Could this teacher be too hard on students?

Question

My son is in the third grade. We study the subjects he has at home regularly so when testing comes, he knows his material. The problem begins when he takes his test.

He regularly forgets to write his name on his paper, or forgets to write in cursive, and the teacher knocks off ten points for each thing he forgets. Ten points is a letter grade! This means that whereas his grade would normally come out as an A or a B, after the points are taken off, he has a final test result of a C or a D.

This is really bothering me. I have talked with my son about trying to remember but he says he is so pressed for time to finish, that he does everything else first and forgets the other things. I can understand where the teacher is trying to help the kids remember directions, but at the same time, I don't think the grading is fair because when he is tested on spelling, the grade should reflect what he has learned in spelling, not cursive. Do you see where I'm going with this? Your thoughts...

Answer 1

never heard of a school that gives 3rd graders letter grades!  Not putting your name on the paper or follow the directions (cursive) should be noted, but doesn't show he doesn't understand the material, just that he isn't following the directions.

Its so late in the school year, how many times have you, as the parent, spoken with the teacher?  Hasn't this been going on all year?  If you haven't spoken to the teacher yet in person, then you have some responsibility to not getting the issue solved.  If you have and you haven't received a good answer from the teacher, have you talked to the principal?

Answer 2

I could understand that from a high school teacher, but its harsh to dock a letter grade per mistake. In your shoes I'd speak to the principal and tell him/her that you are concerned that her grading system is frustrating your son more than helping him to do better.

Answer 3

What the teacher is doing is motivating. Your kid should feel bad about his poor performance and therefor try harder. That way, when he improves and gets it right, he will have a since of accomplishment. Maybe your son should study and practice more - perhaps with your help. Why should the teacher be easy on him? If they do that, where is the motivation for the students who have tried hard and who do make good grades. When your son grows up, he will need to know that in order to succeed he will have to complete the tasks given to him, within the given time and guidelines.

Give him practice tests. Come up with a method that reminds him to write his name first, and in cursive. Make him learn to follow directions and be responsible for his actions.

If the teacher relaxes on her grading methods, what has your son learned? That it's ok to be less than average? That it's ok if you don't do your best and try hard? No matter what effort you put forth, you will still be able to get by?

Think about what type of future you want for your son. If you want him to be successful, he needs to start learning these lessons now.

Answer 4

it seems to be a little unfair to dock a whole letter grade. However remembering to put your name on your paper is very important. If you were a teacher and had 25 students and 6 of them did not put their name on their paper it could be a problem. You then have to figure out who's paper is who's by the handwriting.

My daughter is in 2nd grade this year and they get points taking away for capitalization and spelling and correct use of punctuation. I thought it was a little strange at first. But if you think about it each year teachers need to expect more from the kids to keep them advancing.

Answer 5

You need to have words with this woman. She should have them all write their names on the paper BEFORE they start the test - and would it kill her to remind them at the start, or even part way through, to write properly? these are what? 8 to 9 year olds?

As for the assignments, if some pupils are regularly getting a zero for not finishing in time, does this tell her something about her methods and/ or the time allowed? Is she engaging the pupils so that they even want to do the assignment in time? how does she cope with the less able pupils? In a mixed ability class at that age, particularly if there are any pupils with special needs, i would expect there to be some who really struggle with literacy an numeracy and cannot keep up with the brighter ones.

Answer 6

Well, that sounds pretty ridiculous for third grade, and certainly if it's frustrating your son (rather than just you) or making him lose confidence, I would mention that politely at a teacher conference.

But if your son isn't particularly bothered by it, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  I'm a proponent of worrying about what a kid is learning at that level (I have a third grader, too) rather than what grades they're getting (which is pretty meaningless in third grade).  If you're sure he's learning the material and if he's not being turned off from learning because of his grades, I would just tell him that this teacher is trying to help him remember to follow directions (which is actually ultimately more important than how to spell a particular word).  You can work on it with him at home ... play "school" and have a little practice "test," or when you're quizzing him on his spelling words, have him write them down.  With a little practice, he should be able to get in the habit fairly quickly of writing in cursive and writing his name on the paper to start.

You can also talk to the teacher about how you respect that she's teaching him to follow directions, but that you just want to make sure that next year's teacher knows that it's not his spelling (or math, or whatever) that needs work, but the separate skill of following directions.  I expect she'll reassure you that the grades are pretty meaningless at the third grade level and that they won't be used for things like tracking your son into a group that's below his academic level.

Answer 7

I think she take too much pride in her job and should give like 50s instead of 0s and she should not take off that many point for poor penmenship

Answer 8

That is tough slugging!  I'm in high school and I don't get docked that much in English even!  Although my personal opinion is that school doesn't matter until gr. 9, I would be on that teachers case like...a lot!  Talk to the teacher, or her superior.  Might also try writing remainders on the kids hand or something, so he can see them while he writes.

Eg.  Cursive, name etc...

Answer 9

your not gonna like my answer at all. but here it is any way

the problem is your son. hes lazy and your allowing it.  be glad shes not giving him a zero for not having his name on it.  in my day thats exactly what would have happened

this teacher is doing her job why should she change  her way of doing things that works. its not her fault that your child forgets to write  his name on his tests like he knows he should

teach him to be responsible and to take responsibility for his mistakes. if you dont now he will fail in the real world. he has to learn to complete tasks properly  and in a timely fashion. and you as mom need to learn to stop blaming other people for your childs mistakes  and behaviors  you cant make excuses for him all his life so stop now

Answer 10

In 3rd grade he should be capable of remembering to write his name on a paper unless he has a LD. It's already April so he should know the class rules and be able to follow them at this point.

Answer 11

WHOA!  Bad teacher, that's freaken insane for 3rd grade.  They are still little kids..... if this was high school, I said yeah but that's insane.  You are correct, he is too little and doesn't have enough cognitive development to do all these things on one test.  I would def. complain to the principle about her.

And tell the principle you want to see her rubric of grading- this is her grading system for ever test that she gives.  My guess is- she is a crappy teacher and doesn't have one.  

You are correct, she should be helping them- not hurting them.  It makes me sick to see what people become teachers..... their needs to be a personality test...

sound like this lady became a teacher for summers off because NO one should treat small children this way.  Small children need small steps and reinforcement to improve.  I would never grade on cursive or handwriting on spelling test.  And it sounds like she is giving too much information in a small period of time.  If children are forgetting their name- it's because they are in a panic!  I always tell the children to write their names first before I even start a test at that age group!!



Tell her to go be a college professor somewhere.....

Answer 12

American schools greatly lack in dicipline. I'm sorry to say, but this teacher doesn't seem too strict to me compared to the school I attended. When I started attending an American school, I seriously thought I was on vacation. It could always be worse,

Answer 13

If you feel this strongly about it, I believe that you should talk to the teacher...first.  Don't go above her head to the principal without first talking to her.  You  might find that there's more to this story...