Upon posting my first set of test grades, a larger number of students may be eyeing very bad mid-9 weeks report cards soon. One of my classes is Pre-Calc and there are some who may see Cs or Ds. I briefly spoke to the P (it's his 1st year as P. Before that, he'd been AP) about how he might be receiving angry parent calls because of these grades. I explained to him how their grades likely fell because the students who may be getting Cs/Ds were known to copy answers from others or use their cell phones for PhotoMath or access computers for Mathway in Algebra I and Algebra II. Most notably, the ones who scored As didn't do this in previous years. The P said, "They can call. I don't care Their grade is their grade." I guess this means I have the P's back if parents do call?
If you are expecting push back by any specific parents, probably based on your prior experience with them, you might want to give an example or two to the principal, just so you are sure that the two of you are on the same page and speaking the same language. If you have proof that these students who broke the rules were cheating by using cell phones, or accessing computers, now would be a great time to share that information. Here's hoping that there was documentation and write ups and discipline for cheating - yes, we can still call it what it is. Society has kind of taken the tone, recently, that cheating only counts if you get caught in the act and/or admit to the "crime." I think that gives you some idea of how you can help your principal by providing him with the same information/proof that you have, which definitely strengthens the principals' stance and bolsters his credibility. On a selfish note, doing this for him, giving him the facts he needs to deal with the parents who don't believe that their student would cheat bolsters your own stature and rep as a teacher who is fair and unwilling to tolerate deceit. Being known as a no nonsense teacher when it comes to the basic rules of honestly is a rep most teachers would welcome, because if that single fact is common knowledge, at least some students will never be tempted to cheat because of the fear of being caught. I could live with that!
If your concerned, email the parents that you want to inform them about their child's current grades. Then just let them know. Most parents appreciate knowing sooner than later.
The students that I’m mentioning are ones that used phones or computers to get answers. Thus, they didn’t learn how to work problems out. This year, they’re not allowed to have any devices on their person or to use phones for any reason so they’re paying the price for previous non-work.
