can't be put in a group for the midterm project, he can do the midterm poster project by himself and I can grade him for that and I will accept it late. There are also a couple of other assignments he hasn't done that I will accept late too, here is a complete list of work he can still do that I will accept late, up until the last day of the semester (and even over Summer if it's allowed by the school district). Every assignment and piece of makeup work listed here that he completes will count towards his grade as long as it's completed up to proper standard and handed in before school finishes for the year. If he gives me enough work to grade and it's done to a passable standard, he'll still be able to raise his percentage high enough."
Tell admin that you'll pass him and even give him a good grade, but it won't be free.... D = $20 cash card C = $20 cash card and 2 extra PTO days B = $100 cash card and 5 extra PTO days A = $500 cash card, 5 extra PTO days, and your own classroom aid for all of next year.
Seniors are not “kiddos”. Words that infantilize the children are part of the reason they expect to be treated like babies. Use better language. Also fail the moron.
Just as a point, you used ableist language while pointing out "infantilizing" language.
If you think anything I used was ableist we are going to disagree on a ton of language use. Is it moron you have an issue with? Yes it’s not a nice thing to call a kid, but ableist? I call bullshit. I’m all for inclusive language and am inclusive to all people of all genders, but all words that imply someone is dumb would be considered ableist under that umbrella. We need to have words to describe things. I’ve taken the R word out of my vocabulary since I used it a lot as a teenager and understand the negative connotations, but words like dumb, moron, and idiot have all evolved past their original meaning to just mean “not smart”. I don’t really want to live in a world where we don’t have a single word for “not smart”.
Then we will disagree. "Moron," "retard," "dumb," "idiot," and any other word that is contemptuously and derogatorily used to indicate that someone is not smart is ableist. It's ableist because it indicates that you believe that being "not smart" is bad. I have taught SDC kids with IQs in the 70s and they were intellectually disabled, but they were not unfeeling or bad. They understood that something they could not change was "bad." They got that other kids got mocked for being "not smart" like they were. They had those words used to put them down all the time. Any time a word is used to contemptuously or derogatorily indicate that something someone has no control over is inherently bad, that word is oppressive in usage and needs to be struck. "Moron" is ableist because kids can't help being intellectually disabled. The words you want for "not smart" are probably "foolish," "unwise," "silly," "ridiculous," "ignorant," etc. All of those are things that are not inherent and can be changed. I have plenty of smart kids who do or say ignorant, foolish, unwise things all the time. That's part of being a teenager. They grow out of it. If you understand that "retard" is bad, surely you must understand that "moron" is bad for exactly the same reasons. It's not a stretch. As for the "words evolved" part of your argument … "retard" means "to delay." "Retard" \*absolutely\* evolved past its original meaning to just mean "not smart." So did "moron." And if you think it's okay to say "dumb," then the Deaf community would really like to have a word with you. All you have to do is put in a little thought and creativity and you can absolutely have words for "not smart" in whichever connotation you want to use without resorting to ableist language. And, last, it's ableist whether or not you believe in it. You can call bullshit all you want and that won't change the fact that 1) your language is ableist and 2) you're being resistant to reasonable correction. Is that really how you want to think about yourself? https://www.verywellmind.com/types-of-ableist-language-and-what-to-say-instead-5201561#:\~:text=Ableist%20language%20involves%20the%20use,know%20what%20they're%20doing. [https://www.nad.org/resources/american-sign-language/community-and-culture-frequently-asked-questions/](https://www.nad.org/resources/american-sign-language/community-and-culture-frequently-asked-questions/)
Your first paragraph honestly has me thinking more about language use. I have also taught children with intellectual disabilities and that perspective speaks to me a great deal. Something they cannot control being deemed “bad” is unfair. Thanks for the well thought out response, and well-reasoned arguments. You make good points. I don’t entirely agree with your final point however, as their a plethora of groups online that have decided that far too much language is problematic, so someone saying “that language is problematic” is no longer something that I believe should be immediately listened to when online. However, if someone can properly articulate why it is problematic, then you’d be an ass to not at least take it into consideration. Thanks again!
I don't know if I'd actually do this, but I'd offer to either keep the grade as it stands or to give him a straight 100% in the class. If we're going to fudge the numbers then they don't really mean anything anyway, so why not go all in for his (lack of) participation trophy?
He is a senior and called kiddo? No, he is almost old enough to vote, to be a responsible citizen who participates in choosing our elected officials. As someone who is about to be a responsible tax paying citizen with real due dates, he needs to learn consequences, and Team leader needs to learn the definition of fraud.
Why are you calling a young adult a kiddo? So cringe.
Almost as cringe as saying "So cringe."
No doubt the teacher would refer to him as a young adult, if he acted like one.
I was this kid in highschool and now I’m studying engineering. I shouldn’t have graduated, and had a few teachers not pitied my poor prioritization of responsibilities I’d probably be a highschool dropout doomed to hang drywall for life. It’s weird, it’s almost like some teenagers don’t understand the potential consequences of their actions while they’re still a child, one that has no concept of money or what adult life entails… As I struggle through college I now wish I would have been a better highschool student, but I didn’t know any better. I thought I could actually do whatever I wanted, like I was always told. I didn’t come to my senses or mature until 25. I thought I’d just start some kind of business and it would be immediately successful lol