<p>I am an AP lit teacher and because my D is applying to some of the same schools as my students, I am not writing recs this year.</p>
<p>The junior AP teacher is writing most of the recs for the class. Here is his method: he dictates the letter to the student and they have to type it themselves. He tells them what to put on the checklist part. He will not do any recs online.</p>
<p>Is this common? When I do recs, I type them and fill out the form myself. I give the student a copy of their letter to show parents.</p>
<p>I am an AP lit teacher and because my D is applying to some of the same schools as my students, I am not writing recs this year.</p>
<p>Perhaps you should have also declined to teach AP lit as well, since it is generally part of a teachers job, especially an AP teachers job, to write recommendations for college.</p>
<p>Is this common? When I do recs, I type them and fill out the form myself. I give the student a copy of their letter to show parents.
I don’t think this is common, but then again my childrens instructors were given an envelope for their recommendation & it was signed and sealed before receipt.</p>
<p>I think it is fine to limit your recommendations, but students should be told at beginning of school year.</p>
Really? Since when? I’m not a teacher, but it seems to me that as a teacher, as in any other line of work, one should be able to forgo writing recommendations for anyone for whatever reason they choose.</p>
<p>I do agree the class should be made aware of the situation at the beginning of the year so they can make informed choices and other plans if necessary.</p>
<p>The people you need to be speaking with are your department head and/or administrator if you have concerns about the recommendation practices of the jr AP teacher. As you are a teacher there, you should already know what is appropriate at your school and what the proper protocol is.</p>
<p>“Here is his method: he dictates the letter to the student and they have to type it themselves. He tells them what to put on the checklist part. He will not do any recs online.”</p>
<p>I don’t think this is common, but I don’t see a problem with it as long as he reviews it for accuracy and edits as necessary before signing off on it. </p>
<p>My guess is that he is doing this because he can’t type!</p>
<p>Since she works at a private school & since AP instruction is often assumed for application to private colleges, it is also usually part of the job description.</p>
<p>I hope her declining to write recommendations was presented to administration and her dept with enough time so that the other teachers are not having to take on her share of the work without advance notification.</p>
<p>Does your daughter attend the school where you teach?<br>
Is your daughter in your class? I can understand the conflict of interest in not being able to write a recommendation for yoru daughter (or as a matter of fact have her in yoru class). </p>
<p>However, unless you know that you cannot objectively write recommendations for the rest of the senior class and you have told your administration that you cannot do this, I do not understand why you are not writing recommendations for any student who asks for one.</p>
<p>Using this logic, this means that every high school teacher, GC, or administrator who has a child in the college process should forgo writing recommendations on the off chance that another student is applying to the same school as their child. Not.</p>
<p>No my daughter does not go to the school where I teach. The students were informed the first day of class and it only affects about 5 students who wanted my recommendation. The other teachers were informed as well and knew the students better anyway–they had them an entire year.</p>
<p>I usually only write less than 10 recs a year. We are at a public hs where most of the students stay in the state and don’t need recs.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your input. I was just wondering if students normally type their own letters or not.</p>
<p>To specifically answer your question - I would find it rather unusual for a student to type their own rec. letter. Generally they are kept private - the student does not read it - let alone type it! This teacher sounds extremely lazy to me.</p>
<p>While it is not something that I would do, there is nothing wrong with what the Jr. Ap teacher is doing (he’s a bit lazy, but he would not be the first lazy teacher that I have run across). </p>
<p>As long as he is willing to take ownership and accountablity for the recommendations that goes out in his/her name, it is fine. He would not be the first teacher to collaborae on a recommendation with a student. There is no rule that states students cannot read their recommendations if the the teacher is willing to let them read the recommendations (you just can’t force a teacher to share the recommendation if s/he does not want to share what has been written). I think he should maintain an electronic copy in the event that recommendation needs to be edited or ammended.</p>
<p>When you come to think about it, there is precious little difference between having the kid do the physical typing of a letter that the teacher would have given the kid a copy of, and the teacher doing they typing then handing the kid a copy. I think it speaks very highly of the teacher that he is willing to communicate directly, face-to-face with the students, about his evaluation of their potential and their abilities. Rather than an unjust burden on the student, they should recognize the honor that they are being given by this teacher. He must truly hold them in great esteem.</p>
<p>If your daughter is not at the school where you teach I would think that you owe it to your students to be able to write objective letters of recommendation. You are not in any way comparing your child to your students and as their current English teacher I think it is reasonable to expect that you could give the college the most current snapshot of a student’s ability. A lot of maturing takes place between junior and senior year, why should your students have to rely on the recommendation of a teacher who taught them a year ago?</p>
<p>I’m going to completely disagree. The recommendation by the teacher is meant to be an honest assessment of the student’s performance in class. How honest is the teacher going to be able to be if the student is allowed to read it? How honest is the teacher going to be if the parents get to read it? I realize practices differ from one school to the next - but I feel the teacher needs confidentiality in order to give the most accurate assessment of the student.</p>
<p>Thanks happymom! that is a good way to look at it. They are a really good class and this other teacher does, in fact, hold them in high esteem. I appreciate the response.</p>
<p>And why can’t a honest assessment/feedback be given face to face? One enters the world of work an gets an annual review performance appraisal. They are written and given face to face. Do you think that the assessment would not be honest?</p>
<p>The assessment, recommendation letter should come as no great suprise to the student.</p>
<p>^ I would argue here that the difference in the situation given above, you work for the company and under the supervision of the boss that is giving the review.</p>
<p>In the case of teachers, they are giving a review to a student whose parents employ them, most significantly in the private school arena. They should have the ability, for once, to give an honest and accurate recommendation of that student, without the fear of emails from students, parents, departments heads, or administrators kicking up a storm asking why they did not give Suzie a more glowing review, and don’t forget who signs your paychecks. If you don’t think this happens, you are mistaken.</p>
<p>It’s not a perfect system, but it’s better than having teachers pressured because they don’t want to be questioned on every single word choice.</p>
<p>I also think that recommendation letters should be sent from the teacher to the college and not made available to the student and parents in question.</p>
<p>I also think that unless a teacher really can’t recommend a student they should be able to write a letter of recommendation for their student. If an AP English teacher has 5 kids does that mean that for half a decade he/she can’t be expected to write letters of recommendation? If you feel that you cannot fairly represent the seniors from your school because you have a child who is a senior somewhere else, perhaps you should teach another grade level until all your children have graduated.</p>
<p>In a close decision to admit/waitlist/deny I can imagine an admissions officer possibly wondering why the jr. teacher and not the AP teacher was asked for recommendation - if this isn’t covered, the admissions officer might take this as a sign of senioritis. Letters dictated by the jr. year teacher just don’t inspire a sense of concern or thoughtful evaluation as you describe them and I’d be willing to bet they are more ‘run of the mill’ than stellar endorsements of exceptional students. If your school didn’t have AP English or used some other honors program of their own I don’t think the question would be as likely to come up, but when the student’s transcript clearly shows enrollment in an AP class and no recommendation from the AP teacher, in my mind it raises the question whether or not the student is doing well in the most rigorous coursework.</p>
<p>Many, many of the teachers in our h.s. have kids who apply to college. I have never heard of any teacher not writing recommendations on that basis. It never dawned on me that this might be an issue, or that a teacher might not be able to do an objective assessment because of his/her own child. Then again, our community does not seem to operate like that. I suppose I have to be grateful!
And, I think that the OP needs to be grateful that someone is picking up the slack in this situation. I think that next year, the OP should offer to do as many recommendations as possible, and should also work to increase collaboration and cooperation in his or her community.</p>