Another thought before you do anything. I would ask your son if there is a kid in the classroom who sets other kids up to get in trouble. There are always a few lurking about. Taking pics of his notebook in the future as suggested earlier is a wise idea.

Are you really sure the notebook is missing? For how long? How hard did the teacher and/or your son look? Where did they look?

Teaching that age group (and even older), I've learned that "lost" is usually not lost.

Middle schoolers "lose" their backpacks every single day, which really just means they forgot where they put it in the hallway. Hell, one of my juniors was panicking yesterday because she couldn't find her Chinese textbook. I unzipped her backpack while it was still on her back and there it was, just buried under some crumpled papers.

I'd urge your son and the teacher to look for it again before accusing anyone of malfeasance OR making your son do a bunch of work for no reason.

If your son's school has open-top desks with storage inside, I'd start there....

Go nuclear option and let the teacher know you're getting the police involved to conduct an investigation as to why the notebook has been presumably stolen.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
If I were in your place, and I knew for sure that the notebook had been placed in the basket, I would escalate this.

You say that your son is a straight A student. I assume that this means that he has no history of failing to turn in assignments. If so, that record is ammunition for you.

I think this is a fine time to take the issue to the principle! If that person does not correct the situation, then on to the next higher position. This is a great time for the son to learn to fight back against wrong-doers, and do it within the system.

I assume that the parent has already raised hell with the teacher. I would have!

From the description, it is not the kid's fault and no reason he should be penalized.

quote:

If they are at all a good teacher,

No good teacher would pull that crap!

And what would this "good teaher's" purpose be for not letting the kids take their work home?

Is she/he trying to prep them for gubbermint control!

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Go nuclear option and let the teacher know you're getting the police involved to conduct an investigation as to why the notebook has been presumably stolen.

Me likey!!

It doesn't sound like your son is responsible for the safekeeping of the notebook so he shouldn't be responsible for it missing.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
You may be right, but do not forget who will likely pay the consequences if the teacher becomes angry with you.

Things such as this happen in school as well as the workplace. As a parent with children it is important to pick your battles. You do not want to be known as a helicopter parent.
Remember it is 6th grade.

Screw that....if my child is in the wrong I have no issue with him being punished. This does not sound like it's the case. I would schedule a meeting with the teacher and her boss.

I have told this story before......My middle son had a teacher say something inappropriate to him. I wrote the Principal asking him about it....he choose not to respond

I found the email for the chairman of the state senate education committee and wrote to him....surprise surprise the principal responded the next day and the teacher apologized.

I have no issue addressing REAL issues with the school...they work for me

That being said I do not sweat the small stuff and am certainly not a "helicopter" parent

This scenario reminds me of the JOYS of having my son in a private school. When he was in the 8th grade, a similar thing happened to him. He felt so wronged, and I had to agree with him, so I scheduled an appointment with his teacher and the principal. In the end, I had presented evidence and made an inarguable point. The teacher had to apologize and restore my son's grade.

When the school is looking at losing a student's tuition, they are much more reasonable.

From an A student to a C student because of a missing notebook...sounds like something else is missing. Maybe time to meet with the teacher in person and find out exactly how that A to C drop happened, what was the time frame? I would ask to see his test scores during this time frame, if possible the actual test with score on it, to see if everything matches up. If the test scores are not A's but significantly lower, it could represent an underlying problem...such a bullying, it wouldn't surprise me at all if some other student who is not so smart plays pranks on your "smart son" like hiding his note book, or making fun of your son to the point he's afraid to do well. You OP are 110% correct in looking out for your son...if I may ask is this a public or private school?

What I don't get...is how a teacher who has an A student would over a lost or misplaced note book (of which supposedly never left the classroom), would take a position of:

"The teacher says tough crap, you lost it".

"You lost it, too bad".

Could the teacher be punishing your kid over something? Try talking to your son, see if there could be any underlying reasons that he hasn't mentioned to you yet that may account for the drop in grades.

He doesn't have a phone, so pics are out. The drop to a C grade is because of all the zeroes he is going to have from all the missing notebook entries. His tests are all 100% A+ as well as all of his other assignments. He may get in trouble for talking too much but he is never in any real trouble, and most of his teachers love him.

My first thought was that he lost it, he has a tendency to lose things as most 12 year olds do. And believe me I am the first in line to tell him he is screwed when he loses something he is responsible for. But he says he knows 100% he put his in the basket. It's not in his locker or backpack, and he says he looked all around the area where the baskets are.

I am willing to concede he has to rewrite the work, it was never checked or graded before it was lost, and like it or not it's gone now. It's a shitty thing but sometimes in life you have no choice. But, I'm saying from now on he holds on to it, screw leaving it in the classroom.

There is no way to know if the teacher, the son, or another student is responsible for the notebook being missing. The only sensible thing is to have him make up the work.

Presumably the teacher checked the notebooks periodically and would know that it wasn't empty before it went missing?

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Go nuclear option and let the teacher know you're getting the police involved to conduct an investigation as to why the notebook has been presumably stolen.

I had to use this option once when my son was in school. Involve the Principal, the teacher may soon learn the error of their ways. Our case involved an expensive text book. Turned out to be one of the usual classroom criminals.

Some teachers are complete buttheads.

This is bullshit and doesn’t make sense. For a teacher to drop a straight A student to a C based on a lost notebook that he isn’t allowed to maintain possession of is simply unfair. Something else is up here, and it may be end of year exhaustion on the teacher’s end. Your kid may simply be getting the butt end of the year’s frustration, just for something disappearing at the wrong time. Maybe the teach is trying to be fair across the board and little Johnny lost his notebook, too, so she’s applying the rules equally across the board.
I’d delve into it if I were you. Your son needs your backing.

At this point I would start to be more concerned with the teacher. How can a student be 100% responsible for something that is not in their care. It seems way over the top to just assume your son lost it and arrive at such a harsh penalty, especially when he has no history of poor performance.

A million things could have happened to it without your son even knowing about it. A total horse shit response from the teacher. Believe me I’m not one of the many on this forum that thinks every public school teacher is horrible. I’m one of the few people in my family who is not a teacher and I see first hand the effort, personal time and money not to mention true caring that many teachers put into their profession. This one definitely made a poor judgement call and it needs to be addressed.

Wow. Something similar happened to me in Sixth Grade. Had three IDIOT teachers who had a "pentalty box" that people who didn't do thier homework or scored low would have to go sit in for the whole day. No chairs, no desks, had to carry all your stuff over to the "the box" and sit on the floor with everyone else (some days it was overflowing). Up to this point I had never had to go in "the box". Well my mother had a lousy parent teacher conference with my teacher (basically told her their teaching methods were horrible) and magically the very next day my homework (I usually got mine done before I left school) was missing from my desk. So I ended up in the box....spending the day sitting next to Mimi Dishino, a very good looking young lady (even in the 6th grade she blossomed early and never looked back). Tell my parents what happened and my dad gave me a lockable briefcase. The teacher sure did a double take when I put my homework in the briefcase and locked it. Strangely, my homework never went missing the rest of the school year and the three IDIOT teachers were all let go at the end of the school year due to lots and lots of parent complaints.

If it stays in the classroom, put it in a lockable briefcase.

Ask the teacher if she leaves her purse in an unsecured condition and area.

The teacher should have been checking the coursework periodically, the notebook wasn't in your son't possession and he should (at the very least) be allowed to make up the work.

I have an anecdotal story to share from 6th grade no less, which I look back to and smile. In Home Ec that grade, we were tasked with constructing pillows using different design kits. The objective was to teach us how to sow at various angles, with alternating threads/weave types and with different materials. The projects were kept in assigned cubicles within the classroom. I was put at a disadvantage b/c someone was occasionally pulling the thread out of my work-in-progress. I complained to the teacher who did bupkis. The semester came and went... and I never finished the pillow. A couple weeks into the next semester, after we had moved on to "Cooking", I received my report card and it had an I for incomplete. This would convert to an F if remedial work wasn't done. I was afraid to show my parents but hiding the grade was out of the question and, upon coming home, I confessed to my Mom what happened. She literally said "Don't worry about it." I didn't know what to think but found out the following summer what happened, via Mom, after the grade somehow came up as a C for that semester:

The Home Ec teacher had apparently called my father at work saying there was an emergency and that he + Mom were to meet with her at school that afternoon. The emergency turned out to be the Incomplete (a week before the report card was issued) and the teacher described its rationale. According to Mom, my father looked the teacher in the eye and said "Let me get this straight. You called me here on the basis of an "emergency" to tell me my son didn't finish a sewing project, one that he complained to you due to (most likely some other kid's) interference. You did nothing until now. Meanwhile my son continues to get straight A's in every other class, including math & science. Here's my answer: my son's wife will do the sewing for him or he'll pay for a pre-constructed pillow on his own b/c the skills he's developing in other classes society sure as hell values over those you're teaching."
When the teacher looked at my Mom for support, her response (again straight from her mouth to my ears) was: "Don't look at me. I support his [my father's] opinion... why don't you teach practical sewing skills, like how to fix a button or repair a zipper. Finally, I suggest you reward my son for his effort versus yours. Got it?"

She must have and while it's the only C I've ever received in a course in my life, it's one that I fondly recall b/c my parents fought on my behalf - explaining to a lazy teacher how society really works.

Go Get'em!

quote:

Originally posted by FenderBender:
Penalizing your son for her negligence is not acceptable.

THIS. Go talk to the principle immediately. How could your son be responsible for loss of a notebook he never took possession of, because it never left the teachers class and supervision??? You wouldn't be responsible for a book in the library until you take it OUT of the library.

I would be professional, avoid making smart comments, and insist on scheduling a session with the teacher and principal present with you and your son. I would present his statement that he left it there, ask if teacher had nonstop observation of the notebooks during all classes, lunch, breaks, etc, and then demand sensible remedies be explored. Cooler heads will prevail.