I dont think this is healthy (Kids School Grade Notification)

[Road Guy]

I have a 1st year Middle schooler at the house..lets just say it has been an adjustment!

My wife signed up to get reports like this every time his grade changes in his subjects.. I dont think this is a good idea personally..... especially if you are OCD.. but we get several of these type messages every day:

Dear ____________:

This is your automatic notification about Road Guys Kid having grades below 90.

Course: Lang Arts 6Q1, Teacher: Jackson, Mary, Hour: Period 1

Grade went down from 89 to 86

I serioulsy think this is a terrible idea, but my wife says she has to "know"

 

[snickerd3]

oh very bad idea!!!!!

Being able to check on the grade occassionaly maybe but never when there is a change.

helicopter parents wet dream

 

[csb]

The wife of a co-worker obsessively checks their daughter's grades online. The problem with that is that if a teacher hasn't input a grade, the kid looks like they are failing. I'm guessing the teachers field a lot of questions about why little Susie or Billy is failing a class. I'd say checking once a month, maybe, but mostly this is just crazy.

 

[snickerd3]

this sort of ruins report card day if you can get a instant snapshot of the scores.

 

[Supe]

Just another resource by which a teacher can avoid any sort of interaction with a child's parents. I suppose this should take care of parent-teacher conferencing as well?

 

[MA_PE]

I think the idea is a pretty good one. As long as the parent just uses it to track the kids progress and not get all bent out of shape if things go down a few points. It's a nice barometer to compare the effort put it at home to their recorded grades. If your kid isn't killing him/herself and they get B's you can get on them top wrok harder. If you see the kid working diligently and still struggling you'd know that it might be time to get some additonal tutoring going. You can determine this on your own without depending on the teacher to tell you.

Like everything else the key is to not get obsessive.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

It's easier to fix things early, but I can see how some parents (helocopters) would take this too far.

 

[benbo]

We used to get notes like this, but only when my kid's grades dropped below a C. He's not exactly a dedicated academic, but he managed to graduate.

 

[snickerd3]

so it really is more of an automated program so the teachers don't have to pay attention and send notes home when they start getting concerned because the parents should already know because they got the email.

 

[MA_PE]

so it really is more of an automated program so the teachers don't have to pay attention and send notes home when they start getting concerned because the parents should already know because they got the email.

If you automate the process then the teachers can't be "blamed" for not notifying the parents. It should be the parents job to check nd make sure their kid is learnning/developing properly. Too often these days the parents will place that responsibility on the teacher and complain that they "weren't told" that little Johnny is lagging behind or failing. IMHO, the teachers job is to present the material to the class. It is not their responsibility that the kids absorb it and learn it, especially in middle/high school.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

IMHO, the teachers job is to present the material to the class. It is not their responsibility that the kids absorb it and learn it, especially in middle/high school.

I disagree. They are called teachers, not presenters. I understand children learn at different rates, but to write them off because you presented them the information and they didn't pick it up right away is wrong.

 

[Road Guy]

I am not sure how other area's school system is, but my son is in his first year of middle school. 8:30-4:45.. Everynight there is at least an hour or so of homework, and you have to check the teachers websites (6 of them) and make sure you have everything ready for the next day. Just checking the websites is a full time job to be honest..

I think its a little overkill. I dont remember it being that hard when I was in middle school. But I lived in a more rural area, but its insane in my opinion....I guess I should be happy its above average difficulty, but its getting very old for him I can tell, 6th graders shouldnt be under this much stress!

 

[MA_PE]

IMHO, the teachers job is to present the material to the class. It is not their responsibility that the kids absorb it and learn it, especially in middle/high school.

I disagree. They are called teachers, not presenters. I understand children learn at different rates, but to write them off because you presented them the information and they didn't pick it up right away is wrong.

There's always an extremist in the group. Teacher's are there to teach, correct, and the vast majority of teachers truly endeavour to implant their wisdom into each and every student. However, i's unfair to blame them if a child doesn't learn it from them. The parent should be ultimately responsible for their child's development. Too often these days parents shift the job of raising their kids off as someone else's job.

 

[envirotex]

I am not sure how other area's school system is, but my son is in his first year of middle school. 8:30-4:45.. Everynight there is at least an hour or so of homework, and you have to check the teachers websites (6 of them) and make sure you have everything ready for the next day. Just checking the websites is a full time job to be honest..

I think its a little overkill. I dont remember it being that hard when I was in middle school. But I lived in a more rural area, but its insane in my opinion....I guess I should be happy its above average difficulty, but its getting very old for him I can tell, 6th graders shouldnt be under this much stress!

This is pretty routine at my house...plus we have block scheduling so you have to track whether or not it's an A day or a B day.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

IMHO, the teachers job is to present the material to the class. It is not their responsibility that the kids absorb it and learn it, especially in middle/high school.

I disagree. They are called teachers, not presenters. I understand children learn at different rates, but to write them off because you presented them the information and they didn't pick it up right away is wrong.

There's always an extremist in the group. Teacher's are there to teach, correct, and the vast majority of teachers truly endeavour to implant their wisdom into each and every student. However, i's unfair to blame them if a child doesn't learn it from them. The parent should be ultimately responsible for their child's development. Too often these days parents shift the job of raising their kids off as someone else's job.

Fair enough.

 

[ktulu]

Our city school system has something in place similar to this, but not to the level of emailing when grades change. We also do not have to check each teacher's webpage for our son's grade. It is all grouped together so we can see how he is doing overall. Then we can click on an individual subject to see the graded assignments/tests.

We use it to see where he needs to focus more of his studying. It has worked too - this past 9 week period was the first time he has made all A's. And he is in the 6th grade.

 

[csb]

I am not sure how other area's school system is, but my son is in his first year of middle school. 8:30-4:45.. Everynight there is at least an hour or so of homework, and you have to check the teachers websites (6 of them) and make sure you have everything ready for the next day. Just checking the websites is a full time job to be honest..

I think its a little overkill. I dont remember it being that hard when I was in middle school. But I lived in a more rural area, but its insane in my opinion....I guess I should be happy its above average difficulty, but its getting very old for him I can tell, 6th graders shouldnt be under this much stress!

Holy crap! Your kid is in school really late. Our junior high runs from 7:45-2:45 (with a block schedule). The high school is 7:15-3:15 and the elementary kids are 8:35-3:35. Is 4:45 really common for everyone else?

 

[Master slacker]

Personally, when I was in school it was 8:30 - 3:00.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

My son is in school from 9 til 4. I remember going from 8:15-3:30 when I was growing up.

 

[IlPadrino]

In our school district (Pleasant Valley School District in Ventura Co, CA), they use http://www.zangle.com/ to post all sorts of information, including grading. It's a good idea from my perspective - you can always choose to ignore it, but the real value is in the conversation. My son knows I'll interested (and he knows because I continue to ask questions) and that can only be a good thing.