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I Don't Just Teach Your Child

I have a child who never turns in homework. I email his mom weekly with updates, which usually state that he has turned in no homework. She always wants me to send the assignments home for them to complete over the weekend. I finally told her that that is not fair to other students and I cannot keep grading all of his homework assignments when they back up. Now she has requested that I send her an electronic copy of the homework daily. These students are in the 7th grade. How do I professionally let her know that her child is not the only child I teach and I cannot do this?

Posted on: 10/19/15 | Views: 1579
Solution #1
Top Solution
Since the child is in 7th grade, it is time for them to be held accountable for their own work. I would suggest putting homework on your school website or on your own class blog. You can put the assignment due dates on a calendar and upload the assignments. Provide the website to the parent and student so they can always check. This would make it fair for all students and take some pressure off you as well.

this is the best solution and what i would do in this position

I would do this exact thing if I was in your position. This is the best solution. Seventh graders need to begin to be responsible for completing their work.

I think that would be the best solution as well.

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Solution #2
Top Solution
If this child does not have an IEP or 504 specifically stating these accommodations, I would professionally explain to her that realistically that is not possible nor is required for you to do legally. I would encourage her to continue to encourage her child to write down his or her homework in an agenda and place all homework in a designated folder that she is to check each night at home for homework in all classes.

I agree that explaining to the parent that other students are in the class, and under your responsibility, is a good idea. At that point, it is also good to talk to the parent and the student together about what can be done to help them.

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Solution #3
I would suggest encouraging the parent to sit down and have a talk about being responsible. As the child's teacher, you should also have this discussion with he/she. Explain to the parent that although this would be beneficial to the student, you are not able to do that for them and not do it for every other child on the team. As a seventh grader, there are certain behaviors that are expected and completing homework is one of them.
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Solution #4
I have to say after reading the other posts' they make some great points. If the child doesn't have an IEP or 504 it is not required that an accommodation be made for this student. However, an alternative may be that IF the work is not completed on time and the student asks for the homework over the weekend an automatic deduction of one letter grade will be dropped for all the assignments technically being late. At this age the students really need to be accountable for their choices and reap the consequences of not being responsible.
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Solution #5
By 7th grade the child is able to be responsible for their own work. The parent does not need to have the homework sent to them everyday. They need to hold their child accountable for their own work and make sure they bring it home and get it done every night.
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Solution #6
Maybe a homework packet would be helpful. Try putting a packet together of the homework for the week to send home or via electronically. What might also work is talking with the student on a personal level. Ask them what after school activities they enjoy such as sports. Explain to them they cannot do sports if they do not keep their grades up. You could always speak with a team member or a previous teacher the student has had and see if this is a new issue or reoccurring it may help with the next step.
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Solution #7
So many classrooms are using a flipped classroom model where content is uploaded to a digital format before it is given to the students. Sometimes students are in a home environment that requires students to have many responsibilities. Check with your student. Does he/she have to baby-sit siblings while parents work multiple jobs. Maybe weekends are the only times that the student has time with parent support. Posting to a class blog, website, google classroom, etc may be a new Tier 1 approach for students.
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Solution #8
It is necessary to reach out to the parents.
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Solution #9
I would suggest getting a weekly planner so that the student is able to write down the homework assignments in it as well as check it every night. You could also suggest to the parent to ask the student to see the planner every night to make sure that they do their homework.
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Solution #10
Respectfully let her know that there are rules and expectations for homework. it is not fair that the student is getting more time.
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Solution #11
Try reasoning with her and helping her understand that although her child is a serious priority of yours, so are all of the other students you teach and you get very, very little time in your day to send an electronic copy of the homework. Also, it is simply not fair to the other students.
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Solution #12
I believe 7th graders should be held responsible for their own work. I would mention that you are doing this to benefit the students and prepare them for high school. Also mention that you have a classroom full of other students as well who turn their homework in on time. Mention that you can be understanding if it was not every week.
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Solution #13
I suggest letting your principal know about this and any action you do take, so that the administration can have your back. You surely had a syllabus at the start of the year. Refer the parents to that. It should have something about homework requirements. Use tact and tell the parent that you cannot comply with the parent's request.
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Solution #14
Explain to the parent that you cannot give the child special treatment because this is unfair to the other students as well as something that is not allowed. Maybe post an electronic copy of the homework on a website for all the students so it'll still be fair. The student is old enough to be held accountable for their actions at this point.
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Solution #15
I think you should start to let his lack of homework reflect on his grade. It's not fair to other students who do their work on time to let him keep having extra time. Maybe a poor report card would be a wake up call to his mother.

I do not think that this solution is best. The student needs help and maybe something is going on where the student is unable to complete the work. I think starting by talking to the student is the best choice.

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Solution #16
Just politely say that unfortunately I will not be able to provided them via email.
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Solution #17
I would plan a parent-teacher conference with his mom. I would have data of past assignments and anecdotal evidence of the student missing assignments. I would also provide the student's mother with an outline of the homework for the first semester? It may be diffficult to plan that far ahead, but maybe you could provide her with a weekly calendar of the homework assignments.

If the child does not have an IEP plan you are not legally responsible to do so.It would also be unfair to the other students that complete their assignments on time. I would kindly email the parent and explain the reasoning to her. I would also encourage her to continue help her child and let them know the importance of doing their homework regularly.

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