Huge expectations are placed on teachers today.
As well as a good learning experience we hope that our kids are taught kindness, discipline and ultimately to be prepared for the world.
When a group of eighth-grade students never handed in their assignment, social studies teacher DT ignored what she described as a “No Zero” policy at WG School.
Unfortunately her superiors didn’t agree with her policy and fired her.
The ‘no zero’ policy is something many teachers are expected to follow.
That basically means that the lowest possible grade the teacher should give is 50%, even if the student doesn’t hand in ANY assignment at all.
DT has many years experience as a teacher. Her most recent job was as an eighth-grade history teacher at WG School.
DT recently gave her students two weeks to complete an assignment and for those students who didn’t hand their homework in, she gave a zero.
For the first assignment of the semester, DT asked that her students keep a journal, the way a 15th century explorer would, for two weeks. They were required to take down notes about historical events and draw maps in what the teacher of 17-years called an “explorer’s notebook.”
But parents soon started to complain about what they said was too hefty a homework load, DT said.
“I got called down to the principal’s office because parents were not happy with me,” she said. “It was ruining my life for weeks.”
It was during one such visit to the principal’s office that DT learned about the “No Zero” policy, she said.
But when a group in her class didn’t hand the homework in, she said she didn’t think they deserved any credit, let alone 50 percent.
But according to Diane, the school did not agree with this and wanted her to give those students a 50, the lowest possible grade the school has.
DT said she didn’t agree with this and refused to back down. For this, she says, she was fired.
She told WPTV-TV that the principal sent her a letter but did not explain why she was being terminated.
After, she wrote this goodbye message to her students on the whiteboard.
It read, “Bye kids, Mrs. DT loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in. Mrs. DT.”
She said an administrator erased the message, but that she just rewrote it, snapped a photo and posted it on Facebook
DT later shared her story on Facebook.
Her story is going viral and she hopes all schools will change this policy.
“The reason I took on this fight was because it was ridiculous. Teaching should not be this hard. Teachers teach content, children do the assignments to the best of their ability and teachers grade that work based on a grading scale that has been around a very long time. Teachers also provide numerous attempts to get the work collected so they can give a child a grade. By nature, most teachers are loving souls who want to see students succeed. We do above and beyond actual teaching to give them the support they need. Are we perfect? NO. We make mistakes like all other human beings, but I know teachers work their butts off to help children to be the best people they can be!!!”
Most of the people who came across DT’s story are praising her for her decision to object to something she believes is not right and contradicts her grading system.
Source:
en.stories.newsner.com, nypost.com, boreddaddy.com
