PS freshman problem

[Carrie12345]

Ds's school's online grading system just went live this past Friday. He is making all As and Bs except for one course... in which his current average is an F. A low F. :001_huh:

 

I have been in contact with his teacher, I've emailed his father (primary custodian) and I will be seeing him this weekend. His teacher reports that he's basically just not doing the work.

 

I told ds I'd be contacting his teacher, and he swore up and down he had no idea what the problem was. (I figured he was full of it, but now I have it in writing.)

 

 

I'm trying to gather my thoughts before he gets here, and was wondering what other people's first impressions might be.

[TranquilMind]

Ds's school's online grading system just went live this past Friday. He is making all As and Bs except for one course... in which his current average is an F. A low F. :001_huh:

 

I have been in contact with his teacher, I've emailed his father (primary custodian) and I will be seeing him this weekend. His teacher reports that he's basically just not doing the work.

 

I told ds I'd be contacting his teacher, and he swore up and down he had no idea what the problem was. (I figured he was full of it, but now I have it in writing.)

 

 

I'm trying to gather my thoughts before he gets here, and was wondering what other people's first impressions might be.

 

 

Well, if it is online, you probably have a list of assignments. He'd have to be literally doing nothing to get a low F.

 

So I'd be looking at anything he has from the class, and asking the teacher in detail what is going on.

[bettyandbob]

As someone who just got through a difficult 4 years of public high school, I can say this will take careful consideration, especially since dad and mom are not together. Dad and mom need to be together on how the issue is to be handle. Hopefully, this just requires some tweaking and your ds will get it together, now that he knows you can check up. But for us the problem got worse over 4 years. And for us a hammer would never have worked.

 

Anyway just make sure you and the dad agree and are equal in handling the response. And you may not have to do anything now. The grade book being public may be the onlyjolt your ds needs.

[Carrie12345]

Well, if it is online, you probably have a list of assignments. He'd have to be literally doing nothing to get a low F.

 

So I'd be looking at anything he has from the class, and asking the teacher in detail what is going on.

 

Well that's pretty much the case. He had told me his summer assignment wasn't handed back yet. Teacher reports the rubric was sent home, and that His assignment was mostly blank, "earning" 17/100 pts.

He's handed in about 3 out of 7 other assignments in total. (He did hand today's in.)

 

I only see him every two weeks. I supervised his summer reading and printed the assignment for him, but he was in his father's hands after that.

For the record, his father is the one who felt ds should be in school. Clearly we can see how strongly he feels. :glare:

[TranquilMind]

Well that's pretty much the case. He had told me his summer assignment wasn't handed back yet. Teacher reports the rubric was sent home, and that His assignment was mostly blank, "earning" 17/100 pts.

He's handed in about 3 out of 7 other assignments in total. (He did hand today's in.)

 

I only see him every two weeks. I supervised his summer reading and printed the assignment for him, but he was in his father's hands after that.

For the record, his father is the one who felt ds should be in school. Clearly we can see how strongly he feels. :glare:

 

Oh, wow. That's tough. Yes, Mom AND Dad definitely need to be on the same page on this. I'd be really mad that the father wasn't taking it more seriously. Maybe he will take it seriously now, seeing it in writing.

[Carrie12345]

Oh, wow. That's tough. Yes, Mom AND Dad definitely need to be on the same page on this. I'd be really mad that the father wasn't taking it more seriously. Maybe he will take it seriously now, seeing it in writing.

 

We'll see! I'm still waiting for him to reply to my email. (I can't really converse aloud right now after getting an ambulance ride for severe respiratory distress and major bronchitis dx the other day. When it rains... lol.)

 

It really baffles me that this is the only class out of 8. He's got three a+s, for Pete's sake!!!

[Catwoman]

Not for anything, but if your son is doing well in every other class, I wouldn't be too quick to place the blame on him or his father until I knew the complete details.

 

Something just doesn't add up here, because it doesn't seem like an A-B student would be failing so dramatically in one class, while doing very well in the others.

[Carrie12345]

Ah, the summer reading assignment. First thing I would ask the teacher is if the student received instruction on how to actually complete the assignment. Then, I would ask to see the handouts or powerpoints - the one that shows how to annotate, the one that shows the format expected, the rubric etc. That would likely result in an Incomplete for my kid and some teacher assigned to give him the instruction that the previous year's teacher failed to do as the assumption here is that the parent go over the expectations with the kiddo.

 

For ex, last year my son's teacher decided to grade the summer assignment on MLA correctness and ignore everything else about it (long essay response). Guess what? My kid, along with 75% of the others, did not include a Works Cited or any references. The written assignment they were given did not specify that it was to be that kind of paper. They thought it was the usual...a roughly 5 paragraph essay. They were assuming they would be graded on everything someone is usually graded on when turning in an essay regarding lit. It took a month and the dept chair had to step in and resolve the issue.

 

Secondly, have the teacher give him detention until he is done making up his work. This will connect with him, if done right, as the realization that the teacher does want him to be a successful student.

 

Oh, I had the whole original assignment. Talked over every step with him in advance. I didn't have the grading rubric, but it wasn't all that complex an assignment in the grand scheme of things.

 

To be honest, I never thought this class would be right for him, but I succumbed to the counselor's recommendation. Trying to walk that line after homeschooling for several years... Well, let's just say I'm disappointed in myself, as well.

[justasque]

<good stuff>

:iagree:

 

Make sure that everything he thinks he handed in was received by the teacher and put into the online grading system. If there is a discrepancy, talk to boy and teacher to track down the problem.

 

Look at each assignment to see how it was graded and where he went wrong, in the teacher's eyes. See if there were missing pages, unclear directions, expectations based on previous year's work that he may have been unaware of, or assignments given in an offhand or unclear way. Speak to both teacher and child with respect and with the assumption that the child intends to do what is required but may have hit a snag - he has earned this respect with his other grades.

[Danestress]

. Well, let's just say I'm disappointed in myself, as well.

 

The greatest of boys with the best of mothers is capable of getting overwhelmed and choosing not to think about one course while doing fine on all the others.

 

I don't know what you should do. If you were the custodial parent, I would just start day by day forcing him to get those assignments done and turned in, redoing work that wasn't done well, talking to the teacher about how he can dig himself out of this hole, and holding his hand while he does it. I'm all for being "hands off" about school (my boys are also Freshmen in regular high school now), but at the point where a kid is making an F, sometimes a parent has to step in and say, "Ok, I am not willing to let you do this."

 

Since you only have him every two weeks, you might need a lighter touch. One homes that you and his father can get this discussed so you are on the same page. But if not, you have to figure out how to help you so as much as he is willing to be helped in the time that is available. I might ask the school counselor to have a regular 'sit down' with him, and I might ask the teacher if he or she has any idea what is really going on with the kid.

 

Best of luck.

[Carrie12345]

:iagree:

 

Make sure that everything he thinks he handed in was received by the teacher and put into the online grading system. If there is a discrepancy, talk to boy and teacher to track down the problem.

 

Look at each assignment to see how it was graded and where he went wrong, in the teacher's eyes. See if there were missing pages, unclear directions, expectations based on previous year's work that he may have been unaware of, or assignments given in an offhand or unclear way. Speak to both teacher and child with respect and with the assumption that the child intends to do what is required but may have hit a snag - he has earned this respect with his other grades.

 

Wish I knew how to highlight from an iPad!

 

Thank you, all. Lots to consider, and to use to prepare a list of things for him to bring tomorrow!

[GoodGrief]

My oldest went to ps for ninth grade, after homeschooling through eighth grade. This was a few years ago; she's a senior now.

 

I had a similar issue with the online grading system. Most of her grades were excellent, but there was one class where she was constantly missing assignments. The structure of the class was somewhat loose, the teacher was a little flaky (not always clear on who had turned in what, and wasn't grading assignments immediately), and my daughter was a little flaky (this is my ADD girl, and she couldn't remember what she had turned in or when she had turned it in). It was not a winning combination of factors! :-)

 

One small thing that was an issue for my previously homeschooled child: she could not remember to write her name on papers, never having been in the habit of doing so. Some of her assignments ended up "lost" for that reason, as it turned out.

[Night Elf]

My dd14's online system shows grades too, but only the ones that the teachers have put in. Some of her teachers are very lax about putting them in! My dd14's Honors English teacher is the worst offender. She only got her summer reading assignment back on Tuesday and it was handed in at least a month ago.

[jen3kids]

My dd14's online system shows grades too, but only the ones that the teachers have put in. Some of her teachers are very lax about putting them in! My dd14's Honors English teacher is the worst offender. She only got her summer reading assignment back on Tuesday and it was handed in at least a month ago.

 

My older ds just had to hand his in today! Yup, a summer assignment that wasn't due until interims! Guess when he did his? Yesterday - thank goodness for Yom Kippur!

[Chris in VA]

Just a suggestion--For major assignments, ask the teacher to sign a two-part receipt; one comes back home, which your ds should show his dad, and one stays with the teacher.

A friend had to do this because the kid was saying he turned in work but the teacher didn't see it. Turned out he was right about half the time.

[Unicorn.]

I check my kid's grades daily. The minute they get home I ask them why something is missing, or what happened that they got a certain grade on something, or tell them great job on another. They are constantly asking to check their grades. They know I'm paying attention, they know I check weekly assignments, and I don't let them get away w/ not doing the work. If they have trouble- then they go to tutorials before and after school. I will say that ds was notorious last year for forgetting to put his name on papers. I told him when we homeschooled it would bite him in the butt someday. It did. So far this year he hasn't made that mistake. :D

 

OP- talk to your ds and find out what's really going on. Maybe he just struggles. Maybe the class isn't for him and he needs to transfer out. It could be a lot of different things. If he's turning stuff in, but not getting credit, make sure he talks to teacher about nameless papers or see if he can have the teacher sign off in his agenda or notebook every time he turns stuff in. :grouphug:

[missmoe]

We had a similar problem last year with my ds math class. It was an honors class, and he didn't want to be in the class! He did his best to get dropped from the class by earning Fs on all the quizzes and tests. I would wait to talk to your son and find out what is going on.

[TranquilMind]

We'll see! I'm still waiting for him to reply to my email. (I can't really converse aloud right now after getting an ambulance ride for severe respiratory distress and major bronchitis dx the other day. When it rains... lol.)

 

It really baffles me that this is the only class out of 8. He's got three a+s, for Pete's sake!!!

 

Well, something is going on, for sure.

 

ALthough I was an excellent student and still couldn't keep up in Algebra. They just went too fast for me. I didn't have an F though! I think I got a C?

 

But this was back in the day when your GPA wasn't so important.

[bobbeym]

Well, let's just say I'm disappointed in myself, as well.

 

:grouphug:

 

Don't be disappointed in yourself. Whether you wanted him in the class or not, he needs to own up to his responsibility for turning in assignments.

 

I agree with the PPs about talking with DS and the teacher, working to find out what's still missing, help him get things better organized, and how he can make up the work. Even half credit is better than a zero.

 

We went through something similiar with our oldest DS. We had to do the same his senior year for Lit. He was constantly forgetting to turn in his papers because he was a disorganized mess.

 

Of course, this is also the kid that failed World and US History because both teachers required him to take chapter notes on what he'd read, and he refused to do so. He didn't need to take notes to remember the reading material and thus felt it was a waste of his time. Both courses ended up being retaken using PLATO and he aced them. :glare: Yes, he's the perfect example of how you really CAN fail by not doing daily work.