A Five week Six weeks
So our school has six separate grading periods, which are called "Six Weeks". Last year, this worked out perfectly, as each grading period had six weeks, with two of them having six weeks plus a few days here and there from holiday-shortened weeks. However, this last six weeks only had five weeks. It seems ridiculous, but I just spent several weeks telling students that our six weeks only had five weeks. For students struggling to read, I can only imagine how their minds dealt with such an abstract and inane concept. Clearly our establishment couldn't cope as progress reports reached parents the week of our finals testing, and as such parents were trying to drop students from classes in order to keep them from failing. It doesn't really help, but I guess they figure they should be doing something because their students are failing, and heaven forbid the kids actually try to make up work and bring up their grade the proper way.
Nevertheless, I had 6 new students the last week, and as such I need to figure out how the heck I'm going to calculate their grades. My common sense radar started blaring after I noticed 3 new students in one class, and promptly e-mailed the counselors asking for no more schedule changes to be made until next week. It's absolutely baffling how people expect the new teacher to get a kid up to speed and PASSING with 1-3 school days left in the grading period, testing being conducted, all while attempting to navigate the grading system and merge the student's new grades with their old teacher's. It's actually brilliant work on the part of the parents, as I'm sure most teachers just give the student a 70 so that they are passing. It backfires quite a bit though, as I know several teachers who refuse to give the student a passing grade, and they are forced to come to Saturday school to make-up their grade (something the kid would have been forced to do anyways).
Anyways, I should get back to grading. Wish me luck.
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At least I'm conducting diagnostic tests tomorrow and Tuesday. That's right, I said "diagnostic testing", and it's almost halfway through the year. More on that story in my next post.
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A recent graduate takes two years to find life as a teacher.
1 comment:
Sounds like the school district should establish a policy about dropping classes--one that does not allow drops so close to the end of a grading period. I know that seems simple, and I don't know all the ins and outs of your district, but simple solutions are often the best.
Hope the new students are integrating into your classes well. That is quite a challenge for all concerned. I would not have done well if I had changed classes in mid stream. And I certainly would not have liked trying to bring along three new kids this late in the year. Lucky you! Another Thanksgiving blessing!
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