Has anyone requested a specific teacher for their child?

[cwnhokie]

My child is starting Kindergarten in the Fall and I have heard some really good and really not so good things about some of the teachers. Have any of you requested a teacher for your child? Why did you and what were some of the reasons that you included in you letter? Thanks!

 

[powellrj]

we have done it before, but our school doesn't allow it anymore. Sometimes it doesn't always work because people change grade levels or a teacher leaves the school for some reason. There were a few times that there was a teacher I DIDN'T want them to have and requested that and you seem to get better luck going that route. It was always informal at our school. You just needed to talk to the teacher before classes were selected in the spring.

 

[chop456]

Yes, I have requested a teacher for my child. The school my kiddos attend actually has a cut-off day when all requests need to be submitted, in writing, to the principal. My letter was a very brief e-mail stating that I would like to have my DD in "Mrs. XXXX's" room for first grade. I mentioned that I am confident that all of the teachers are wonderful, but I feel that Mrs. XXXX would be a good fit for my daughter. It was requested, no questions.

It really depends on the school as to how requests work. The school I teach at basically fulfills ALL requests. I teach at a school where not many parents request. However, my DD/DS school has numerous requests and it is known that all requests cannot be guaranteed.

 

[Katerbug]

I made a request for a specific teacher for my daughter in first and second grade. I did not know any of the teachers in kindergarten at the time but we got lucky and had a really good teacher. I do it because my daughter is very shy and she would not do well with a teacher that is loud and obnoxious. Some kids may need that but not mine. I have never been sorry that I did either. Fortunately we know another teacher at the school that can give us good recommendations. Also, we don't need to write a letter. School district has their own form and all you have to do is write down the teachers name you are requesting. You are not guaranteed you will get that teacher but I have never had a problem. This year they are starting looping so my daughter will have the same teacher again for third grade that she had for second which is great since they are already comfortable with each other and the teacher is great. We do have an opportunity to tell about our child on the schools request form and I just explain my daughters personality and why I think this teacher would work well for my daughter.

Kind of long winded but I hope it helps.

 

[Christine]

I would never do this without cause.

You cannot go by what people say about teachers. Jumping the gun and requesting teachers without any valid reason is a good way to get the school irritated with you.

Like you, I've heard things about certain teachers and just "cringed" when one of my children got them. For the most part, everything worked out and we never had any issues that I had heard about. Be careful about getting too sucked in by what other parents say.

Now, when you start school and you see things not going well, then you should say something or request a change.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I would never do this without cause.

You cannot go by what people say about teachers. Jumping the gun and requesting teachers without any valid reason is a good way to get the school irritated with you.

Like you, I've heard things about certain teachers and just "cringed" when one of my children got them. For the most part, everything worked out and we never had any issues that I had heard about. Be careful about getting too sucked in by what other parents say.

Now, when you start school and you see things not going well, then you should say something or request a change.

ITA

If my family was new to the school, I wouldn't make a request. I'd be afraid the principal would think my request was based on "playground gossip" and not first hand knowledge.

 

[clh2]

In our elementary school, you couldn't request specific teachers for your child. You could, however, request that your child have a teacher with a specific teaching style.

I did request, essentially, not to have a specific 1st grade teacher. (Request letter specified a teaching style that was enthusiastic, energetic, and worked with the kids on different acedemic levels.) The teacher I was avoiding should have retired years ago, and just had no energy left to teach. Plus, her solution for class discipline was to YELL at the kids.

I wish I would have requested a different teacher for 3rd grade. I did not fall into the "rumor trap". I had heard many rumors about how nasty, picky, mean this teacher was. Guess what - this was the worst year of school for my DD. Looking back, and if I was going to do it over, and if I had more kids behind DD, there is NO way I would have them in that teacher's class again.

Luckily, DD ended up in a wonderful 4th grade class, having the best teacher-student relationship you could ask for. Oddly enough though - DD had asked me to request to not have this particular teacher. DD had heard a rumor that this teacher plays "favs" in class. Which was entirely not true.

I don't regret making the request for 1st grade, I wish I would have made a request for 3rd grade. My best advice is - see if your elementary school will let you go in and observe the teachers. You'll learn lots by sitting in the classroom for an hour or so.

Good Luck!

 

[ryka]

Here we really aren't allowed to do this unless you work for the BOE. My mom works for the board and I have volunteered in the school system for the last 10 years so I get to choose what teachers my kids get. I do like almost all the teachers in the school though.

 

[Brianne]

Our school has already sent home notices saying we will not be allowed to request teachers for next year. I guess it's become too much of a problem or issue for them to have sent out that information when school isn't even out yet. You might want to check with the school to find out what rules they have about that.

 

[MAKmom]

In our elementary school, you couldn't request specific teachers for your child. You could, however, request that your child have a teacher with a specific teaching style.

I did request, essentially, not to have a specific 1st grade teacher. (Request letter specified a teaching style that was enthusiastic, energetic, and worked with the kids on different acedemic levels.) The teacher I was avoiding should have retired years ago, and just had no energy left to teach. Plus, her solution for class discipline was to YELL at the kids.

I wish I would have requested a different teacher for 3rd grade. I did not fall into the "rumor trap". I had heard many rumors about how nasty, picky, mean this teacher was. Guess what - this was the worst year of school for my DD. Looking back, and if I was going to do it over, and if I had more kids behind DD, there is NO way I would have them in that teacher's class again.

Luckily, DD ended up in a wonderful 4th grade class, having the best teacher-student relationship you could ask for. Oddly enough though - DD had asked me to request to not have this particular teacher. DD had heard a rumor that this teacher plays "favs" in class. Which was entirely not true.

I don't regret making the request for 1st grade, I wish I would have made a request for 3rd grade. My best advice is - see if your elementary school will let you go in and observe the teachers. You'll learn lots by sitting in the classroom for an hour or so.

Good Luck!

Yes I do this. It is important. My girls do better with a gentle teacher. I have a friend who ask for a stern teacher for her son he does better.

In the real world kids are adults & can stick up for themselves.

Last year DD had a teacher who was a speed talker & not very nice to her. The year was a nightmare. I asked the VP if next year we could get a teacher who talked at a normal pase. ( She did back to school night without taking a breath)

 

[goofy4tink]

The only 'classroom' request I've ever made was to have my dd placed in a class without a particular child!! The teacher completely understood where I was coming from and granted my request.
As far as a particular teacher...no. My dd was put in a particular teachers class for 1st grade. A lot of parents of older kids told me that we were in for it now! This teacher was a 'yeller' and a 'screamer' and just a not good teacher. Well, turns out she was fine. Same thing happened in 3rd grade, and yet again in 5th grade. Dd kept getting teachers that has some bad reps, but she never had an issue with one. Of course, this year she has the teacher from Hades!!! Just a miserable person..in fact, the entire class hates her. Parents have done nothing but complain about her. But, so far, nothing has happened.
So, what is a bad teacher for one family, could be the best teacher in the world for a different family. It's so hard to tell before your child is in the actual classroom. Now, if you have an older child that has had a certain teacher and it was a very bad fit, then I would hesitate to have my younger child put in that class.

 

[Amy]

In our elementary schools, we're not allowed to request a specific teacher. But in the past I've done like someone above mentioned - I requested a specific teaching style or what teaching style would NOT be best for my DS's. Never had a problem.

Also, DS was being bullied by one of his classmates; I requested that they not be placed in the same classroom, and that request was honored.

 

[LBAK]

I never requested a specific teacher but I have requested what type of teacher my child does better with. I have a child that does not adapt well to change and had severe separation anxiety so she has always needed a more nuturing teacher. As she got older she also needed a teacher that would challenge her and I didn't hesitate to request these things. As long as it's done tactfully with no specific names I'm sure it would not be a problem.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

We also are not allowed to request a specific teacher - but current teacher has suggested we call to request a specific style, as already mentioned.

My DD had a tough year last year with her teacher (1st grade)- and it has taken this long for current teacher (she's a gem!!!) to get DD's confidence back and get her to love learning. She is concerned that if she gets the wrong one next year - all the progress will be for nothing and we may not be able to repair the damage next time.I wouldn't think of doing it unless it was this important.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Our school does not allow this anymore. What I have done is to spell out the type of teacher that my child does well with and the type of teacher that they do not do well with. So if one teacher is very disorganized, I will say that they do well with a teacher who is very organized and would not do well in a chaotic classroom.

I really only do this, though, if there are reasons that my particular child would not do well with a particular teacher and I try not to base it on word of mouth from other parents because I've found that that's not accurate at all. Kind of like the game of telephone.

 

[Evil Queen]

My sister has asked on behalf of my child. She teaches where he goes to school, she knows him and the teachers, she has it figured out who he may react better to. All, but one year, have been honored. Sis was a nervous wreck. The teacher was known to be on the harsh side, and not only knew her from teaching, but her own daughter had her.

Of course, this made me nervous, because of hardships, my son is re-assigned to her school, and we don't want to put his attending there in jeopardy.

I reported her once in the year, for remarks she made to the class as a whole, but after reporting DS said she quit that.

Great thing about it, they got along wonderfully, he was always good in her class, and he never felt she was talking down to him. He always had soft spoken teachers, so she was a 100% change for him.

Like I told my sister, life isn't always going to give him folks that are easy to get along with, so let's see what happens. If things go bad, then I would request a change. Never had to.

 

[lbgraves]

Our school doesn't guarantee that any requests will be granted however, since I give alot of my time to the school with the PTO I have talked to the principal each year and written a letter reviewing our conversation regarding the teacher I would prefer them to have. Last year was important for DD because she was so shy. She had come with me to DS's kindergarten class several times & was completely comfortable with his teacher. She would respond to questions & participate when included in the class. Having this teacher for Kindergarten made the difference between DD being ready to move on to 1st grade or repeating K because she didn't have to waste the first two months adjusting to a new teacher & start participating in class. This year I just requested who I did NOT want her to go with. The teacher & assistant both raise their voices constantly & she would go back inside her shell around that. I also requested a specific teacher for DS this year. He is so bored with the classwork and this 2nd grade teacher use to work with AG kids so she will be giving him more challenging math & reading to do in class & at home. I don't want him to start slacking off because he isn't challenged. My opinions are based on what I have observed when in the school since it has been way too many hours.

 

[kbkids]

I volunteer at our school frequently, as in I'm up there probably 2-3 days a week. Each grade has 13-14 teachers, and yes, there are good and bad. Because I'm up there so often, I get a first-hand view of how they interact with the kids. If you call and ask, the office will say that you need to describe your child and the type of teacher they would do best with. They even provide a form for this and send it home each year. However, everyone that's been around for awhile knows that they will honor a "derequest" letter. We've always been able to "derequest" 3 teachers, and I've never seen the request not honored. I think it's kinda a negative way to go about it, but it does keep your kid out of those classes. And we do have a couple of doozies in each grade (tenure is not always a good thing!).

Another thing I've always focused on our "buzz words" for each teacher. I know which teacher I want, and I know what descriptive words will typically get her class. So far, I've had the teacher I want every year.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

How timely!!!!

I just wrote a "letter of recommendation" for my dd. You are not allowed to request a specific teacher.
Instead you describe your child's strength's and peer group.
I think it is pretty cool.

 

[robinb]

I really only do this, though, if there are reasons that my particular child would not do well with a particular teacher and I try not to base it on word of mouth from other parents because I've found that that's not accurate at all. Kind of like the game of telephone.

Exactly how are you supposed to know which is a good teacher and which is not a good teacher if you don't ask the other parents?

I knew who the best First Grade teacher and I trusted my DD's fantastic Kindergarten teacher to pick the best First Grade teacher for her. After all, he spent more time with her academically than I did. My DD's First Grade teacher is horrible! She calls him "Mr. Grumpy" sometimes (of course, I tell her that is disrespectful) and he is an uninteresting lump of a teacher. All strict rules and no fun. He's always yelling at the kids for one thing or another. I am saddened that she missed out on a rewarding First Grade and she needs to have a better Second Grade. We are not encouraged to request one teacher over another at my DD's school. However, I will be making an appointment with the school's Social Worker and with the Principal to discuss next year because my DD already "did her time" with a bad teacher.