creekland Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Ok, I have a new problem that I'd appreciate any thoughts on. Youngest is in Alg 2. I try to remain distant with his "class," but of course, help at home as any parent should. They had a test last week. He got 100% on his test. I checked his grade today, saw the 100%, but saw it was listed as classwork instead of a test. Classwork only counts for 10% of a grade. Tests count for 40%. I thought it was a mistake on the teacher's part and suggested he tell the teacher about it tomorrow so it could be fixed. He tells me the rest of the class did poorly on the test, so the teacher opted to count it as classwork instead of a test. As a 'test' grade, it would have brought an 85% (his first test score) up to a 92.5% to count as 40% of his grade. As classwork it just brought his 94% up to 96% (kept an A an A). This means he has a B overall instead of an A- and hardly counts at all. I'm annoyed that my guy is being punished due to everyone else doing poorly. Would you do anything? (Besides pulling out to homeschool which I'd love to do, but can't.) We're going to calculate (together) out the difference in his grade if it were done correctly, but I'm not sure he wants to make waves asking about it. Should I? Would you? (Remember, you work there and you sort of need to keep your job.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Would your son be disappointed or resentful if he didn't at least discuss it with his teacher? I think it's a reasonable request. At the very least, it would be a good exercise in asserting himself respectfully. No harm in trying, I'd think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 There is no final for this class - or any other math class. The kids wouldn't do well if there were a final. That would require them to know what they are doing. As soon as they finish a chapter they throw things out for the old chapter and start the new one. Each test has elements from the previous chapter on it (spiral), but there's no final. There's also never a curve. This is my aspie guy, so confrontation can be an issue, but we worked through the difference in his grade together last night (88 -> 92 or B+ -> A-) and he's going to ask about it today. We've talked about what to say. We'll see what happens. I'm not expecting miracles. It's far better for the bottom to come up than for the top to be up in this district's eyes. Since I'd really like him to not only be rewarded for studying and knowing the material, but also to have a decent GPA for merit aid when college time comes around, I think I'm going to have to put on my "mom" role if he can't get anywhere and potentially ditch my "loved math sub" role. I've already been losing the latter anyway as I complain too much about the curriculum (and change how it's presented when I'm in), so what's one more brick on the camel. :glare: It was far easier not to care when it wasn't my own kid involved. Hubby has already been doing most of his engineering work in SC and HI. We had said we wouldn't move until youngest was out of school. There are many things that make it tempting to do sooner, except that I don't know that the schools would be any better or that youngest would opt back to homeschooling over trying to make new friends in school. Making new friends as a junior in high school isn't easy either. There just doesn't seem to be a 'win' option for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Perhaps he could suggest that the teacher offer the option of each student dropping their lowest test grade for the semester, rather than this one-size-fits all approach. I had several teachers in high school and college who did that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Phew! I just checked my guy's grade (online) and it has been switched to being recorded properly. I haven't seen him yet to ask how it all went, but at least now "I" don't need to follow up or don my "mom" suit. I'm glad I spent the time going over it all (and how to approach it) with him. Sometimes I probably get too worried too soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I'm so glad to hear that the grade was recorded properly! Great news! :) Way to go to your son!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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