Teachers how about a PARENT Rant

[mommaU4]

Did you discuss it with your son first? Maybe he didn't bring home all of his tests/assignments for you to see because the grades were so low. I never understand when parents have no idea what their kids are getting for grades and I have to believe that the teachers don't want it that way, either. Unless the kid isn't bringing home their papers it doesn't make sense. My daughter started middle school this year and everything is on-line. At any point we can check their average so far for the current term for any class. Parents in my town have no excuse.

Just saw this right now and thought I'd respond.

I did talk to him. That was the first thing I did. And I have since spoken with the teacher who tells me it was two in class projects that he didn't complete that brought his grade down. One he only recieved 25 points out of the possible 50. She didn't have all the details for me because she had actually been out on maternity leave and all this happened with a sub.

Anyhow she said she has no problem with him or his work and they are now on a new marking period so everyone is staring fresh she said. As far as the online grades/progress reports this is new in his school and some teachers have started using it others have not. Hopefully it will be universal through out the school soon.

 

[mommaU4]

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man,
>a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued: "What's a
>kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to
>become a teacher?" He reminded the other dinner guests that it's true what
>they say about teachers: "Those who can: do. Those who can't: teach."
>
>To corroborate, he said to another guest: "You're a teacher, Susan," he
>said. "Be honest. What do you make?"
>
>Susan, who had a reputation of honesty and frankness, replied, "You want
>to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they
>could. I can make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor and an
>A- feel like a slap in the face if the student did not do his or her very best.
>
>"I can make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence.
>I can make parents tremble in fear when I call home. You want to know what
>else I make?"
>
>"I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make
>them apologize and mean it. I make them write. I make them read, read,
>read. I make them spell 'definitely' and 'beautiful' over and over again,
>until they will never misspell either one of those words again. I make
>them show all their work in math and hide it all on their final drafts in
>English. I elevate them to experience music and art and joy in the
>performance, so their lives are rich, full of kindness and culture, and
>they take pride in themselves and their accomplishments. I make them
>understand that if you have the brains, then follow your heart...and if
>someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you pay them no attention."
>
>"You want to know what I make? I make a difference. And what do you make?"


WE ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE, AND DON'T LET ANYONE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US

Well, shut my mouth! THAT was awesome!!

 

[soccerchick]

Let's see, how about this one I copied from another current thread on the CB -- love the title. My answer -- 100% correct!!!

------------------------------------------------------------

Is the teacher wrong? or dead wrong?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DS (7th grade) has to have a book to read for the first 5 minutes of each class. The teacher writes down what page the kids are on each day. DS reads at least one book a day. Frequently he doesn't have a new book to read for class because he read all his over and over and he doesn't want to read the teacher's boring books. She admits she doesn't have books for his level.

So- every day he doesn't have a book to read he gets a zero mark for homework to be included in his grade. I verified this by talking to the teacher directly because i couldn't believe she would do this. He reads too much of the time anyway.

I do get him books from the interlibrary loan but there is a limit to the number that can be on the request list. I have spent a LOT on books but we are coming to a money crunch where standing bills are more than pay due to decreases in contracted pay.

 

[AmazingGrace]

I had to talk to Grace's teacher yesterday. I had posted a couple of weeks ago about Grace not knowing her letters. Well, we've been working on Grace's letters at night. A few nights ago, we were working on her leap pad and she could identify and sound out most of her letters. There are still a few that she's not clear on but for the most part...

The problem is, is that Grace will not tell her teacher what she knows. She either gets shy or she just sits there and says she doesn't know. Whenever I tell Grace she needs to tell her teacher what she knows, she starts crying. It makes me feel bad because Here I am telling the teacher about how Grace DOES know her letters, but teacher doesn't see it.

I went on a field trip with Grace on Monday, and while teacher isn't the most warm and fuzzy teacher in the school, she really seems to care about the kids and the kids respond well to her. I watched her interactions all day that day and I can honestly say that there's NOTHING for Grace to cry about. Well, things came to a head the other day when Grace did her usual crying in the morning routine. I ended up talking to the counselor and the teacher. I told the teacher that while I didn't think it was anything it was anything she was doing, there was definitely a diconnect between Grace and the teacher. What can WE do about it? I told the teacher that I was afraid she wasn't getting an accurate asessment of what Grace can and can't do. I acknowledged that Grace is a bit of a drama queen so that makes it hard too.

So, sometime this week coming up, I'm going to get together with teacher and we're going to find ways to get through this. I was seriously considering holding Grace back but now I'm not so sure. I don't want to be a pita parent, but I feel like I needed to address this with Grace. I don't want Grace to be pampered or doted on with any special treatment, but something's got to change here. I'm just not sure what needs to change. I hate even bringing this to the teacher because when I did, she looked really troubled and almost hurt. I hope I didn't set Grace up for an awkward situation.

 

[Pineapple Princess]

Why do parents not read the newsletters and notes on the homework coversheet? For example I have stated 3 different times, one time in bold and highlighted, that we would be having parent teacher conferences. I asked to please be notified about good/bad times so I could schedule a time for them to come in that would work. Out of my entire class I had once response. I then went and scheduled them, and I had 8 write back that it wasn't a good time. Do you know how much less work it would have been to just tell me in the first place that you could only meet on Friday?!?! ARGH!
From experience I know that ~5 parents won't show up, and won't bother to call to say that they can't, and they will want me to bend over backwards to make it up. I had a parent get mad at me in the fall because she came at a different time and I was meeting with another parent at the time. Her reasoning was that she felt like it was a good time to come, and didn't want to come at the time she said was ok. She kept looking in the window from the hall as I met with several parents, but I wasn't going to cheat them out of their time.
I also get frustrated when parents tell me that they had no idea their child was having issues with *subject here*. Well, I only spend time every week writing not only the childs grade on the tests from the week, but if they are having issues with something in particular I write what it is, and some things they can do to help. Thank goodness I keep all of that stuff, because I had a parent storm down to the principals office with the complaint that I never send home any communication. The signed homework proved that she was in the wrong.
I have had parents who wanted me to send home a note/call every night and give a run down about their child's day. If I did that for every child I would never get to eat dinner or go to sleep. As it is I spend from 7am-5pm at school.
I could go on and on, from the parent who screamed at me because her son lied and from the other parent who swore at me and came after me while I was at duty because I broke up a fight.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Felt the need to revive this thread...way too many teacher bashing/complaining threads poping up again.

I had a parent who has a fairly intellegent child. She does well in school but does not do her home work. The response from the parent is why should she do her homework when she does well. Well here is the deal as you get older you need to do homwork for a variety of reasons. It is a habit that needs to be started early and grade 4 is not all that early anymore.

This parent said she had a teacher who was a wicked witch and she did not want her child to perceive me this way and by the way could I give her a prize now and then to show I care.

I responded I had a teacher like that in grade 6 ....hated her ....LOVED her all the way through the rest of my school years b/c she made it easy for me. She was the first person who had high expectations for everyone and I learned to WORK. Nothing ever seemed as hard after that and I thank her to this day.

NEWSFLASH: Well if I did not care your kid would be bringing home coloring pages everyday!! IT is a A LOT harder to have standards and give work than to tell a child to color and stay within the lines (something by the way I would NEVER DO).
Oh and by the by who is paying for the prizes? Is it the parent? That never happened in my room. To all the parents who think that the school stocks a closet full of prizes, markers, folders etc. ANOTHER NEWSFLASH: THE TEACHERS BUY THEM. Don't tell me when, why or how I should give your child a prize unless YOU want to provide it!!

 

[Blondy876]

How about the parent that told me at back to school night that he was angry because my maternity leave would interfere with his sons school year and I should have planned the pregnancy better so that the baby would be born in the summer. I explained to him that I had planned it that way but that I had lost that baby to a miscarriage, I apologized that my loss had ruined his year. He shut up but I had to leave the room I was so upset. This was less than a year after my miscarriage.

 

[Poohnatic]

How about the parent that told me at back to school night that he was angry because my maternity leave would interfere with his sons school year and I should have planned the pregnancy better so that the baby would be born in the summer. I explained to him that I had planned it that way but that I had lost that baby to a miscarriage, I apologized that my loss had ruined his year. He shut up but I had to leave the room I was so upset. This was less than a year after my miscarriage.

Where is the drop jawwed smiley when you need it? I'm so sorry for your loss, even more sorry that the parent thought you should plan your pregnancy around his son's attendance in your class.

Can I ask the teachers here why some teachers REFUSE to use email, when it's a tool the school provides? My work schedule is erratic and changes daily. I know that my son's planner can't be looked at before the day begins (and I don't expect it to be). My best way of communicating to the teacher is by email (spec. ed, but mainstreamed). His Spec. Ed teachers that had computers in their room would update as needed, but his general classroom teacher outright refused.

Sad part is that when dealing with a special needs kid with behavioral issues (asperger's/adhd/ocd/sid), I'd prefer to give a heads up when my son's been up since 4am that he may have a short fuse. I hated the idea of the teacher not knowing.

He's since been placed in a spec. ed class and teacher loves emails! Principal and Asst. Principal use it frequently, so it's not a case of the higher ups not embracing this tool.

Suzanne

 

[Mskanga]

You know, you parents are msising the point.

I think that these examples are not "once in a lifettime" events or unusual occurrences. They are not you, Mskanga, having a hard time with your kid one night, sharing the info with her teacher and working with the teacher to show your child that actions have consequences, with the result that your child learned a lesson. These are the parents who don't give a hoot whether or not their kids do their homework, then blame the teacher when the kid isn't doing well.

But, it is interesting to me that now that the shoe is on the other foot (parent bashing as opposed to teacher bashing)how much offense you are taking to what the teachers have to say, and how personally you are all taking it.

Payback's a "witch".

When the heck did I take offense to what a teacher had to say? That may be what YOU think , but definetely not the case. I only stated what happened to me and what I did about it
I have had problems with two teachers in the 8 years that both my kids have been in school , if you ask me that is a darn good average.
But you know what ? You are right , the problem is those parents who don't give a hoot , it's because of parents like them that teachers get so defensive real quick and no I don't blame them for that , but you know what? I have a hard time making them realize that when a problem arises I am interested in resolving the problem not looking for who is to blame , that usually throws them for a loop.
So I don't know where you got the impression that I am taking offense , obviously you don't know me.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Can I ask the teachers here why some teachers REFUSE to use email, when it's a tool the school provides?

Suzanne

At my last school the principal refused to let us email the parents. She thought they could change our words. I don't think she understood about the sent file or BCC.

Some teachers are just not interested in technology. They are not adept at it and, frankly, it's sink or swim with something as simple as email.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

At my last school the principal refused to let us email the parents. She thought they could change our words. I don't think she understood about the sent file or BCC.

Some teachers are just not interested in technology. They are not adept at it and, frankly, it's sink or swim with something as simple as email.

You are so right, we got little training on the computers we were only told you better be using them. I am a sped teacher and need to write ed plans they told us that we needed to do them on the computer and it was too bad if we did not know how to do it. Luckily I learned how to type in H.S. so at least that helped. It used to take me up to 16 hrs to write one ed plan with no training. Now I fly and learned all the tricks but it was 16 hrs of MY time.

I think parents do not understand that the title teacher is not a synonym for Indentured Servant.

I am not surprised at the posting about the parent who was upset that the teacher needed to take a leave to have a child. They have no idea how inconsiderate they can be.

 

[Lanshark]

Parents who make excuses for their childrens behavior or actions

 

[Pinnie]

Can I ask the teachers here why some teachers REFUSE to use email, when it's a tool the school provides? My work schedule is erratic and changes daily. I know that my son's planner can't be looked at before the day begins (and I don't expect it to be). My best way of communicating to the teacher is by email (spec. ed, but mainstreamed). His Spec. Ed teachers that had computers in their room would update as needed, but his general classroom teacher outright refused.

Sad part is that when dealing with a special needs kid with behavioral issues (asperger's/adhd/ocd/sid), I'd prefer to give a heads up when my son's been up since 4am that he may have a short fuse. I hated the idea of the teacher not knowing.

He's since been placed in a spec. ed class and teacher loves emails! Principal and Asst. Principal use it frequently, so it's not a case of the higher ups not embracing this tool.

Suzanne

I can answer for myself. I don't have a computer with interent access in my classroom. All the teachers in my building share ONE computer in the office that has access. The district can't afford drop lines in all the rooms of my school. The alternative would be to provide my home email address which I used to do, but I got inundated with so many petty issues that I was spending my evenings online answering emails instead of spending time with my family. While technology is a wonderful thing, it really makes sometimes for MORE work!

I have a voice mail at school and parents can get me that way.

I undersand about getting back to sp needs kids and have been on both sides of the classroom both as a sp ed teacher and a general ed teacher. Last year I had 7 kids on behavior plans (ODD, ADD, ADHD, Aspie and even AI) and with all the notes I wrote home to their parents, it took a LOT of class time away from the other kids.

pinnie

 

[lilostitch]

I am not surprised at the posting about the parent who was upset that the teacher needed to take a leave to have a child. They have no idea how inconsiderate they can be.

Oh, we had a good one at my school! My Asst.Principal was in labor, and a parent from our school who also happened to be a labor and delivery nurse, was in the hospital room bothering her about her son. Hello lady, get out and just get me the doctor for my epidural! Good grief!

 

[MrsPete]

DS (7th grade) has to have a book to read for the first 5 minutes of each class. The teacher writes down what page the kids are on each day. DS reads at least one book a day. Frequently he doesn't have a new book to read for class because he read all his over and over and he doesn't want to read the teacher's boring books. She admits she doesn't have books for his level.

I dislike this technique myself; kids can't "get into" the book in five minutes, so I think it's kind of counter-produtive.

However, the mom's complaint is that she doesn't have money to buy books. That's no excuse. I buy LOADS of books for my kids every summer at yard sales for .10-.25 each. Furthermore, the teacher never said the books had to be new; why can't he re-read something that's already in his own library?

 

[daisyduck123]

Can I ask the teachers here why some teachers REFUSE to use email, when it's a tool the school provides?
Suzanne

Well, I'll tell you why we stopped the e-mailing w/ parents at my school.

At the beginning of school last year, our principal suggested that we could give out our e-mail addressess to parents. Well, on Back To School Night some of the teachers did.

Within 2 weeks, it was being seriously abused. Parents were e-mailing teachers with messages like "I realized I'm not going to be home after school so I need Johnny to ride home with his friend Mark on his bus & go to his house." HUH???? This teacher did not see the e-mail until after school because....

WE NEVER have time to check our email during the school day (heck, can't even find time for the bathroom).

Stuff like this was going on constantly so we stopped that.
I was lucky, I hadn't given out my email address anyway.
If a parent wants me, they can send in a note or call before 9 a.m.

 

[lilostitch]

Well, I'll tell you why we stopped the e-mailing w/ parents at my school.

Parents were e-mailing teachers with messages like "I realized I'm not going to be home after school so I need Johnny to ride home with his friend Mark on his bus & go to his house." HUH???? This teacher did not see the e-mail until after school because....

WE NEVER have time to check our email during the school day (heck, can't even find time for the bathroom).

That is unfortunate. Our school uses e-mail all the time, but ALL changes in transportation have to be faxed and signed by parents. There are no e-mail changes and no phone changes.

 

[Mskanga]

We have e-mail access in junior high , it's a blessing , it's like a direct open line with all the teachers that I barely ever use and they have mine , in fact they e-mail me more with what they are doing all week than I e-mail the teachers with anything , LOL.
Elementary is an entirely different story , most of them don't use them but if I ever need anything I have other ways to get in touch with them. Transportation and messages and all that other stuff are not handled by teachers and parents know that so if they decide to take a chance and send a note or e-mail , they will get a surprise.

 

[KAMLEM]

At my last school the principal refused to let us email the parents. She thought they could change our words. I don't think she understood about the sent file or BCC.

Wow, that principal sounds a little paranoid. Even if she doesn't understand technology, there shouldn't be enough issues serious enough to worry about something like this happening.

 

[barkley]

Wow, that principal sounds a little paranoid. Even if she doesn't understand technology, there shouldn't be enough issues serious enough to worry about something like this happening.

yeah, but it just takes a couple of incidents where someone use your written word against you and it can be a huge hassle.

we had a problem where i worked (not a school) wherein sometimes in giving simple instructions or information on something was just easier for the "reciever" to get it in writing (and if it was something you got asked over and over by different people about it got to be a pain to keep repeating yourself). so the department came up with these little 2 page forms (about the size of a piece of steno paper)-the idea was just write the information requested of you down once, give it to the person who asked for and keep a copy that you could photocopy the next time someone else asked for the same information. it worked great-until some people complained they might be used for disciplinary actions and put in personnel files (was'nt going to happen) and others would use them to argue a procedure or question in a totaly unrelated situation.

it finaly got to the point where ANY written communications-notes, memos, emails had to go through a manager or personnel so they could not be "misinterpreted". WHAT A PAIN!

i taught in a private school at one point and they would'nt let the teachers send out ANYTHING in writing until it had gotten cleared and approved by administration-they did'nt want to take the chance that they might get called about something they were'nt aware of (excuse me? you know we are going on a field trip next week but i can't send out permission slip reminder notes? ).

it just takes a couple of nutty situations to ruin it for everyone.