Something NOT Fun

It has to be said - I am NOT a fan of missing work.

This past week when I sent home progress reports, I had three parents all write me a note asking if I could send home the 20 or so assignments their child was missing.

It broke my heart, but I (tried to gently) said no.

Why?! Well, here we go:

1- It's one thing to find an assignment from within the past week and get an extra copy made or pull together a quick alternative, usually my files are still out, there may be a copy in recycling, and (most importantly) the assignment and what I am trying to assess with it is fresh in my mind.

2- I have been sending home a weekly progress report all of Term 3 (4 weeks). It is not reasonable to wait this long to ask for help.

3- Now that many of the assignments and materials have been put back away, it will take me at least a half hour to pull it all together into a neat package. I wish I HAD 30 minutes to devote to ONE student. Now let's remember that there FIVE students with this number of missing assignments (only three of their parents wrote me back, but that's another story). Five times 30 equals two and a half hours.

4- Even if it wouldn't take me that long to pull together all those missing assignments, let's say it took an HOUR. I only "get" six and half hours of planning/prep time per week. That's it for making copies, gathering materials, organizing materials, etc. Believe me, I use EVERY SINGLE MINUTE. Plus, I take home roughly two hours of grading per weekend. For an average class of 30, I have about 5 minutes to devote to 1:1 needs.

5- What message does it really send to your child if we wait this long before we decide to work on his/her grades? Who owns the problem?

So, it's late and I've got kids to put to bed, dishes to do, laundry to fold and I'm going to pretend (at least until tomorrow morning) that I don't have four more assignments to put into Skyward that have DISMAL turn in rates from those fantastic five....

Good night!