by Jane Morris
“I had a mom who was pissed off that she would have to get up and get out of bed to bring her child to school because we reported her for truancy. I teach 5th grade and the child had failed twice already yet No Child Left Behind says she better pass that test and now my pay is tied to it.”
“A parent screamed at me for not being able to cure her child's (imagined) disability. When I suggested she speak to our Special Ed. department she yelled, ‘She ain’t retarded!’”
“I had a student who liked to disappear into the restroom for extended periods of time. When this was brought up at a conference, the parent said that it was my fault because he felt so ostracized in my classroom that he would rather spend his time in the restroom. This is a second-grade class.”
“I got berated by a parent for her student getting a B on a progress report. The principal called me in the middle of my class to let me know that I needed to inform parents when a student's grade drops dramatically. Uh, hello, the progress report is your warning.”
“A student got written up and the parent had an issue with the assistant principal. On her way out of the building she yelled out, ‘You ain't nothin' but a house nigga! You can lick my ass and my pussy!’”
“I was told by a parent that I had to earn their child's respect. A 5-year-old may not call me a bitch, nor may he walk around kicking people because he wants their toys!”
“I had a student tell me to fuck off in the middle of class because he was playing a game on his phone and I asked him to give it to me. His mom told me that I was probably just being racist.”
“A kid picked up a chair and threw it across the room. The mom’s response was, ‘Well, he did have an egg for breakfast the other day.’”
“A parent accused me of making her son autistic.”
“I told a mother I would no longer clean up after her 8-year-old son. I explained that I cannot stay after school for hours cleaning the classroom because I have papers to grade, lesson plans to write, and my own family to get home to. She wrote me the following letter, ‘Leaving books out isn’t a behavior problem. Being a teacher is about taking time to make your class a clean and safe place. Grading papers and writing lesson plans is part of being a teacher. I understand wanting to get home to family but you chose to be a teacher. Teaching is a job, yes, but telling me you value your life more than teaching my child isn’t what you tell a parent. Teaching is a choice and a lifestyle, not just a paycheck.’”
REALLY REAL EMAILZ: PARENT EDITION
From: A. Looney
To: English Teacher
Subject: Blanche’s English Project
Dear Ms. Morris,
I want to know what you said to my daughter about her project to make her so upset. She is upstairs in her room right now crying hysterically and saying that she is stupid over and over. She does not normally talk like that about herself so I am wondering what you said to make her feel this way. Did you say that she is stupid? She is working very hard on her project and if I found out that you were speaking negatively to her I would be very upset. Please email me back a.s.a.p. to let me know what has been going on in class to make Blanche so upset.
A. Looney
From: English Teacher
To: A. Looney
Subject: Re: Blanche’s English Project
Dear Ms. Looney,
I have said nothing to Blanche to warrant such behavior. In fact, she has been coming to class late every day and has not been completing her work. I have been extremely respectful to her and often ask her if everything is okay and if she needs extra help. I have been nothing but encouraging to your daughter.
Best wishes,
Ms. Morris
From: Dick Schwett, Ph.D.
To: Erma’s Teachers and Administrators
Subject: Learning Opportunity for Erma
Dear Teachers and Administrators,
During the last three weeks of school, my daughter Erma and I will travel to Hawaii to observe the transit of Venus. We will explore Hawaiian geology and Hawaiian culture including native sky lore and the celestial navigation of the Polynesians. Erma will also interview Native Hawaiian Elders. I am asking that you please excuse my daughter from all assignments during this time, including all final exams.
Thank you,
Dr. Schwett, Ph.D.
The following email from the Ass. Principal came soon after:
As you can see from her father’s email, Erma has yet another amazing opportunity to learn from real world experiences by traveling with her father. Please freeze her grades and exempt her from all assignments, including her final exams.
Gunther was an interesting young fellow with the ability to write scholarly papers at home, and occasionally pass in-class multiple choice tests that were announced well in advance. Yet in class, he could barely read or write, failed most quizzes, and generally stared off into the distance while drooling profusely. I tried to contact his parents about the incongruity between his classwork and homework, but I never received a reply. Towards the end of the semester, all of Gunther’s work was at kindergarten level, including his homework and papers. I sent an email to his mother, expressing my concern for the drop in his level of effort and failing grades. I received the following email in response:
From: Emma Royd
To: English Teacher
Subject: Concern about Student’s Performance
Dear Ms. Morris,
Thank you for your email and your concern for my son. I am going to tell you the truth. Ever since Gunther was in preschool I knew something was wrong. He wasn’t learning what the other kids picked up quickly. As the years went on, he had trouble learning to read and write. I have two younger children who are very bright and surpassed Gunther years ago. I have had him tested over and over again but his doctors maintain that there is nothing wrong with him, other than a low I.Q. To compensate, I have done most of my son’s work for him. Besides writing his papers, I spend about four hours a night drilling him so that he can pass his tests. The reason his grades have slipped recently is because, quite frankly, I am tired. I am a lawyer, and I work very hard. I am also a single parent raising three kids on my own with no financial help of any kind. My ex-husband left us a few years ago for a 19 yr. old and moved to another country. He left no forwarding address and cannot be reached. I had a bad injury a few weeks ago and basically gave up on Gunther. I know I shouldn’t be doing his work for him, but I don’t know what else to do. He cannot do anything on his own. If you can offer any advice, I’d really appreciate it. Otherwise, he is probably going to continue to fail his classes because I can’t be his tutor anymore.
Sincerely,
Emma Royd
I didn’t really have any advice for Gunther’s mom, other than utilizing the school’s resources like academic support and hiring a private tutor. I tried to highlight Gunther’s positive skills, like friendliness. After another week or so Gunther’s grades started to improve and his papers were back to the previously high standard, so I knew his mom had resumed her position as his tutor.
From: Anita B. Slapt
To: English Teacher
Subject: My son’s grade
Dear Ms. Morris,
Please help me understand this situation. My son does his homework for your class every night. He also studies and reads each night. He says he pays attention in your class. Yet still he fails your tests and has a D. If my son is doing all that he can, then obviously you can’t teach. Please shed light on this matter.
Thank you,
Anita B. Slapt
From: Maya Kidsux
To: English teacher
Subject: Summer Reading
Hello. It is the night before school begins and I am extremely concerned for my son. He just noticed today that he had a summer reading assignment that is due on the first day of class. The assignment was to read a 350 page book in preparation for an in-class essay. Although my son did receive the paper in the mail which explains the summer reading assignme
nt, he only read the front of the paper which described the history assignment. He completely missed the other side which outlined the literature assignment. My son is a hardworking student and should not be penalized on the first day for an honest mistake. I am asking that you make an exception and excuse him from the first assignment.
Thank you so much for your understanding, Maya Kidsux
From: English Dept. Head
To: English Teacher
Subject: FWD: Problem with teacher
I received the following email today. See me when you get a chance so we can talk about how to handle this.
From: Mia Syko
To: English Dept. Head
Subject: Problem with teacher
Dear Dept. Head,
I would like to discuss a problem my daughter is having in her English class. Ms. Morris consistently calls on her even though she does not raise her hand. This puts a lot of undo stress and pressure on my daughter, who happens to be very shy. I hope you’ll agree that education is meant to raise and not diminish a child’s self-worth. Putting my daughter on the spot like that has been slowly eroding her self-esteem. Don’t you think this type of teaching method goes against the ethics of public education? My daughter does not want to participate and she should be able to opt out if she chooses.
Please speak with Ms. Morris about this matter.
Ms. Syko
I gave my tenth-grade class a district-mandated research paper. It was made very clear that the students were supposed to compile and critically analyze research to present both sides of a controversial issue. One student I’ll call “Herbert,” handed in a paper that was made up of only his opinion about women, specifically about how they are inferior to men and should not be paid the same wage or given equal rights. I explained to the student that if he did not rewrite the paper he would receive a failing grade since there was no research used. He told me that it wasn’t fair that he would fail the paper because of his personal views. I tried to clarify why he needed to rewrite the paper. It had absolutely no research. He argued with me that his research was based on his own observations. I said that did not count as valid research. He said I was unfair, refused to rewrite the paper and failed. Soon after I received the following email:
From: I.M.A. Moran
To: English teacher
Subject: Problem with Research Paper
Dear Ms. Morris,
I am writing on behalf of my nephew Herbert. He has informed me that you recently gave him a failing grade for a report he turned in. I have read the report and must say I disagree with the grade he received.
While you are teaching the students to be fair and balanced in their research, you were not fair and balanced in your grading of this paper. There are two sides to every issue and Herbert chose the side which he felt was not being represented in your class. The class reading materials did not contain the evidence that the other side has on this matter. So Herbert had no recourse other than to present his position as unsupported opinion.
While I do agree that the paper did not follow the prescribed directions, I strongly feel that it deserves to at least pass, based on the quality of the writing alone. Herbert feels very strongly about this issue, and you have made him feel that he can no longer express his opinions in class.
Please let me know how I can meet with you in person to discuss this matter further.
I emailed back and explained my reasoning once again. I also attached the grading rubric for the assignment, which clearly showed how heavily the paper relied on scholarly research. Thankfully, Herbert’s uncle failed to contact me after that.
From: A. Nell Retentive
To: English teacher
Subject: Buford’s grade
Tonight, my son and I were looking at his updated grade in English which is a D, 67.6%. I'm disappointed with the outcome in English given everyone's efforts to support Buford. After two personal meetings with you and many emails back and forth, as a collective we seem to have fallen short. At our last meeting, you said that reading quizzes are a particular problem for Buford. He scored poorly on a book check, as if he hadn't read the book yet he told us he had. On the most recent reading quiz Buford scored well, with a solid B. This is a noticeable improvement, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Buford is at a loss as to why all the homework he turned in recently was marked so low, given that he says he put so much effort into it. He received a 5 out of 10, which is failing. As you know, he missed quite a few classes because he was sick. Did you mark these assignments down because he was absent? Have you updated all of the homework grades in the online grade book? The last homework was entered one week ago.
Are all the grades for the course entered at this point? Buford said there is a group work assignment that is not there, among other things. At this point, are there assignments that Buford can redo or is there any wiggle room to "X" out a low scoring grade at the teacher's discretion?
This school year has been very challenging for Buford. I'm hoping to get a better understanding of what went wrong and how his grade can go up before the end of the semester next week.
A. Nell Retentive
From: English teacher
To: A. Nell Retentive
Subject: Re: Buford’s grade
Good morning. I understand your disappointment; however, final grades in my class are not complete yet as they are not due for another two weeks. I do still have to enter the project grade as well as the last essay the students wrote as part of their final assessment.
I do think Buford’s absences compounded his already difficult time in class, and while one quiz showed an improvement, he failed the selected response portion of the final assessment. His homework assignments received half credit because he only answered half of the questions.
The final exam will weigh heavily on his final grade, so let’s see how that goes, and I can touch base again before final grades are submitted.
Sincerely,
Ms. Morris
From: A. Nell Retentive
To: English teacher
Subject: Re: Re: Buford’s grade
When I asked Buford about the questions he skipped on the homework, he said he didn't know he was supposed to do them. It's unfortunate that the distinct pattern of his missing certain questions on several assignments wasn't caught early. It seems the questions he missed played a large part in the discussions while he was absent and affected his final assessment.
In hindsight, Buford definitely would have benefitted from access to teacher notes or some kind of written guide to help fill in the time missed. In the future, I think Buford would benefit from someone looking over the homework to make sure he is on track. Answering the right question is one of his fundamental challenges. As I think I mentioned in the meeting, a middle school English teacher discovered this for us. It wasn't that his answers contained the wrong information, it was that he misunderstood the question or did not see it at all.
Usually final exams don't benefit Buford’s grade because he gets nervous, but let's see what happens. Let's touch base before grades are entered.
Thank you,
A. Nell Retentive
From: English teacher
To: A. Nell Retentive
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Buford’s grade
Good morning. After entering all of Buford's final grades including his final exam, it looks as if he will end with a D. Again, I appreciate all the effort Buford has put in this quarter—I know it has been difficult for him, and I wish him all the best next semester.
Sincerely,
Ms. Morris
To: English teacher
From: Al Sew-Retentive
Title: Grade of D
I think we all failed Buford. We know what he's capable of, we know what impediments he faces, we saw some improvement but, in the end, this will discourage, rather than encourage him. And that is very sad.
Al Sew-Retentive
From: A. Nell Retentive
To: Eng
lish teacher CC: Al Sew-Retentive
Title: Re: Grade of D
I just want to add that given the trajectory was an improvement, it's unfortunate that the outcome can't be different. Exams as a general trend are always lower than his semester grades. Last year, they pulled down his grades in two classes and ultimately affected the semester grades.
Does Buford's work really reflect a D student’s effort? His world is very difficult. He is extremely intelligent and yet struggles with his own perception of being stupid. He is sensitive and his self-esteem suffers.
English has been his least successful class this year. In all other classes, teachers supported his extra efforts and the grades reflect that. Given that you must see Buford's improvement, is there really no way to have the semester grade reflect that?
From: A. Nell Retentive
To: English teacher
CC: Administrator
Title: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Buford’s grade
Today I researched the District Grading Procedures for Grades 6-12. I had a question concerning teacher discretion. I refer to Item 27 under Procedures which states, “When a teacher has evidence that a student demonstrates a higher level of performance than a calculated marking period grade indicates, a teacher may record a higher grade in consultation with an administrator.”
I would like to request that Buford's grade be updated to a C based on the effort he put forth. This has been a year of trial and error for Buford. We are all trying to put the pieces together for him to be successful. A hand up now would go a long way towards encouraging him. This would safeguard his fragile self-esteem.
Sincerely,
A. Nell Retentive
Several administrators suggested that I refrain from answering any further emails from Buford’s parents. They continued to meet with administrators until they received the grade change that they wanted.