I know everyone has issues about SOMETHING when it comes to their child’s school. I’m not naieve enough to believe any school is perfect. However, my son’s school is driving me insane.
Let me give you a little background about this school. It’s a little country school. It consists of grades K-12 and has a TOTAL of 350 kids in it. There were 17 in last year’s senior class. My son is in 3rd grade. There are 15 kids in his classroom. 15 in the other 3rd grade class. They switch teachers half way through the day.
You would THINK they would get more individual attention and time from the teachers in this situation… wouldn’t you? That IS the case with one of his teachers, She KNOWS her students and tries to tailor her teaching methods to each childs strength. I appreciate this teacher to no end. She keeps me as informed as she can and even when she happens upon me in the hallway or at Wal-mart she will stop and talk to me about how he is doing.
The OTHER teacher… well… she’s a bit different. She has flat out TOLD me that she’s too busy to keep me apprised of my childs progress or difficulties or needs except at the required intervals. She PREFERS the shock value of a parent getting a progress report or report card with bad grades. I see NO graded papers, NO TEST PAPERS, no \nothing from this teacher. (To be fair I see little from the other teacher as well. However, like I said the other teacher keeps me informed.) Anyway, the second teacher is so busy with her extracurricular activities that teaching is no longer her priority.
Report cards came home last Thursday. The first teacher I described requested a parent teacher conference. My son had all B’s in her class. The other teacher, from who my child earned 2 C’s… did not.
The teacher requesting the conference had something very important to discuss. The Texas schools have exit level tests for certain grades. A student can make all A’s all year long… if they fail this test, they do not get promoted to the next grade level. She is afraid my son is going to fail that test. She stated that he is extremely smart, probably Gifted and Talented level of smart. He is BORED and as a result he doesn’t pay attention a lot of the time in class. Unfortunately, we don’t HAVE a Gifted and Talented program. She feels there isn’t anything they can do to cure his boredom issue. LOVELY, eh? “Your kid might fail and get held back because we can’t meet his intellectual needs and he’s bored.” Gah! What do am I, as a parent, supposed to DO?
I considered having a meeting with the principal and counselor to see what really can or can’t be done. I am afraid it might make things worse with the teacher I have issues with. I do not want to make things MORE difficult for him with her.
I’m at a loss. I HAVE decided, after Thanksgiving break, to request that meeting. I just hope I can keep my cool.
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Confessions of a Middle Aged Surburban Diva
Random Ramblings of a Stay At Home Mom
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You can enter once per day per blog via comment! Winner will be chosen by a random number generator and announced on Black Friday! Prize packages will be tailored to the winners families! Let us do your Holiday shopping FOR you!
11 Responses
November 24th, 2008 at 8:55 am
I think you absolutely need to have a sit down with the principal and the teacher in question. But for the love of all that is holy, do everything in your power to remain calm, civil, and make sure you don’t give off a “my kid is a precious snowflake” vibe, which shouldn’t be a problem seeing as he’s not in trouble or anything, but so many other parents do it enough that teachers and school administrators have started to look at concerned parents as the enemy of teaching.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Oh, by the way, you may want to append your list of participating blogs as it seems Wild Hair is participating. As is Ich Benign… (my personal and less serious blog; sorry for it being LJ)
November 24th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Request a meeting. I would also recommend that you make an appointment with your doctor to discuss other testing. Your child may be gifted but may also have a touch of ADD (most gifted students do…). And have a talk with your child. Find out why they are bored in class. If the work is too easy maybe you can arrange special extra credit projects with the staff (it’s what most GT programs do anyway)
There are ways around the school not having the programs, you’ll just need to put your thinking cap on and make it work.
Let me know if you need anything. I was in the GT program starting in 3rd grade so I might be able to recommend some things to keep your child on track at school.
*hugs*
November 24th, 2008 at 11:45 am
You need to have that meeting, and for the meeting focus on the lack of work coming home. You can help your child achieve if you know what’s going on at school.
Focus on your desire to help your son at home. What can you do to help him achieve and pass the test. However, make sure you comment on the necessity for teachers to focus on academics and student success, not simply extracurricular activities.
To give you some additional amunition, Marazano’s studies have shown that students need timely, meaningful feedback on assignments to help them learn. I’d really want to know why nothing is coming home.
-Rob
November 24th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Rob, Jen and Kevin: Thanks guys. Apparently our Superintendent has just resigned which is… interesting. I wonder if I’m the only parent having these issues. I’m going to meet with them next week hopefully.
Kevin: I’m aware Miss Riss has posted on Wildhair about the contest. She got 5 extra entries for doing so. She’s not providing a prize. We decided once the contest started we wouldn’t add anyone to the list. You’ll get 5 extra entries as well for helping get the word out about the contest.
November 24th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Aww thanks for the extra points. I knew I wasn’t part of the gift giving. I just love what you pleeps are doing.
Without a doubt you need to communicate with the school. I concur with Rob and Kevin’s suggestions. Your involvement tells the administration and teachers that you are a partner in your son’s education and not just a bystander pointing fingers and placing blame. Many schools that are unable to offer special programs for gifted children can, at the very least, supply you with resources.
Good luck and keep us posted on the outcome.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I’ve never dealt with this from the parent’s or teacher’s side, but as a student who was bored in school I know it helped to have my parents involved (I’m still really glad we didn’t have exit exams until grade 12, though). Good luck to you and your son.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
You definitely need to have that meeting, but as others have stated , please remain calm.
This does NOT make me miss my school days
November 25th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Teacher conference NAO. If possible, try to have a counselor or the principal in the conference as well. They may not be aware of how unhelpful she is and how unwilling she is to help your son succeed….
XOXOXO
November 26th, 2008 at 12:56 am
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December 26th, 2008 at 9:59 am
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