Can you justify this one?? Hey teach!

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On the face of it, the teacher seems out line. However, we are getting this info third hand at best. There may be more to the story than what we see. Several points to consider:

Did the class get disrupted?
Does this child have a history of pushing the envelope, staying just within the bounds, but just so, in the most irritatingway possible?
Why didn't this kid (a perfect student) have a pencil with an eraser available?
Did the teacher intend this as an object lesson for a student who is perpetually unprepared?
Does the teacher have a grudge against this student or parent?
Were other students given the same treatment?
Were the rules made clear before the exam?
What is the school's policy on makeup work? Is it applied fairly? Are finals allowed to be made up if a zero is given?
Why would a teacher be outside the classroom, vetting what the kids brought into the class?
Did this all really happen before the test started?
Why does a student get sent home for failing an exam?
Why is the kid sent to the principal, if the only thing he did was bring an eraser to class?
 
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Barring any mitigating factor your son might be concealing from you, and painful as it might be, it might be. Check with the teacher and directly ask why your son was given an F for this test. Write down the teachers answer word for word and keep careful notes at every step complete with dates and times. It may be important later. Ask clarifying questions like, "So what you're saying is ..." Keep your voice in control at all times. Listen carefully to the tone of the teacher's voice, if on the phone. Watch non-verbals if face to face. Does this person seem reasonable? Rational? Responsible? Or rogue? What is your gut telling you?

But let's say that what your son told you is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He brought an eraser to an exam which wasn't on the list of approved items and so had his test taken away ans was given an F. Here's where I would go next.

This teacher needs to justify his/her actions which to me seem extreme to the nth degree. As a parent, I would take it to the administration and request/demand this teacher's rationale for failing a student for bringing an eraser to a math test. I'd like to know if that's a department policy, a high school policy, a district policy or simply a classroom policy. My guess is that it's an "I said so" policy. If so, I would also ask to see where where and how students and parents were notified of this policy. This consequence for an "I said so" policy is too harsh and is contrary to all common sense. We want to foster good critical thinkers here and not a group-think mentality. "Obey me" is not good teaching.

If the administrator fully supports the teacher in this, I would go to the superintendent and then the individual school board members and plead my case. Simply put, I would shake every tree in the district until justice reigns. I would even go to the local paper and tell some reporter. They love stories like this.

Don't be chicken. Fight for this one. It's the right thing to do.
 
Going back through the discussion, if the student hadn't even walked into the room for the test yet, the proper response should have been, "Joey, no erasers are allowed unless they are attached to a pencil. Put it back into your pack."

The reason we give tests to students is to assess their mastery of the material. One would think that's what her goal was as well. Instead, she seemed to be assessing their ability to follow pre-exam instructions - one that she determined would be a simple pass/fail exam - and your son happened to fail.

Why in the world would she not want to know if he learned the material contained in her test? This seems crazy to me, and yet my path has crossed with others like her over the past few years.

Jerks exist in every field and profession. It just drives me nuts when they happen to be in mine. Makes me have to work doubly hard to establish confidence and respect from my students, their parents, my administrators, and my community.
 
I have WHAT in my yard? :

He had not yet walked into the testing room. I don't know where the eraser was, but all of the kids were stowing their gear and then going into the room for the exam, she stopped him from going in.

I will be sure to let you all know what comes of the meeting with the teacher and administrator/principle. Mom is meeting with them Monday mid morning. I don't think the teacher needs harsh reactions either. I just think the teacher has a bug up her hiney for some reason.......

I would make sure the boy was there too. No point in having another one sided meeting. And I would ask to record the meeting. That way you have what is said an can go up the line or to the media. If they say no just write everything you can down.

If the two disagree about what happened I would ask that they both choose someone who saw what happened to come in to the meeting.

No reason to fail someone on a big test unless are not there at all or they are caught cheating.​
 
When we take exams, the teachers always ask us if our pencils are sharp and we have erasers. If not, they'll find a sharp pencil with an eraser for us. We're supplied two #2 pencils, that way everyone has the same thing. We're not allowed to use our own.
I think the teacher went a bit overboard. To fail an exam because you could erase your mistakes, that's really sad. All the other kids probably had erasers on their pencil, so what's the difference? I thought they WANTED us to do well? Perhaps the kid should have been a bit more prepared and made sure he didn't leave without a good pencil. But still! Everyone makes mistakes.

I would also like to know how the heck this kid is a freshman with AP Cal. That's one crazy smart kid! We have to take Algebra I, II, and Geometry before we can even take Calculus. Much less AP!
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As a teacher, I am constantly dismayed at the lengths some in my profession will go to in order to demonstrate a principle, teach kids responsibility, or increase rigor, as they claim to be doing. So many things just seem to be mean and spiteful. I really think some of them just sit around and think of ways they can make school harder for students. Yes, I want rigor in my classroom. Yes, I want my students to learn. I consider it my job to trick them into learning without ever realizing how rigorous it was. I want them to learn and to be successful in my room, not to see how many ways I can stump them. If we are not there to support students and to facilitate their learning, they we should not be there. I have to say the teacher went way overboard on this one. Use a little common sense. Sheesh.
 
Just to reiterate - this is third hand at best, this is not MY child.... Not my call on how it is handled. The mother is a minister and I did just find out that she belongs to the Episcopal church and the teacher belongs to one of the sects that think that the church is wrong. Really made me wonder.....


Nobody is perfect and no child is even close. But they shouldn't be expected to be. I just wanted to see if others could identify a reason.......

He's not my son, but he is what I would want my son to be like if I had one.
 
As a foster parent I've made several trips to the school for many reasons. I always ask a ton of questions first with all parties present. Then go after someone like a bulldog on fresh steak.
I even had one teacher quit the day of the meeting with the meeting as the reason.She may have been guiltless, I'll never know.
 

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