What the hell? Are some of you really acting like a 5 page paper is nothing in the 7th grade? <br> You people actually wrote more than a 3 page paper in middle school?
I remember handwritten 3 page papers being common for honors English classes. Typed and double spaced, that'd be around 4 and a half pages. Didn't have the interwebs either.
<br> Dude, a handwritten 3 page paper would be like 2 pages typed even if double spaced. At least with my big handwriting back in the day :grin:
If the paper was to make up the grade...I would be for her doing it. Choir and Band students have to be graded on something...often concert attendance is the biggie. If she is being assigned the paper and still receiving an "F" it is too punitive. Showing up for a concert is...in fact a significant grade. Sick kids are often made to make up work done while absent. To me the "F" is the unfair part.
If there's one thing I've learned from gig'n a ton of teachers in my day its that they are all on power trips that they're not even aware of. They let emotions get in the way of making sound judgements. It's terrible. I'd take it up with the teacher. They need to be put in their place. They're freaking teachers not ******* rocket scientists. What they do isn't that important. Inconvenience a student for being sick for no good reason? Really? Sounds like a power trip/hormone problem to me.
I'm in the "Let her do the paper and make up the Concert Portion F grade" camp. If it's make up, you're at least getting a chance to do that, instead of just plainly getting a big fat 0. Help her out like you did by maybe typing what she wrote, as you together finishing this will bring y'all closer. The teacher is only being fair to the rest of the class by just allowing your daughter to make up what she missed. Nothing big, really. And as far as all the other people who are saying "middle school grades are not important", they could be the difference between her getting a scholarship to a magnet, HSPVA, arts school, or even the Berkleys of the world. Also, it will count for 7th grade and 8th grade Junior Honors Society, which translates into getting into good colleges later. Good luck with this, whatever you decide to do, giddyup. I hope she is also well and healthy now. Isn't that important? YES IT IS, sir. They're teaching kids and sometimes raising them for parents who don't know between right and wrong. And the teacher is not inconveniencing anyone, but a student who has to make up work everyone else did. And what the heck is "gig'n a ton of teachers"?? Did you trick them on your way out of class? Please describe, man. I don't know what that is.
5 pages was pretty standard as I recall. Have her do the paper and talk to the teacher about the confusion of the F thus far.
Man I don't remember doing any paper in middle school, much less a FIVE page one But then again, I don't remember much from middle school, except for sports, extracurricular activities, and girls suddenly sky rocketing in 7th grade.
Gig'n a ton of teachers means jamming them up man. Ive jammed them up. A lot of them. Nothing to be proud of considering kids are jamming them up IN the classrooms these days. Now I'm sure there are good teachers, ones that take their jobs too seriously, they should not be raising anyone's kids... either way, just like anyone else they're subject to being in a bad mood and they absolutely do have issues with power trips. I hate to rain on giddyup's daughter's parade but she's not gonna become a professional singer. This is freaking CHOIR for Christ's sake... 5-pages. 1-week. Power trip.
:grin: You left me the same as before you answered... now what is "jamming them up"? I still disagree with you, man. There's no power trip here, it's A CHANCE TO MAKE UP the grade that everyone else got. You have to consider that this Mexican didn't arrive to the U.S. of A. until after December of 1986.
she missed the concert. this is the "punishment." make her write the paper to teach her an important lesson. life's not fair.
As a teacher, I can tell you DO NOT go straight to the principal unless you want that teacher (and every other teacher in the school for that matter) to paint a virtual target on your daughter's back. There is NOTHING teachers hate more that when parents pull an end-around and go to the principal without talking it over with you first (and they'll tell the other teachers all about it). Imagine if someone at your job went to your supervisor and complained about you without talking it over with you first. You'd hate it, I'm sure. And what others have said is correct: the principal has bigger fish to fry. The first question they're going to ask is "What did the teacher say when you talked it over with them?" Like it or not, it's best for everyone if you go through channels. Now, as for the paper: asking a student to write a paper to make up for a missed concert is more than reasonable (when I was in choir, a missed concert was just an automatic "C"). Realize, they have been working up to this performance for weeks, possibly months. This is, in effect, the final project for their 6 weeks/9 weeks unit. The teacher has to have something to grade. But giving them an "F" AND asking for the paper is unreasonable. The paper should replace the grade. If the teacher doesn't agree with this, then and only then would I talk to the principal.
I meant to ask earlier, giddyup... how does your daughter feel about it ? I will not assume anything. I hope she can see that this is an easy way to make up for lost work and she has had great instruction from the choir teacher.
The 5 page paper really isn't that big of a deal, especially considering that in orchestra/choir/band, attending the concerts is a big part of the class. However, earmarking her for an F is pretty classless. She should at least have her as an INC if she doesn't want to just leave the grade blank for now. I'd talk to the teacher about that, but I wouldn't be all up in arms about it. Spending 3 hours on the paper is a crock of crap.....spend however long it takes to write the paper, and that's it.
Can the English teacher make her sing if she misses an assignment? I think I'd ask if she could do some solo caroling at an old folks home for an hour and a half to make up for it. The old folks would like it and it actually relates to the work your daughter put in for prep for the concert.
Have her write a 20 page paper. Then, the teacher will have to spend that much more time reading and grading it, taking up a large amount of her free time. THAT'LL LEARN HER!
