She Refused to Give Him a New Copy.
This is my most recent communication with Shane’s middle school vice principals, who don’t even know me. (Teachers probably hate me, but I no longer care.)
My son, Shane, is taking Honors Geometry with Ms. X. He is doing very well in spite of a possible math-related learning disorder, and has an 89% in the class. Unfortunately, he has a “missing” homework assignment that was due on March 14, which may be holding him back from having an A for the quarter.
Shane rarely forgets to turn in his homework and, in this case, he didn’t forget. He went on a field trip on March 13, and he never got the homework assignment.
Last week, Shane asked Ms. X about that missing assignment. She told him that she had given it to him already, and that if he could find it and complete it, he could turn it in. She didn’t tell him what the homework assignment was, or how he could find it without going through the hundreds of papers in his math binder. And she refused to give him a new copy.
Worse, Shane says she never gave it to him. He is very quiet, and we are working hard to teach him how to self-advocate, but he has a memory like a steel trap. If he had been given an extra homework assignment, he would have done it on March 14. Still, he dug through all of his papers, looking for something that wasn’t already done, to no avail. He couldn’t find the paper because he never got the paper, so he is at a loss as to what to do.
I have emailed Ms. X twice about this – both before AND after Shane talked to her – but have not heard anything back (at all). That is why I am emailing you.
The difference between the assignment being marked as ‘zero’ versus marked as ‘excused’ would mean a world of difference to Shane. He was quite willing to do the work – but he never got the work to do. I would sincerely appreciate your looking into this matter with Ms. X and, hopefully, getting it resolved before the third quarter grades are finalized. I’m not sure how the grades are calculated, or even if it will bring him up to an A, but it seems terribly unfair not to give him the chance.
Within two hours, the vice principal called the teacher who, it turns out, had NOT been getting my emails. The teacher called me at home and was incredibly nice, considering that I had just emailed her boss.
She said that Shane hadn’t even told her that he didn’t have the paper, or asked her how to find one, so she had no idea that he didn’t have a copy. She said, “I’d be happy to give him a new one anytime!”
So this morning, Shane went in and got the new homework assignment, and finished it on the spot so that he could get it in before the end of the quarter.
The teachers may hate me, but I love them.