Ever since my kids hit middle school, I have been a big proponent of the fact that they need to be the people who talk to their teachers about problems they are having and that they also need to stand up and defend themselves if the need be. Corey learned this lesson very early in sixth grade. Corey transferred middle schools two weeks after school started. He slipped into his new classes very easily and everything seemed to work well. After checking his grades on jupiter grades, I noticed that he had a "0" on an assignment. He assured me that he had done it and turned it in. I told him that he needed to plead his case to his teacher. He did, but the teacher would not give an inch and she seemed to believe that Corey was lying to her. Another incident happened where someone was being bullied in the hall and she accused Corey and his friend and would not even listen to their side of the story. Then Corey wrote an essay that was very good and she accused him of cheating. Corey stood up for himself again and told her that he wrote it all on his own, which he did. In fact, I proofread it and changed a few commas, but that was it. Isn't that what a parent is supposed to do. She even went as far as to contact me and tell me of her thoughts. I insisted that Corey did his own work and that I only added some commas where he had left them out.
Nonetheless, Corey had his work cut out with this teacher. In fact, it was the only "B" he ever got in middle school (besides the Honors Algebra class he took), and it pained him that she would not up his grade, but that one zero made it so he could never get it back up to an "A." I learned from this experience that teachers would not always believe my children. I also learned that teachers sometimes have preconceived notions and it is really hard to change those ideas. But most of all what I learned is that my son Corey was able to stand up for himself and he did not need to run to his mom to fight his battles for him.
Fast forward to this year. Corey has a math teacher that every student at La Cueva that I have met who has had this same math teacher have real issues with her teaching ability, grading structure, and the way she works with the kids. Corey aced the first semester without any real issues. Then came the second semester and he started getting B's and C's on his tests. I asked him what was going on and he dug through his tests to show me. One test that he received an 84 on had all of the correct answers. She took off 16 points because she did not like the work that he showed. She took off a total of about 8 points because he labeled his x,y axis graph correctly, but not in the way she wanted him to. This happened on at least 4 tests and one project. I was furious and ready to take it up to the principal. Corey had talked to her when he received every test back and she would not move an inch. I kept thinking about going to talk to the principal and this teacher and I did not feel quite right about handling it that way. Corey was trying to talk to her and getting nowhere, but it was his class and his grade and I wanted him to see if he could work it out. I was convinced he would end up with a B in the class because he basically had to ace the final to get his grade up to the A range. Corey got a 100 on the final with very little study, because he knew all the information and he showed the teacher that it was her grading that brought him down. The final was a multiple choice test. Even though I still think this teacher needs a talking to, I am glad that Corey proved that he could do it on his own.
Now Jared has also had some interesting experiences sticking up for himself and trying his hardest. In 8th grade, he took Mrs. Giesler's Honors Algebra class. Corey got a B plus both semesters in this class because she is a really hard teacher and her tests were much more difficult than any homework she gave. So Corey decided not to keep the class for high school credit. Jared, at the end of the semester had an 89.4 in the class after the final. I knew with this teacher that she would not round up because we had asked her about that before. I asked Jared to go in a talk to her about the grade and if there was any way that he could do extra credit and get the grade up ever so slightly. To my astonishment, she bumped Jared's grade up to an A minus. I could hardly believe it. Jared got an A easily for the second semester. I tell my kids that it never hurts to ask. Then Jared was able to accept those grades for high school credit and he started off ahead of the game.
This year at La Cueva, Jared was lucky enough to get Mr. Zalewski as his honors english teacher ( I am being a little sarcastic). Corey also had this teacher and he makes it really difficult to get A's just because of the way he grades. Corey got a B plus one semester and an A minus the next. One of the cousins only got one B at La Cueva and it was from this teacher. Jared also got a B plus the first semester and he was sure he would get the same grade the second semester. His grade was an 88 going into the final. He calculated it out and he would have to get 104 on the final to get an A. Mr. Z does not offer any extra credit, so we knew this would be impossible. Jared studied some, but not a lot because he knew he could not get an A. I encouraged him to do his best no matter what. He ended up with a B plus on the final (which was a great grade), and somehow his teacher had changed the grades and he ended up with an A in the class. I wish I had taken a screen shot of the grades before he changed them so that I could actually see how he adjusted things, but I did not. It is kind of a miracle that Jared ended up with an A in that class, but I told Jared that if he had gotten just a few points lower on the final, he would have ended up with the B. So it is good to never give up and always do your best, even when it seems impossible.
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