Missing Work Reports- Is It Normal

This teacher is honestly stating that work is missing and could be due her loss or the students' loss.

She is rare. Many teachers would hide the fact that they could be the culprit.

Kudos to the teacher.

Part of school is learning organizational skills and personal responsibility. Sometimes teachers misplace things that are handed in. I've done it myself. Papers slip out of the paper clip as they get moved in and out of bags. Or it gets put in the wrong pile. But more often then not, I have found that the student didn't finish it, didn't hand it in, or didn't put a name on it. Even the most responsible students have it happen once in awhile.

At one time, I had 15 math assignments hanging up on the board because they didn't have a name on them. I finally threw them away because they hung there for weeks and not one of my 3rd graders came up to look and see if any of them were theirs. Another time while helping a student find a missing assignment in his desk we found 7 assignnents that he had never turned in. He had just spent a week redoing those same 7 assignments because he couldn't find them. I one time had a parent curse at me and swear she was going to get me fired because I hadn't let her know that her son was missing some assignments. Try not to blame the teacher. If there are 25+ students in the classroom who are handing in several assignments each day, that's a lot of paper to handle. She/he can't spend a lot of time checking student desks or trying to track down things.

Talk with your daughter about how important it is to keep track of things. Work on organizational skills at home like getting her backpack ready every night. It is a skill that just needs to develop. Sadly, some kids never do develop it.

I'm confused by your what happened comments. In saying that you think the school is disorganized do you really mean that you think the teacher is disorganized? Did the teacher just send a note to all parents saying there were missing assignments or was the note specifically about your child?

This sounds like an insane amount of administrative work for a first grader. I can't believe it's all that critical, frankly. We never had this level of admin for homework for first graders in either the classes my son attended or the schools where I taught. I'm not saying that kids shouldn't start learning to be responsible, but endless focus on grades at this age really interferes with learning!

If you only got an erroneous email about assignments for a combined classroom, that would be one thing. But having to take a math test over when the teacher KNEW your child had taken it? No way. I would have just skipped it and averaged out the rest of the child's work to determine the grade. And in first grade, the report cards are usually based on skill mastery (with designations like "not yet" and "emerging" and "proficient") rather than As and Bs or number grades.

Short term, I guess you have to hold all returned homework in a folder and start labeling it by subject or date or whatever - seems like a huge nuisance. I'd also check with the teacher and, if you don't get a clear answer, with the principal as to whether this is a school-wide policy and record-keeping problem, or if it's unique to this teacher. Long term, if this is ongoing, I'd have a serious sit-down with the administration about how these policies of grading and make-up work benefit the youngest students, and whether a teacher's time might be better spent on more creative lesson plans. If the teacher is losing things, then this needs to be dealt with. As you've explained it, no, it's not normal.

It IS normal for teachers to get really backed up on grading things because there is so much time spent on planning, prep, conferences, IEPs, and more. But I found that, if I took too long to get graded homework back to the kids, its value was lost because we had moved on to other subjects and the mistakes they made couldn't be used to help then learn. So it may be that there's just too darn much paper homework for these kids and the teacher is bogged down and unable to manage it all. Which means she needs to cut way back on the paper and have the kids read for 20 minutes every day for homework!

When I read this, I took it to mean your child is not turning things in, not that the teacher is at fault. How old is your child?

I have 2 kids, ages 16 and 13. For several of the early years, they were in private school (small classrooms of 17 or fewer children). For my eldest, middle school (6th grade) is when he went into public school with classroom sizes much larger (on average over 25, but I don't know exact numbers), and the youngest was in 3rd grade (similar class sizes). They are now a junior in high school and 8th grade.

In ALL of their years in school, between the two of them, there have only been a handful of times that assignments were missing through no fault of the student. A HANDFUL. (most missing assignments were my disorganized son who failed to turn things in on time, although this year he has finally turned that around).
It only has happened once that I recall with our daughter (who is very organized and an exemplary student).

In my personal experience, it is not normal.

That said, with the newer technology, I have noticed that some teachers are VERY late in actually recording grades into the online grade book. Which is annoying in a totally different way. It's not the same thing as missing assignments, but I would imagine that it increases the likelihood of there being missing assignments when things are not recorded promptly. Some of these teachers, as far as I know, still maintain a hard copy grade book, and just enter information into the computer on a schedule, not necessarily as the work is completed/graded.

I would be concerned in your situation. I would be livid if a teacher lost my student's work and required them to retake a TEST as a result. Last year my daughter had to retake on online Test b/c the computer failed to save the work (for the entire class, it wasn't an error on her part)... She didn't retake it until a day or two after the original test, and she didn't do as well as is typical for her. I fully expect that that was a result of rushing through b/c she'd already done it. That irritated me considerably, but it wasn't exactly the teacher's fault, either. So, what can you do.. *shrug* It would have been far more upsetting if it had adversely affected my daughter's grade significantly. She's an honor roll student, so she was fine, but for other students who are walking a fine line with their grades, that sort of thing is not acceptable.

Good luck with this issue. No, not normal.

Jeez. I really don'T understand the intense emotions here. She's only in the 1st grade. Many of the posts compare what has or would happen in higher grades. The two situations are not comparable. One expects more responsibility as the student gets older. First grade is practice. I wish you had told us the reasons the teacher gave you a missing work report and what she expected you to do in response. I doubt she expects you to hunt through papers at home. I suggest you and most of the moms responding is making this more serious than the teacher expected. A couple of missing assignments in first grade is no big deal. I suggest that the purpose of such a report is to let parents know that this has happened as,a part of the process of teaching responsibility. Communication with parents should not be adversarial. I urge you to let go of your anger and work with the teacher. Your intense feelings will affect the way your daughter feels about the teacher and make learning more difficult for her. It will affect your daughter's relationship with the teacher. Even if the teacher is unorganized she is the teacher and deserves respect. A teacher poorly organized when it comes to record keeping can still be a good teacher when it comes to actu ally teaching.

I'm not sure I understand some of what you're saying. How could only 2 of the assignments out of ten be your daughter's? Was it a blanket report listing all student's assignments? I've not heard of teachers doing that. I actually have not heard of missing assignment reports at all except in middle school and those listed missing assignments that the student was responsible for either finding or doing over.

Are you saying that the teacher told you that her work may be missing because the teacher lost it or didn'T record receiving it? If so, I suggest she. Is telling you that missing work is not a problem. She's letting you know so you can pay more attention going forward.

I suggest it's unusual for the teacher to keep track of work page by page in the first grade and then give you a report only after 10 assignments are missed. In my experience in grade school the teacher would let the parent know that assignments are missing as they go a long.

Is your daughter getting graded for her work? If so, that's unusual. My grandchildren's school had something like "meets expections, doesn'T meet and needs improvement." Not those words but something along that line.

I suggest if you check her work every night you would have a better idea of what's happening. I especially suggest checking work regularly because you think you can find it.

Remember first grade is not as serious as in the older grades. Everyone is just started learning. Near perfection is not expected.

Your daughter will fare better if you stop being adversarial. Ask the teacher how much she expects you to check for missing work. Also ask her the purpose of the reports. Perhaps she's suggesting that you be more aware of homework. I suggest you only are responsible for work done at home. If missing work was completed at school I suggest teacher may not be organized and the report was her efforT to get organized. Listen to the teacher's explanation and when you're not clear about what she expects, ask questions.

My grandson has learning disabilities. His mom worked with the teacher to find a way to help him. So, I suggest it's very important to understand the teacher's philosophy.

ETA: your post stated that there were two missing work reports, not that there were ten assignments missing (per your more detailed SWH). Two different situations entirely. I really wish people would put their pertinent info in the original post. If the teacher has communication issues, start documenting now and be in contact on a regular basis. If it's teacher error, it's not the school itself that is disorganized; it's the teacher being distracted or having an issue with organization.

Original post.

Kids this age are learning new levels of responsibility. Handing in their work is part of this development. You say " I'm just not sure how I feel about the fact that there is missing work at all." I'm puzzled as what there is to feel. Either a student did it and handed it in, or didn't hand it in and needs to find it/redo it or get a zero.

Think about it from the teacher's perspective: the work or test wasn't returned to them, they have nothing to grade or mark that it was done. If we were working in an office and a report we compiled wasn't handed to our boss, they would expect us to do it again, right? Or to provide another copy.

This is one of those things I would back the teacher up on. You would be amazed at what kids forget to hand in, shove in their desks because they aren't paying attention, or fall out of folders and live in the bottom of a locker. My own son has sworn up and down to me that he did hand in homework when he most certainly forgot it (in folder, unmarked by teacher). Kids don't always recall things correctly. Talk to your child about making sure their work is handed in to the teacher each and every time. Teachers have a lot to do, looking for missing assignments is not something they have time for.

After reading your SWH, I'd be pretty pissed if I were you. The teacher loses a math test and your child has to retake it? There's not even an apology? You show that the work has been turned in and there is no change in the way she does things?

No, this isn't normal. This is a very disorganized teacher. How she does a good job teaching, I don't know. I'd be all over this, making sure she records my kid's work, if it were me. She'd do a good job for my child just not to have to have me show up in her room twice a week to make sure that everything's recorded.

let me start by saying this one red-flagged me right away because it's just what happened to us in middle school. my older son, a good student and nice fellow, started garnering all these increasingly tight-lipped notices from the teachers that work wasn't being turned in. i was baffled. i knew he was DOING the work. i saw it with my own eyes. and when i asked my ridiculous boy what was up, his pretty blue eyes would go unfocused and he'd say 'oh, i forgot to turn it in.'
to the point where it was clear that something else was going on.
in 99% of cases i think re-doing the work is onerous enough to make a forgetful child more diligent. if, however, both you and the teacher are sure she took the test, i'd be a little tight-lipped myself at her having to re-take it.
so it's possible that your school is ham-handed in its record keeping. but do keep in the back of your mind that your child might be trying to tell you something.
when i talk about it with my now-28 year old he just laughs and says he was pushing the envelope. he liked school for the most part and didn't struggle with his assignments, he was just curious to see how invisible he really was. and he was. he wasn't a problem student, or a brilliant student. he was easy-going, smart and cooperative. when i met with the teachers their brows would furrow for a few seconds while they flipped through the mental index cards and then go 'oh! brian! he's doing great! what's the problem? oh, yes, i remember now, missing assignments........'
he was just falling through the cracks, and he picked up on it way before i did. and for us, the solution was to take his education into our own hands. late in the process, but better late than never.
i'm not trying to project my own situation onto yours. but please do keep your mama antennae up and quivering. sometimes kids don't have the maturity to zero in on what's bugging them.
and of course, some schools are just chaotic.
i hope you sherlock it out soon.
khairete
S.

A test was "missing"? That smacks of disorganization.
I have the worlds most disorganized kid on the planet but even he has never had a TEST missing! Lol

H., I didn't see any information about how old your child is. Nowadays a lot of work is being turned in online. Is she in a situation like that? Perhaps she isn't sending it right? If she is taking a test and the teacher doesn't have it ,but she know the child took it, then hmmm where did the teacher put it?
If it's computer, there are glitches or child doesn't know how to submit.\
If it's a problem with the child being forgetful, leaving work in a locker or whatever, perhaps urge teacher to let child return to locker to find it.
If it's not recorded and it is for certain being turned in then I would do what you are doing and addressing the issue. I am disturbed by the fact that if the teacher said she turned it in and then it went missing, then it's not really your child's fault is it? Why should she take it again?

The only missing reports I have ever heard of was a child had not turned it in.. Or the paper had not been graded and posted yet.

If I recall the Middle ans High School used to remind parents at back to school night, that sometimes, the papers had not all been graded for a certain day or test.. so it would post as though it had not been turned in.

Does that make sense/? SO they told parents if they had questions to email the teachers, but again in high school to remember teacher teach 5 to 6 classes a day with 30 students each class. So give them time to grade and post.

If your child has to stay late to redo a test that the teacher lost, and missing work is a constant problem, I would be upset. I understand that teachers are busy, stuff happens, and they often take papers home to grade at night and on weekends. But she also shouldn't shrug off your child having to re-do a test and similar. She should give your child credit for having done it and turned it in. You should not have to keep a stack of returned work at your home because it was returned unaccounted for. Giving it back and then routinely not recording it and needing you to find it again to prove DD did it is a teacher issue. More than a few weeks back, it would be recycled here, too. If you feel you are not getting a clear answer after meeting with the teacher, talk to the administration.

Also, if your daughter's teacher cannot figure out who owes what work and makes you guess what pertains to DD, then that is a sign of a very disorganized teacher, IMO. At the very least she should know that Suzy is missing 1-5 and Tom 1-4 and John 5-10, etc. How can she track anybody's grades like this?

There were rare occasions where we saw missing work on the kids' reports in Edline in HS, but generally at that age everything was handled by the kid and if it got lost and never turned it, it was probably the kids' fault. I have yet to have a missing work report for DD. She has had 4 teachers now (she has a team) + specials and manages not to have missing work between any of the classes.

It sounds like she hasn't a clue as to what her students are doing or not doing. I'd probably take what she has to say with a grain of salt.