Switching teachers???UPDATE Last post!!

[AmazingGrace]

My ds is in 7th grade. He's doing well with all of his classes except for math.
His teacher doesn't seem to want to teach. He will have a test, do poorly on it, and she won't tell him what he's doing wrong. We had a conference with her earlier this year and nothing has really improved. The next step is to write a letter to the principal requesting a change of teachers.
Does it sound okay??

"3 November, 2006

Dear Ms. ******,

First of all, I want to thank you and the staff of **** for making my son feel so welcome since we've moved here. Joshua loves the school and feels very blessed to be a part of it.

I'm writing to you today because I'm very concerned about how things are going for Joshua in math. This year he has Ms. ****. Since the beginning of the year, his grades have not been reflecting what I know my son is capable of. From what I can see and from what Joshua has shared with me, there seems to be a major disconnect between what she is teaching vs. what Josh is learning. His homework grades seem to be holding steady, but I'm very concerned about his test grades and in particular, his TAKS quiz grades. Being a family of born again Texans, Joshua and I are fully aware of the importance of passing the TAKS successfully.

Since the conference, Josh has been attending tutoring sessions after school with Ms. ****. As I stated, his homework grades have held steady, but the test grades are less than stellar.

Josh has come home and told me repeatedly that he will take a test/quiz, feel like he did well, only to find out that he either barely passed or didn't pass at all. He has yet to find out what he's doing wrong. In his own words, "I'm obviously doing SOMETHING wrong, but I don't know what."

This is becoming a major stressor for Josh. He is more than willing to take responsibility for his grades. He has done all he can to improve his grades, but it doesn't seem to be happening. So, I would like to request a teacher transfer for Josh's math class. Josh is obviously not getting all he can from Ms. *****, and frankly, the thought of him not passing the math TAKS test is unacceptable to me and to Josh. This child came from Katrina ravaged Mississippi mid year. He was two years behind in math and thanks to his math Teacher, Mr. *****, he was caught up in a month, so I know he can do well.

I think what Josh needs is an energetic teacher who not only makes math interesting, but will also be available to help Josh and tell him what mistakes he is making. This is what Mr. ***** did and Josh responded very well to him.

Thank you so much for taking time to read this and for considering my request.
Normally, I'm generally opposed to switching teachers, but I feel in this case, it would be the best thing for Josh.
If you have any questions, I can be reached at my home number
Josh's mom"

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I need a little bit more information before I weigh in. What was discussed with his teacher at the conference, and how did she respond?

 

[AmazingGrace]

Well, I expressed my concerns and she agreed that his grades "could be better" When I asked her if there was any particular thing he was showing a weakness with, she said that she didn't know because she has 107 kids to teach. She also said that most of the kids were failing the TAKS quizzes in her class. Basically we ended it by agreeing to send him to tutoring to see how he would do this semester and nothing has gotten better.
Josh has told me some bad things that she had supposedly said about teaching but I'm not factoring that into my decision. That's heresay as far as I'm concerned. I'm more concerend with josh getting what he needs to learn math enough to do well. I know he's capable. I've seen it.
Thanks,

 

[Hedy]

1. I'd cut the energetic part. It seems a little too needy.
2. Are you certain the teacher is the problem? (In my 7th grade, you were placed in levels in 7th grade. Is it possible it's just your DS being behind?)

 

[Kitty 34]

It sounds like he's struggling basically with just the tests, right? I would ask to see his tests to see what problems were answered incorrectly.

Ironically, I just gave a "big" end of unit test to my 7th graders today and have a ton of grading over the weekend. Hopefully, when I'm all done and the grade is on the test, my students are going to know what they succeeded in and what they didn't as far as their tests are concerned.

Good luck.

 

[VolleyballQt07]

Well, I have a few different responses.

My brother, a kindergartener, started off in a public school that my sister attends; as i did 6 years ago. He was so excited and so was my mom. We went in for meet the teacher and it went downhill from there. Somehow, there are 88 kindergarteners in our district and three kindergarten classrooms in the school! We were like "Woa! 30 kids in a class?" Anyways, after the first week, he was miserable. The second week, we went on vacation. Third week came back, and the teacher didn't even know he was gone and just assumed he wasn't coming back! Red Flag was raised up high. "What do you mean you didn't know he was gone?!?". My DB said he was bored and alls they did was worksheets. So we switched him to a different public school and he has a new teacher and he loves her! She is so nice to the kids and always greets them. They are already learning how to read, write their names, etc. He is doing very well. Then, the old school's principal called and said she wanted to send some papers home with DB.......um, hello! Do you not know he left a month ago?!? So we are now very satisfied with his new teacher..........

So I would find some more info out. Is your son giving 100% effort in class? or is it really the Teacher?

Good Luck!

 

[AmazingGrace]

1. I'd cut the energetic part. It seems a little too needy.
2. Are you certain the teacher is the problem? (In my 7th grade, you were placed in levels in 7th grade. Is it possible it's just your DS being behind?)

Thanks for your imput. I'm thinking in this case, the teacher is the problem. She has said that she doesn't know why, but many of her kids are failing the test and quizzes. She refuses to let us see the tests and she has said that if the kids fail, it is their fault, not hers. An I heard her say this with my own ears, in front of the VP and the counselor. They both suggested I go this route, so we'll what happens. Personally, I'm of the thought that people have to deal with people they don't like and they don't get to switch. So, I'm not entirely comfy with this. We'll see what happens.
Thanks again for your imput.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I would forget about the letter and instead request a meeting with both the principal, the teacher, and your son. Sending a letter doesn't seem to be the route I'd take here. I'd tell your son you are going to schedule a meeting with the two of them, and ask him if there is anything he isn't telling you, or anything he'd like you to discuss with the principal and his teacher. With him there, both his teacher and he will be able to tell their side of the story in front of the principal (she won't be able to say he isn't completing work for example, if he's there to say that he is).
good luck!

 

[daisyduck123]

I would forget about the letter and instead request a meeting with both the principal, the teacher, and your son. Sending a letter doesn't seem to be the route I'd take here.

I second this thought.

I would call the principal to request the meeting. While on the phone, I would let the principal know that you have not seen the tests & would like to at the meeting. (But if you don't even want to go that route, & just want to discuss switching, you may not want to bother with the tests). We have Math tests in our county that we give periodically & they ARE NOT allowed to be sent home at all....but if a parent wants to see a particular test (after it's been graded of course) he may come in & view it.

 

[AmazingGrace]

I would forget about the letter and instead request a meeting with both the principal, the teacher, and your son. Sending a letter doesn't seem to be the route I'd take here. I'd tell your son you are going to schedule a meeting with the two of them, and ask him if there is anything he isn't telling you, or anything he'd like you to discuss with the principal and his teacher. With him there, both his teacher and he will be able to tell their side of the story in front of the principal (she won't be able to say he isn't completing work for example, if he's there to say that he is).
good luck!

We had a conference with the VP, counselor and the teacher a month or so ago. Then there ws no improvement, so I called his guidance counselor today and she said it was time to see about switching teachers. She said that a letter is the official way to request this.
As far as Josh not telling me everything, I was so thinking this was the case. I was thinking that he was just not getting it and blaming the teacher at first. I was asking him repeatedly the weekend preceding the conference. I hate to say it, but Josh is a bit of a drama queen, so I went in not really knowing if it was him or if it was the teacher. I definitely left feeling like it was more the teacher than Josh, but was willing to wait and see how he did in tutoring and see if the teacher being in touch with me would help. It seemed to at first, but now we're right back to where we were.
Believe me, I'm not in favor of asking for this, but I feel like we've exhausted all the other options. This damn TAKS test is the be all and end all for Texas schools and it's really coloring how these teachers are presenting the material and the priorities with certain things.
So, we'll see what happens. I appreciate all the opinions and I'll keep you posted as to what happens. I'm just kind of at a loss here because i've never done this before. And to top it off, we're moving houses this weekend, so everythings stressful as it is.
Thanks again,

 

[golfgal]

If the letter is the official way to request a teacher change, keep it simple, state that you wish your son to be moved out of xxxx's class because his learning style does not agree with xxxx's teaching method and as a result is not learning up to his potential.

 

[chris1gill]

WHAT???

I'm sorry, am I to understand your son is not doing well on quizzes, and yet she WON'T LET YOU SEE THEM??

Herein lies your problem... what the heck is she thinking? This is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.... it's unacceptable from a parental standpoint and it should be unacceptable from a faculty standpoint!

Now I will say I feel just a little of your pain. We have a science teacher who tends to mark off points for unknown things, then you ask her & she doesn't remember! We went a little round robin & now everytime she does it, the test goes back to school for FURTHER CLARIFICATION... I think she got sick of having the tests come back to her & now she writes why she's taking points off seems like an obvious thing to do if you want your student to do better, but apparently it is not obvious to all teachers...

If your son was my son & they wouldn't let me see those quizzes, I would be STEAMING MAD!

PS. I noticed you said you are born again from Texas, is this a private school?

 

[AmazingGrace]

No, it's a public school. I used Born Again Texan to differentiate us from Native Texans.

 

[AmazingGrace]

Well, Monday morning, we got a phone call from Josh's principal. They decided to switch teachers effective that day. She totally understood where I was coming from. Josh actually had a sit down with his new teacher and now he understands exactly where he was messing up with his tests. He's been going to tutoring every afternoon and he feels good about his grades. Hopefully things will start improving for him.
Thanks for all your opinions and imput!!

 

[golfgal]

That is GREAT. Sounds like you have a really on the ball principal and how nice of the teacher to spend the extra time with him!

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Good for you! It really is great you have involved administration like that principal..............you're lucky! Some would have "blown off" your concerns..........

 

[AmazingGrace]

Well, Josh really bent over backwards to prove himself. We are technically Katrina People, so my kids were under the microscope when we first got here. The guidance counselor was always pulling Josh out of class and the principal was checking up on him too and he ended up going through all of last year with a straight A average.