I am applying to boarding schools for the 2018-19 academic year. I told me current mathematics teacher to write me a letter of recommendation for two schools before the January 15th deadline. She assured me that she would do it. Now that the deadline has passed and I have reminded her a lot about it, out of the blue she said that she is too busy and can’t do it. What should I do?
BTW, I had told her about the recommendation around December 1st
You TOLD her to write you a letter??
I would refuse as well, I have a boss. It isn’t any of the teenage kids I teach.
As to what you can do, I would suggest asking your guidance counselor.
I may have worded it wrong, I ASKED her to do it and she happily accepted at the time.
And as for asking my guidance counselor, the schools require one from my current mathematics teacher.
Is it possible that this last semester did not go well in terms of grading?–tests, homework, class participation? Is something going on in her life that may have made your recommendation letter a low priority? You need to talk to your guidance counselor. Your GC will have greater insight and solutions.
You/your parents need to reach out to the guidance counselor (or principal) to run interference on this. Although I agree that you should ask (sounds like you did), IMO it is also part of the teacher’s job to do such things. It comes with the territory of being a teacher. Obviously, you want to make things as smooth as possible so she doesn’t write a bad review.
Public middle school teacher?
Hopefully you have at least one good letter. You won’t be the first student where a teacher didn’t have time to write a letter. Because they all require a Math teacher rec, reach out to the school and ask what can be done. Good Luck!
Wow, that’s harsh. I think bjkmom is harsh too in the sense of being the boss. OK, so you as a teacher Bjkmom don’t take direction from the kids. What about from the administration? The parents? Anyone else who doesn’t do what you say? Or do you just silence them through inaction?
You have to realize that kids in 8th grade aren’t always that polished. As a parent, I have seen many teachers bully kids. They use the power of their jobs to lord it over the kids and maybe even write bad recommendations because they are frustrated and don’t want to do them. Sad really. If this teacher or any other doesn’t like being a teacher, then chose another profession. My mom was a teacher and made sure kids who were talented in art made it to art school ( helped with portfolios, took them to the school even). She taught in an innner city school because she could make the most impact there. And her legacy was goodwill and kindness. And many college graduates who would never have made it otherwise! This situation makes me really sick as a parent. You can always say something nice about someone. Maybe the kid has a great sense of humor. Or something else. IMHO, that teacher should be reprimanded or put on leave for not completing something so important with enough notice given. This is a reason why teachers need to be accountable. Outrageous to treat a kid that way. All that said, I am assuming the poster asked respectfully. They did give plenty of time.
A teacher may be unfamiliar with uploading the forms to the portals. One teacher thought he submitted the form but we discovered it hadn’t actually been uploaded to SAO.
@Happytimes2001 the way you phrased your post seems like you might be picking on @bjkmom and I’m sure you didn’t mean to. We are all sometimes inartful in how we post. I just want to say that I’ve read plenty of posts by her and she seems like she’s a very devoted teacher and mom, and goes the extra mile including offering to look at essays for strangers on this website if they get them to her over the summer.
Recommendation letters are a favor, not a right. They are not required by the teacher’s contract with the school, nor part of his/her regular duties. It might help if teens recognized that.
In our school system they are a requirement per the union. It is in their contract including dates due. They have to be otherwise would not get written. Many kids go private and it is a lot of work. While I have sincere respect for the teaching profession in some school systems especially small ones kids don’t have other options. There is one teacher and if they don’t agree to write a rec that kid cannot pursue private education: completely unacceptable. As for previous post, My apologies for bringing my own baggage re: teachers with an agenda to the discussion. I have been there and do not think it professional to treat anyone in a manner you would not treat your own family. Teachers and students alike. So it struck a nerve.
Then in your district, good recommendation letters are a favor. One can always fill out a form with little to no praise, which fulfills the contract duty (and may be quite accurate). Both parties should treat each other with respect in this transaction.
@youchose04 This is just an observation but December 1st seems really late to place your request.
We had to hound the teachers-one was nice and apologetic and eventually did it and the other was insanely nasty about including a rude email outlining all of the other work they had to do before this was even a priority. I think there is often a public school chip on the shoulder about these things.
Thanks @melvin123 , for your defense.
For what it’s worth, in 32 years as a high school teacher, I’ve never refused to write a letter. Some years I have between 35 and 40 to write. And I won’t write more than 2 at a sitting, so they don’t begin to sound too similar to each other. Last year I had a kid in my SAT class who said he would have fptrouble getting two letters, and I volunteered to. Write him one if he really needed it— he didn’t.
Feel free to check some of my old posts, written during summer vacation, as I tried to find that something special to write about each kid.
And I agree… those letters are part of my job, a part I take seriously. We write our letters in the spring and summer so they will be ready for the fall admissions cycle, as do many schools.
So, no, I don’t consider myself to be unprofessional. Cold hearted or a bully.
My point was merely that a request is a different matter from an order. And a December request is an entirely different matter from one in April…December’s is a busy time for us too.
Interesting discussion regarding dates to request recommendation letters. My son attends a private K-8 school, and they have different teachers for Math & English in 7th and 8th grade. He could not have requested recommendation letters last Spring because he has different teachers in both subjects than he had last year. The schools my son applied to made it clear that recommendations must come from current year teachers in those subjects. Our school set December 1st as a deadline for the kids to request teacher recommendations - my son asked each of his teachers in early November. I remember as I looked on one school’s application checklist, they specifically recommended asking for teacher recommendations after November 1st (or maybe it even said November 15th, I can’t remember now). I assume they said that because they would like the teachers to have a good sense of your current work in English & Math. As far as I can tell based on the SAO submission dates, my son’s teachers submitted them after midterms in December, but before the Christmas holiday.
In any respect, I’m sorry to hear that the OP has had such trouble getting a math recommendation. I would hope that the schools OP is applying to will show some flexibility and understanding regarding a delayed submission. I also agree that working with the administration is appropriate to help move the process along.
Center I feel your pain re: chip on the shoulder of public school teachers. However, I did request that my kid ask the teachers in early November. Giving them at least two months seemed reasonable and everything was received on time. Some did them right away and some did them in January. But all were on time. I did think the forms were pretty easy to fill out but a great recommendation does take time, I’d imagine. Too bad it has to be an issue. I wonder how kids that apply to many many schools make out if they are looking for many recommendations in various iterations.
“I wonder how kids that apply to many many schools make out if they are looking for many recommendations in various iterations.”
I don’t see a need for various iterations. One size should fit all at least it worked fine for when my kids went through the process.
We are still waiting for some recommendations to get written and submitted. Like many regular people, teachers sometimes procrastinate too, and then the school computer system goes down for a week, and before you know it they’re all late…
Fortunately most admissions departments seem to be patient. We are also waiting for first semester grades to post – they won’t be available for several more days, and it seems the vendor that calculates/tabulates grades is also having issues in preparing transcripts. Oh well…