HS Teacher Question

[DonaldnDaisy5]

I teach elementary school. I have hs, ms, and elementary aged children.

On October 12th I emailed his math teacher with a question about an assignment my ds couldn't answer. No response. On the 17th I email again. On the 25th he responds finally. I emailed again on the 26th in response to him as well as to question a test grade that was just entered from September 27th. No response. The end of the marking period is fast approaching so I emailed again on the 31st and 2nd. No response.

Today I emailed both the teacher and the counselor. I am annoyed at the lack of response. If my kid isn't doing his job then tell me. But I cant get him help or know where he is standing if you dont respond AND when you enter grades almost a month after an assessment.

In addition son is color blind. It is noted on his emergency card, son has told the teacher and I did at conferences. Teacher still posts assignments in red - class work and green - homework. He also consistently does notes and examples on a light background with light colors so my ds cant see the difference. When he tells teacher he cant see them the teacher tells him he can't alter the background color because it hurts the teachers eyes. Ok but my kid cant see the materials and is relying on getting the info from peers.

Am I out of line being annoyed? At this point my plan will be calling if I dont have a response by tomorrow morning. I cant imagine not responding to a parent or ignoring a kid who cant see my notes because it hurts my eyes...

 

[sam_gordon]

I teach elementary school. I have hs, ms, and elementary aged children.

On October 12th I emailed his math teacher with a question about an assignment my ds couldn't answer. No response. On the 17th I email again. On the 25th he responds finally. I emailed again on the 26th in response to him as well as to question a test grade that was just entered from September 27th. No response. The end of the marking period is fast approaching so I emailed again on the 31st and 2nd. No response.

Today I emailed both the teacher and the counselor. I am annoyed at the lack of response. If my kid isn't doing his job then tell me. But I cant get him help or know where he is standing if you dont respond AND when you enter grades almost a month after an assessment.

In addition son is color blind. It is noted on his emergency card, son has told the teacher and I did at conferences. Teacher still posts assignments in red - class work and green - homework. He also consistently does notes and examples on a light background with light colors so my ds cant see the difference. When he tells teacher he cant see them the teacher tells him he can't alter the background color because it hurts the teachers eyes. Ok but my kid cant see the materials and is relying on getting the info from peers.

Am I out of line being annoyed? At this point my plan will be calling if I dont have a response by tomorrow morning. I cant imagine not responding to a parent or ignoring a kid who cant see my notes because it hurts my eyes...

1) IMO, your DS should be leading the charge regarding the questions about the assignment. He sees the teacher every day. If HE doesn't get a response, then maybe you should step in (you shouldn't if there's someone else the student can go to... a department chair or other supervisor).
2) Regarding the color blindness, does your child have an IEP or 504 (I think those are the right plans) that show what kind of accommodations he needs? If not, get him one. It probably involves talking to a counselor, but that should have been done before (or quickly after) the start of school, not two months (or more) into the year.

And you don't say what grade your son is. The further along in his HS career, the more you should step back. In only limited circumstances should you be at the forefront.

 

[abdmom]

I'm a HS teacher. I'd be annoyed too. Is this a public or private high school? If private, I'd expect an answer within 24 hours Monday-Friday. If it's public, I'd at least expect an answer within the same week.

I have boys who are color-blind. If he can't differentiate between the colors the teacher is using, you have told the teacher this and the teacher refuses to alter their colors, I'd escalate to whoever is the teacher's supervisor.

 

[scoutie]

I teach junior high, but all teachers in our (public school district) are required to get back to parents within 24 hours. Next time cc the principal on the emails. Parent contact is part of the job. If your child has a 504 the teacher is legally required to comply.

 

[DonaldnDaisy5]

I felt like I was already babbling and venting too much. Ds did attempt to ask him about both things before I emailed and got no where. No straight answers and nothing that helped to clarify the situation.

 

[CookieandOatmeal]

I'm a HS teacher and am really good about responding to emails, usually within hours but I know some of my colleagues take a few days to respond. If you don't get a timely response from him, I would reach out to his guidance counselor and/or dept chair to discuss your concerns so they could talk to the teacher and see what is up. If that still goes no where, that is when I would escalate it to the principal.

As for your child's color blindness, if it is only noted on an emergency card and not on a legal document like an IEP or 504, I would push for one by contacting his guidance counselor and explaining why he needs one. I would think a 504 would be enough to address the needs of your child. The emergency card is not a legal document and the teacher is not legally obligated to accommodate his need.

 

[DonaldnDaisy5]

Public school. He does not have a 504. He is in 10th grade and has had 2 other issues in his entire school career where I had to intervene about it (Spanish and learning the colors and a middle school math teacher who made him take a color blind test in front of the class because she didnt believe him or his emergency card ) For the most part teachers have been understanding and helpful.

 

[DonaldnDaisy5]

I know his color blindness does not qualify him for an IEP. I suppose we could pursue a 504, it just seems crazy to me that this close to the end of his school career it would be necessary. Depending on the responses I recieve or the lack of responses I guess will determine if it is necessary.

 

[mjkacmom]

In high school, I don’t get involved unless my kid has exhausted all options. Five kids, it only happened twice (once with ds20, adhd with executive function issues, with his teacher and counselor to work on a plan together, and once with dd17 who was being harassed/stalked by another girl with obvious issues for 6 months). Ds15 just emailed a teacher regarding a grade, his teacher has been dismissive of his questions in person, so we encouraged him to email him.

Maybe the teacher would rather hear from him?

 

[DonaldnDaisy5]

In high school, I don’t get involved unless my kid has exhausted all options. Five kids, it only happened twice (once with ds20, adhd with executive function issues, with his teacher and counselor to work on a plan together, and once with dd17 who was being harassed/stalked by another girl with obvious issues for 6 months). Ds15 just emailed a teacher regarding a grade, his teacher has been dismissive of his questions in person, so we encouraged him to email him.

Maybe the teacher would rather hear from him?

Perhaps and trust me, I dont love to get involved but after seeing the kid beside himself and frustrated over being dismissed and missing out fun stuff with friends over an assignment he tried to ask about I thought I would get it sorted it out so if my kid was lying I would know too and there would be additional iconsequences given. But at this point I am right there with my son and frustrated too.

If the teacher would rather hear from him perhaps he should communicate that. He could have told him to email him about it instead of flat out ignoring him.

In our state one of the evaluation pieces for teachers is timely and responsive feedback to students and communication. Clearly that is not happening here.

 

[sets14]

I am a high school teacher in a public school. Our expectations are:

1) Get back to parents in 24 hours when contacted via email/phone/note-weekends excluded.

2) Update all grades weekly in our online grading portal for parents and students to see. We are on a six week grading period so updating grades is important so that students don’t end up in a hole that they can’t fix before grades are due for report cards.

I would say the lack of communication and grade updates are unprofessional and it’s time to copy the administration on your emails. Frankly, some teachers don’t do their jobs and won’t unless some fire is put under them by admin. Part of admins job is to deal with this kind of stuff unfortunately.

 

[LSUmiss]

I know his color blindness does not qualify him for an IEP. I suppose we could pursue a 504, it just seems crazy to me that this close to the end of his school career it would be necessary. Depending on the responses I recieve or the lack of responses I guess will determine if it is necessary.

In our district, 504 or an IAP is only for dyslexia & ADHD. I know there are federal guidelines so I don’t know if they can be different in different areas or not.

 

[Poohforyou]

I teach elementary school. I have hs, ms, and elementary aged children.

On October 12th I emailed his math teacher with a question about an assignment my ds couldn't answer. No response. On the 17th I email again. On the 25th he responds finally. I emailed again on the 26th in response to him as well as to question a test grade that was just entered from September 27th. No response. The end of the marking period is fast approaching so I emailed again on the 31st and 2nd. No response.

Today I emailed both the teacher and the counselor. I am annoyed at the lack of response. If my kid isn't doing his job then tell me. But I cant get him help or know where he is standing if you dont respond AND when you enter grades almost a month after an assessment.

In addition son is color blind. It is noted on his emergency card, son has told the teacher and I did at conferences. Teacher still posts assignments in red - class work and green - homework. He also consistently does notes and examples on a light background with light colors so my ds cant see the difference. When he tells teacher he cant see them the teacher tells him he can't alter the background color because it hurts the teachers eyes. Ok but my kid cant see the materials and is relying on getting the info from peers.

Am I out of line being annoyed? At this point my plan will be calling if I dont have a response by tomorrow morning. I cant imagine not responding to a parent or ignoring a kid who cant see my notes because it hurts my eyes...

Before you got involved what did your son do to advocate for himself? When the teacher wouldn't change the colors did your son just accept that or did he go to his counselor or speak with the teacher after class? With regard to assignments he didn't understand did he email a classmate or his teacher? With grades being posted late did he ask the teacher how he was doing in the class.

As a parent it's hard to allow our kids to fend for themselves but it's an important skill. By middle school my daughter knew she had to try advocating for herself first before I got involved. Every email/conversation started with "my daughter tells me she talked with you about . . . ".

The teacher should be responding though whether to you or your son.

 

[Oliviaxxx]

I don't think it is appropriate at all for them to be taking so long to answer emails. They should be answered in 48hrs at most. Grades should be entered in a timely manner that too is inappropriate. When I was in high school I had an English teacher who would take so long to grade things. We were once almost two months into the semester and had no grades! You had no idea how you were doing. Are you passing? Are you failing? You don't know!

I think your son should inquire in class. "My mom was asking me if you got her emails." Put this teacher on the spot.

 

[DonaldnDaisy5]

Before you got involved what did your son do to advocate for himself? When the teacher wouldn't change the colors did your son just accept that or did he go to his counselor or speak with the teacher after class? With regard to assignments he didn't understand did he email a classmate or his teacher? With grades being posted late did he ask the teacher how he was doing in the class.

As a parent it's hard to allow our kids to fend for themselves but it's an important skill. By middle school my daughter knew she had to try advocating for herself first before I got involved. Every email/conversation started with "my daughter tells me she talked with you about . . . ".

The teacher should be responding though whether to you or your son.

In class he told the teacher he couldn't read the words. The teacher said I can change the background but not to a light color because it hurts my eyes. When the color was changed son told him I still cant see them. Was told to move closer.

Not sure if you have experience with color blindness but moving closer is not going to help. Son told him this. Teacher said he wasn't sure what else to do. Son said if you use a darker color on the words I will be able to see them. Teacher again said it hurts his eyes. No one is saying he needs to keep it changed all day just for my sons hour. Son became flustered and embarrassed and felt on the spot arguing with teacher and just dropped it. Next day above convo on repeat until the entire class tells teacher at the start of the hour, still no changes are made that help and peers let him see/borrow their notes. Super helpful in geometry when he needs to be seeing the notes, drawings, etc first hand not trusting friends to get all the information he needs.

He has not gone to his counselor because he doesnt want to make waves and is making accommodations as best he can. Until grades were entered a month later he was doing decent in the class. If grades were entered in a timely manner we would have sought clarification and help earlier.

Thank you for the replies i just wanted to make sure I wasn't being unreasonable. I know that if I dont respond to parents they are all over me and the principal...

 

[dotfurio]

I agree with getting a 504. We didn't get one for DD until she got to HS, and that was at the insistence of her counselor. I don't think we really needed one, but it was good to have in place just in case she ran into a teacher that wasn't accommodating.

Giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just isn't the type to check email? Have you tried a phone call or note? Otherwise I'd contact the counselor and explain how you've been trying to contact the teacher and you haven't gotten any response, because it could just be that he isn't very communicative with parents.

That said, in my experience with DD we've only encountered two teachers who are proactive about contact with parents. The others seem to prefer discussing things directly with the students.

Can the teacher print out the notes/examples or is he writing them during class as he teaches?

 

[kimblebee]

When you weren’t getting a response from the teacher why didn’t you call and leave a message for the teacher to call you?

My daughter graduated in June and not once did I have an email address for a teacher. That’s going from K-12 as well.

 

[Oliviaxxx]

When you weren’t getting a response from the teacher why didn’t you call and leave a message for the teacher to call you?

My daughter graduated in June and not once did I have an email address for a teacher. That’s going from K-12 as well.

In our district, the email address for every single teacher is listed on our school's website.

 

[DonaldnDaisy5]

When you weren’t getting a response from the teacher why didn’t you call and leave a message for the teacher to call you?

My daughter graduated in June and not once did I have an email address for a teacher. That’s going from K-12 as well.

Because at back to school night this teacher said his preferred method of contact is email.

And I teach (elementary) as well so trying to call would result in phone tag.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My daughter graduated in June and not once did I have an email address for a teacher. That’s going from K-12 as well.

I think it is different in different districts. I am a teacher and at our school parents are encouraged to e-mail instead of call. If they call, the office answers and then leave a post in note in the teachers mailbox with the message. It is much more likely to get a response if the parent emails the teacher directly instead of going through the office.