Thanks for pointing out the names were there, I had not realized that. I guess my concerns are that if what they have been doing isn't working, it's not going to magically start working, and something else needs to be tried.
I do not expect either teacher to spend 2 minutes with each child...not every child needs this. I would guess the time that is spent with him now, could, IMO, be used in a more positive and productive manner. I am not there, so I could be wrong.
My other issue, is that if this has been an ongoing problem, why am I just learning about it now, the very end of March, 7 months in to school. He has 3 months left. Had I been aware of this issue months ago, I would have absolutely addressed it.
He was already evaluated by a neuropsychologist in December. UNfortunately, he isn't done with the results yet.
I don't think teachers expect all children to be angels, that would be silly. But, I do bet that most teachers would prefer that.
I do take his behavior issues very seriously, and that is why I needed outside opinions before responding to each of them. It is all new ground as he has been fairly well behaved up until now. I'm not sure what is different now than in the past, except maybe the demands of academics(???).
Thanks for the thoughts. It is certainly hard to be the parent of a not so perfect kid. It is weird because he behaves at home, and I do not see any of these issues at home, so I was quite surprised. He is normally very eager, loves to participate, has a good attitude, etc.
As to your first post - I agree with nearly everyone else. I don't see any negativity from the teachers. I see very caring, professional, involved teachers looking for ways to help your son while not cheating the rest of the class out of their learning time. They've clearly spoken about his behaviour amongst themselves and tried different ways to redirect and refocus him and they're telling you the behaviour is escalating and getting worse not better.
You say in this post that he's been fairly well behaved until now and you're just hearing about this now but you said you'd been in contact with his teacher who had started back in Jan. about his behaviour and "things had improved" which indicates this has been an ongoing issue. I'd gather, from the teachers' notes, that they've been trying and that your contact with the teacher about this previously had had them thinking you understood that this was ongoing.
Also agree that giving him a few minutes of attention or loving when he comes into class would be the absolutely wrong way to go. Even if there weren't other kids who would like the same attention, it's rewarding the improper behaviour. That will only escalate them. Same as a kid having a tantrum - you don't give them attention and soothe and reward, in any way, that behaviour, because it teaches that tantruming will be rewarded, which will escalate and reinforce the tantrums.
As to something else needs to be tried - I agree, and I'd wager the teachers do too, but don't know what that is. They discuss a number of different strategies they've attempted and apparently nothing has worked.
As to you not seeing these issues at home - that's a tough one to figure out. It may be a few things. It may be that he doesn't act that way at home, for a whole variety of reasons, due to the reasons he's acting out in the first place, or because he's getting a lot of attention at home when he does things, positive or negative. If that were the case, then it wouldn't be that his behaviour differs, but that the responses he's getting differ.
For instance, the teacher in the first note says that he comes into class making noise, silly comments, etc., and she attempts to focus him on the lesson at hand or on taking his seat.
So imagine a similar situation at home. If it's, say, dinner time and you call everyone to the table, and he comes in making a silly comment or noise, or sits down and bangs his chair - is he made to quiet down and not given attention or does he get attention for that? Like does his sister laugh, do you and his dad, say, change your conversation to the comment he interjected?
It's not that you should always ignore him or that kids shouldn't make silly comments or that anyone expects kids to all sit quietly, hands folded, none of that is true.
I'm just suggesting that it's possible that the same behaviours may, in fact, be taking place at home, you just may not be seeing them the same way. It may not be that, he may act differently in the different places. Some kids may act silly and wild at home but be more disciplined at school. It happens lots of ways. Just don't discount that it may not be that it's only happening at school.
Your son's teachers sound awesome and quite caring - you're quite lucky he's got a good team willing to help him reach his potential and get on track now.
