Yes, I finally did it. I have taken all the kid’s electronics from them.  I hated to do it, but I knew it had to be done.  I am sure everyone by now knows how strict I am when it comes to school and grades. I was left without any other option.  Middle school is no joke!  The last couple of years I have tried to explain to the kids that the teachers actually require more out of them. They also are not there to baby them and keep reminding them when things need to be turned in.  If you saw my rant on Facebook Yesterday, I am sure you know this is a follow up from that post.  If not let me explain, I am a grade stalker! I log in and look at my kids grades daily; I even have the app on my phone that sends me notifications when grades are entered into the system.  So I am aware of grades even before the kids know what they made.

Yesterday morning, I noticed that a couple of the things that needed a grade were marked missing!  So I sent the teachers a quick email following up. Each teacher responded back very fast. I learned that they were behind in updating the system. However, I still noticed that some of the grades in my son’s Honors class were not adding up. I knew for a fact he done his homework. I watched him do it!  Come to find out he didn’t turn the 2^nd part in so he had 2 grades showing 50%!  Luckily the teacher was nice enough to ask him about it during class and get the 2^nd part.   So now I am waiting for the grades to update again.  With two homework grades at a 50% it dropped his A to an 87%. Some might not think that’s a big deal.  I know he doesn’t either, but I do!  Especially when I know, he did it and 2 he knows his stuff. Plus his homework is an easy 100! So there is no excuse! Then I decided to check with his social studies teacher about a grade that has been missing for a couple of weeks now. She tells me he still hasn’t turned it in. So, now he has lied to my face because he has told me over and over he has turned it in and she is just behind in grading.  This one zero has his class average grade a 76! NO ,NO ,NO! I am not having it.  I try to push for all A’s but the lowest we take in this house is an 85 B and there better be a good reason for even that!   Then we have MATH, His favorite subject of all times. He is struggling this year. Why, I don’t know. To be honest I really don’t think he is even trying.  When we ask he gives me this look like he is confused.  So he has 4 more weeks to bring his math grade up to an 85! All his other classes He is doing pretty well but not where I think they should be. No, I am not asking too much! I know he can do it. If I didn’t know for a fact he couldn’t make an 85 or better trust me I wouldn’t be so hard on him!

With Jas, I am a little more forgiving with her. She has always struggled in school. I know some stuff she really doesn’t get. However, so far this year has been the BEST YEAR EVER! She had a perfect progress report!  BUT, Now I am seeing signs that she is getting back into old habits. Her 100% average in one class is now a 71!! Reason being, she didn’t turn in a homework packet that counted 3 times! So that was 3 zeros and she had 2 test that was 87%.  How many times do I have to tell these kids that Zeros will KILL the average grade! I ask her tonight where this homework packet was and guess what she has no IDEA!

So I decided to pull out the binders. OMG what a mess! They have just been throwing papers in there and not even worrying that they don’t even have them in the right dividers! I went crazy! So we spent an hour organizing them and getting the back in order.  So I decided that I had to make some big changes. I ask them to hand over phones, laptops, game systems, kindles, and yes I cut off the tvs.  They are going to learn today that I am no longer going to give them a pass. I know what they are capable of and it’s not this for sure.  So we are starting a brand new routine around here.  We will be spending all that free time studying instead of wasting time on electronics.

Now here is the real kicker. Basketball tryouts start in 2 weeks. I still haven’t decided if I should let them even try out.  I love them playing sports but my rule has always been grades before sports. Plus if they are struggling now without sports what’s going to happen when they are having practice every night and 1 game per week?  And trust me I am the parent that will pull my child off the team if the grades start dropping. However, that’s not fair for their team mates.  Parents help me out?! They know I am serious about sports and grades so I would have thought they wouldn’t even be testing the waters till at least basketball season IS OVER!