Remember when School teachers actually cared?
 

Out of 6 teachers this year our son has 3 good ones the other 3 need to retire. They obviously do not like kids anymore.

My son just missed 2 days of school. Thurs. and Fri. last week he had a head cold and we kept him home.

Scool rules state its his responsibility to get his make up work. He forgot on Monday and we told him to get it in Tues.

He had until Wed. to get it made up. He forgot again Tues. My wife had pisked him up that day and when he said he forgot she paraded him back in to get it. 5 minutes after class let out the teachers were already in their cars on their way home.

My wife stormed to the front office and the secretary said"They have been here since 8 a.m." Like this was so horrible that they were there for 8 hours. I wish I had those hours.

The teachers post grades up online. They are supposed to do it daily. As a back up plan we could go online and get his assignments. No go, they were all 3-5 days behind.

So my son goes to class today and asks one of the crappy teachers for his missed work. The teacher immediatly snaps at him and tells him he missed his chance to make it up. Almost like she was keeping track of his time expiring. Instead of offering the work to him days ago (like my teachers did when I was his age) she almost seemed to take delight in giving him his Zeros.

So it seems to teachers can fall 3-5 days behind with their posting up the grades but my son has to be spot on with his asking for missed work.

I normally slam the kid for being forgetful. But I just cannot get past the fact that when I was in 7th grade my teachers would first, welcome me back from being sick (never happened with my son) and second give me my missed work to make up. (again, they seemed to be happy watching him miss his opportunity to make it up and get a zero)

My wife is furious. Trust me we know our boy is no angel but we can tell by his grades whch teachers give a crap (the young ones) and which ones are there to just bash his head in. (the older ones)

We can participate in a follow your child through school program. My wife is arraging to do it for a week solid and see if he does not do better. We already know he will be better behaved, although he is a polite kid BUT a kid none the less and is prone to silly boy stuff. But its the teachers we are more interested in, particularly 3 of them.

BTW- My son failed Math last year with a crappy old teacher. This year he has a young enthusiastic teacher and is getting a solid B. How do you figure that one? 1/2 his class failed last year (we could tell from summer school registration) and the teacher was fired, of course a lot of kids suffered from her behavior first.

Sorry for the long post.


/rant

It's a general trend these days - no one gives a crap about anyone. And yes, the public school system does suck.

There are bad new teachers also. My son had a first year teacher for Spanish 2 in high school and did not learn a thing, and got an A. All the kids in that class got good grades and did not learn enough to even start Spanish 3. Enough parents complained that she was gone within a month.

I do think that once the spark is gone, a teacher should really make a change, maybe a new school, and new subject, but there are impediments to that also.

If they really are bad, bother the heck out the admin until you get some action. Good luck.


PS. The bad new teacher was at a private school.

i remember dorks like that back when i was in school
one of em kept giving me bad grades because my handwriting was sloppy(but the results of my tasks, math were clear and correct)
and instead of teaching me , or at least signing me up for after school handwriting lessons, he just kept dogging me with bad grades

that was when i was 8 or 9

when i was 13 went to high school , and there you had good, and crappy teachers alike...

so 20 years ago , yes i remember teachers who cared
but i remember just as much , if not more dorks...
and it's not their fault i dropped out , that's mine, and my parents fault ( for not spending time with me , to the point where authority didn't mean nothing to me )

My favorite teacher ever, Mrs Thompson, 1st Grade, died a few months ago. Saw the obit, figured out that her mother was a patient and sent her a condolence letter. She was touched and a bit surprised I remembered her.

I think it is a general trend of people not caring if they do things well or not. Bad when it is teachers, scary when it is nurses.

That's what I was going to ask: if this teacher was at a private school, because it's virtually impossible to get rid of public school teachers - at least in the L.A. Unified School District, unless they physically harm a student.

No kidding.

Our daughter is in Kindergarten.......teacher avoids all parental contact, at all costs. Very, very weird.

Both my sons (1st & 3rd grade) have had and continue to have great teachers. They both respect their teachers, do great and truely enjoy school.

Yes, it is a public school

added: My wife also sits on the PTSA board and spends 15+hrs/week at the school volunteering her time.

In Second grade our son had a horrible teacher that spent the day screaming and yelling at the class. This did not come to kight until the end of the year and when confronted was denied.

The damage that teacher did was almost un-reversable. If my son did not understand something he was tore apart be her. Remember he was 6 YEARS OLD. There was no excuse for her behavior.

He had very good 3-4 teachers and it looked like he was on his way again to doing very well in school. Then in 5th grade he had 2 teachers. One used to live across the street and was awesome. The other needed to head out to pasture. She had no idea what it is to be a kid and no patience with the class.

His terrible Math teacher last year actually quit. I was told my the guidence couselor that she had to quit in order for the school to loose her. Otherwise they had to honor her contract. That is a load of BS if you ask me.

When asked how many kids failed her class I could never get an answer. But after I had my son take a poll at the summer school class he was in it seemed liek 50% of her students failed.

He got a B in summer school BTW.

My wife wants to home school and I am dead against it. Although some good friend I respect a lot did it and their kids have done very well. Their son, who is 16 is almost done with HS and looking at collage classes. He is a well adjusted kid, a motorhead, like his dad, and fun to talk to. You would never know he was home schooled.

The thing that bothered me when searching home schooling is all the christian crap that is mentioned. It seems all the Jesus freaks are home schoolers. My friends BTW are not.

This is really bothering me right now. We just had a sit down with our son. He is game for Home Schooling but I am still on the fence.

No actually its one of the best in the area.


Before our 3 y/o was born my wife was at the school every day volenteering as well.

Volunteering is what it's going to take to keep the teachers in line, or at least empower a parent to understand what might be amiss with their child's education, whether that problem lies with the teacher, the education, or the child.

If parents would stop thinking your children are perfect, start showing a little respect for the teachers, work with them, get involved in the PTA and you might just be surprised at the changes. Teachers, like everyone else, get tired of being yelled at!!

Consider the following:

A parents attitude toward the teachers and the school system rubs off on the kids. They pick up on your feelings and imitate them. You complain, they hear it, and they react negatively. You support the teacher, the kids "get the point".

I know; I went to school a LONG time ago. But, if I missed assignments or got into trouble, my dad believed the teacher FIRST and me last. Didn't take me long to figure things out.

Yeah, there are bad teachers out there but 3 out of 6? Without the "other side's" story, I would not be willing to make any kind of judgement.

Not pickin' on ya, Jim....

My wife is a first grade teacher. A little Filippino thing who is extremely inteligent, talented & artistic. On top of that, she knows how to manage a class, discipline the kids in a positive way, and educates her students beyone grade level. Part of this is because she went to school in the Phillippines where they don't take ***** from kids or parents, although her way is not at all intimidating. She is there at 7:30 and usually doesn't come home until 5:30 to 6:00. Then she spends the rest of the night preparing for the next day.
You are right. Lots of older teachers are crappy in every way. As a former teacher, I can tell you some of the frustrations: lack of administrative support, lack of communication (they put an autistic child in her class without telling her, and no support services for her or the kid either), administration taking the avenue of least resistance to not make waves & make it seem like everything is just going hunky dory), lack of teamwork and encouragement of working as a team, lack of accountability (teachers are not held accoutable for their actions), really bad teachers kept on every year to reak havoc - well, I'll stop here because I could go on forever.
Alfred has it right. Keep on top of what's happening & volunteer in class if you can. Althought a lot of teachers will put you in the copy room all day. If it were me & what I know, I wouldn't take anything from the administrators when it came to my kid. I'd demand another teacher, a change of class, bring it to their attention that the teacher is behind on things and unjustly demanding of the students and not take "no" or excuses for an answer. Plus, I'd monitor the teacher at the first of the year, & demand a change to another is the teacher isn't up to my standards. It's your kid & if he/she doesn't learn at the time, they won't be able to go back. And a bad teacher can really mess up a kid's attitude toward school & learning big time. I'll stop now.

+1

I honestly do not know how families with 2 working parents keep up with parenting, but that is another thread.

Get to know your kid's school and teachers, it seems prudent to be on first name basis with the person that is educating and spending the bulk of the day with your child doesn't it?

We make a point of keeping our issues with the teachers quiet and secret from our kid.

He is not perfect, I amde a point of saying he is a typical kid and I for one, jump on his case when I hear negative assuming he is to blame.

My wife is more of the coddler and I am fighting with her all the time over this.

My point to my wife is if 25 other kids can cut it then he can do it. Then 1/2 the class failed last year in Math and I was made to be the fool as I defended the teacher and blamed my son.

We do not yell at teachers but to be honest we are sick and tired of the BS.

Boo Hoo the teachers worked a full 8 hours today. I work 10-12 hours a day and will stay later if I have to to make sure clients are taken care of.

I also work 51 weeks a year I do not get summers off.

My point was the fact that a teacher watched and knew he was about to get Zero's and let it happen. I guess he learned a lesson. Not to think a teacher cares about his grades.

Some of the best teachers I had growing up were the ones that looked out for me. I remember them to this day and actually keep in touch with my 5th grade teacher because he was so nice. He was also a huge Chuck Barris / Gong Show fan. He was an instant friend.

I know it sounds bad but our High Schools have the least drop outs int he state and highest college entries.

The city to the North of us has the highest dropouts and least college entries.

This school district prides itself on zero tolerance for misbehavior which I am happy for. The kids do not rule the school, but it seems the teachers are a little to trippy with the power and need some compassion.

Home prices in this school district are 24-40% higher because of it.

I knew on the open house my son would have problems with one teacher. She talked to us parents like we were 4 year olds and acted like Mr. Rodgers. I was ready to go to the school the next day and get him out of that class. She is an old bat and I could tell she was a ***** right from the 1st minute I met her. (My son does not know this BTW)

Then I was told she was the nice Language Arts teacher and left him be. He is currently getting an D in that class.

Last week she gave him a Zero for the day because he did not have his book open for the assignment. When he tried to explain he finished she blew up and gave him a Zero.

All fears confirmed. Maybe its time to drive the giudence couselor crazy.

I am really busy this week but next I am pretty free. Time to drive the school crazy.

Yup, your wife sound like his Math, Reading and Envirometal teachers. They all are as passionate about their jobs and it shows not only in them but in the kids grades.

I wish all teachers could be like her.

Thanks for your input. Time to visit Guidence.

Your son forgets twice to get his makeup work and you freak on the teacher. I see this as a personal responsibility lesson. Also in life you must learn to deal with all sorts of people and life situations. This looks like a good lesson for him. You learn best from failure sometimes.

+1. Look inward first.

I wonder how much we're suffering from selective memory, aka "the good old days" syndrome.

Doesn't anyone remember having terrible teachers when they were kids? I think we did. Where did all those "bad teacher" stereotypes come from, if there weren't any "when we were kids"?

My kids have had a couple of bad teachers so far, one even quit halfway through the school year. They've had mostly good to excellent teachers, though. This is in private school(s). The teachers are not paid any better than public school teachers, AFAIK, but they do get to deal with good kids, nice facilities, and educated parents.

Your children will learn more from you than they will in school. Spending time with your children will pay bigger dividends than spending time with their teachers.

How do you figure that one? 1/2 his class failed last year (we could tell from summer school registration) and the teacher was fired

Obviously she wasn't a teacher in California...damn near impossible to fire one...even really crappy ones.

My wife will finally be done with her degree this semester. Shes a dual secondary education and history major. She does not want to teach in the state of florida and i can't blame her. The stuff he kids do in school is crazy, they talk to the teachers as if they they were sailors, and have no respect. I'm 26, i graduated from a fl high school after transfering my last semester my senior year, and i couldn't believe what i seen. Stuff the teachers let slide by would have been cause for suspension where i grew up(ohio). At my shop alot of younger people come around, ie hs kids, they tell me stories of how bad kids are, how many fights there are, and that the teachers have no control; that they'll do what ever they want because they won't get into trouble and they just don't care. I really think that most teachers start out wanting to help, but most of the kids treat them like **** and after many years basically give up. I know many people that moved here to florida as teachers and quit because the kids were animals. I don't think u can blame most of the teachers for this, this is a parenting issue. Jim i'm not saying that is the case for your son (obv its not the case, you and your wife care very much), but middle school is were most of the kids become major PITA's. I agree the teacher should have reminded him but on the other hand 7th grade is old enough to make sure you get what you missed, i know i remember sitting in class trying to figure out how to get out of doing the make up homework :)
I just don't think that the horrible school system in florida can be blamed on the teachers, alot of the problem is the state system, they spend so much time worried about passing state tests that all they(the schools) do is practice for the test and forget about actually teaching the kids something. If they taught them they would pass the state tests with ease.

Marv,
Your wife and mine sound like they would get along fine. Mine has been teaching for over 27 years, (mostly grade 6) and is small enough she is sometimes referred to as the "Stealth Teacher". The kids don't see her walking down the hall and get caught doing the dumbest things. She cheerfully fosters the persona of "The Wicked Witch of the West Wing", by coming down hard on rule breakers, but at the same time, seems to have a stream of kids coming to her, just to hang around. (One young man, 6 years after he had been in her class, invited her to his high school graduation. He said he wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for her.)

I have convinced her this year, to use her caring attitude for the kids and the respect she has with a young staff to guide the younger teachers along the path she has found to work with the kids. It is interesting to note she was initially surprised they were interested in what she has found to work for her and are eager for guidance. She is just grasping that being a leader doesn't mean you have to be a principal or VP, you just have to lead.

Her philosophy remains you have to have respect for those around you and , at the same time you have to earn their respect. Most of her students grasp that pretty quickly, but those who have difficulty with the concept are those who don't have the message re-enforced at home (or worse, have a home life where respect is not part of the equation).

I agree, there are teachers in many classrooms who can not deal with their jobs. I had a few in the 60s. They have always been there. Some quickly find out dealing with the problems young people bring to the classroom these days is beyond them, others, holding on for a pension are, sadly hurting the very kids they are there to help.
They are, after all, only human.

Les

When he asked onthe third day the teacher freaked on him. Happily exclaiming he already got his zeros. Like she was waiting for the 2 days to pass and not saying a word to him knowing he was getting zeros.

Wow! I guess its a really tough world for 13 years olds.

Its o.k. for the teachers to get 5 days behind in their work and the kids have to be right there.

That was my point.

I have not spoken to a single teacher and our son has been punished and lost lots of things he likes.

But as I sit and ponder about this it steams me. Because I cannot believe a teacher would not offer the work to him. He has to ASK for it. Otherwise they will knowingly sit and hold the make up work and let him get a zero. Obviously they were aware he was about to get Zeros.

I sit EVERY night with him and do his homework with him.

I tried to teach him math last year and you know what? I could not do it. I could not explain to him how to do Trig and Geometry. I am not a teacher. I understand how to do it but to articulate it so a 12 / 13 y/o can understand it was difficult.

I was fighting like a mad man to get him to pass that math class last year. I worked with him every night.

I am not your typical toss the kids to the side parent.

My entire social life has been put to the side for my family. I do not go out with the guys I do not participate in any social event, including going out with my wife for a "date night" we are there for our kids 7 days a week 24 hours a day, I will even leave my office to do something for my kids or wife if they need it. My only recreation? I go to the Gym at 6:00 in the morning before work. I participate in 2 to 3 track days a year and even then I take my son with me he helps me out in the pits etc..

You have the wrong person in your minds. I care about my kids.

Jim, this is not healthy.

not healthy , but admirable
i was lucky if i saw my parents at the diner table
let alone for any so called quality time

It's simply a function of a society in which people have little alternative but to put themselves, their own interests and their own agendas first or else run the risk of being ***** on and taken advantage of by everyone else. It's kind of sad but it's one of those "chicken and egg" questions - if people weren't so self-serving, would there be no more reason to have to be self-serving just to ensure one's own survival in this oh-so-modern and enlightened society of ours?

I feel for your son but the name of the game these days is just the same as with anything else - money talks, B.S. walks. Maybe look at private school or private tutoring?

Kurt - Between the 3 y/o and our 13 y/o we have no time at all for ourselves. The 3 y/o goes to bed at 8:00 and I am usually sitting with the 13 y/o going over homework. I was posting last night between assignments then checking them and going over them with him.

He gets home from School at 4:45 p.m. then heads for a 8 week tutor program we have him in, he is 4 weeks away from being done. Its seems to be helping but its not normal tutoring its more of a tune up for the brain. He gets home from that at 6:15 then eats dinner and starts homework by around 7 p.m.

Homework usually wrpas up at about 8:30-9 pm. then he woudl normally get to watch tv for an hour but he has lost that so he gets to sit in his room and read before bedtime. He gets tucked in at 10 p.m. I normally pass out a few minutes later having been up since 6. Then he gets up at 7 a.m. to start it all over again.

I am sometimes amazed that some of the members of this board who have kids actually have time for so many other things.

None of us have a life and will not until he gets to High School when he gets home at 2:00.

I guess I am just frustrated, this poor kids entire life is school, he has no time to be a kid and if he acts like a kid in school he gets big zeros. I am pissed at him for forgetting to ask for his makeup work but have to wonder if he did it on purpose so he would not be sitting up all night doing it.

I am more upset with the what the teacher said and did to him. I guess I just expected an adult to have a little compassion. It must have been really important to them to teach him a lesson.

When he has to ASK for the makeup work he is being held accountable.
This is good lesson for him. He can learn self reliance knowing that you are there to help if needed. Also please understand that he knows the importance that you are placing on this and maybe blowing up the teacher freaked on me kind of thing. She may just have given a short curt reply that he had missed his chance and now he knows he has to tell you he let you down. Hence evil teacher who was just trying to raise the child with a community effort not seen by you.

Jim, school is not that tough. If your kid is working that hard and still failing or doing poorly then effort is probably not the problem so more of it may even hurt. I'm not saying your kid is stupid or anything like that, but there are other things that can hinder learning. Have you had his eyes checked? His hearing? etc....

Eyes checked and glasses prescribed 2 years ago. Checkups ruotinly after that.

Ears checks by my dad who is an Audiologist.

He has been to
Learning RX a cognitive training and it helped a little.

He is now at a Learning Center and it seems to be helping.

No len, school can be that tough

I had friends in high school that would go to class everyday and take notes and pay strict attention while I would doodle and fall asleep. the tests would come around and I'd pull of my A and some of those friends would do better but others would do worse than me

sometimes people just simply arent that smart and cant grasp concepts

also jim, I agree with you that its unfortunate, i was in middle school less than 6 years ago and i know that when i missed stuff teachers would help me to make it up. They left it up to me more in high school but even then they were helpful. The trend seems to be that kids are suppsoed to be responsible adults at younger and younger ages which is completely ridiculous

Bottom line: teaching is a JOB.
People often hate their JOB.

A teacher who hates their JOB will not be a decent teacher.
Unfortunately, this job is unusual in that it directly & deeply personally impacts other humans in the 'family chain'

School isn't about being "smart", it's about getting students to pass tests in order to not lose federal funding. You can thank the "no-future-corporate-drone-left-behind" legislation for that one.

There's an incentive for teachers to flunk a few students too - it saves them work. If you can show a percentage of failures on a particular test or course, it gives it (in the eyes of non-discriminating individuals - like supervisory bureaucrats) de facto legitimacy as a "good test" or "good course" because not everyone was able to ace it and not everyone bombed it. As such, there's little pressure to re-configure the course or test - you can simply repeat the same thing year after year and float happily along collecting a paycheck.

It's extremely easy to write a test that will guarantee a certain percentage of passes/fails. This has nothing whatsoever to do with imparting the knowledge or abilities the test is SUPPOSED to be evaluating. Nothing whatsoever.

If those supervising the teachers actually gave a damn about the knowledge or information transfer rather than the raw test scores (they don't, since there's no incentive to under NCLB), the teachers would have to re-work their tests and course outlines/lesson plans more regularly. Since this is more work for them, they certainly won't push for it (at the expense of the students). Since the bureaucrat supervisors don't care (test scores are what matters), they likewise won't push for it (at the expense of the students).

One thing to keep in mind is that the overall approach and tone of school changes drastically right about where your son is. Up to 5th and 6th grade, teachers are much more coddling and accomodating. From 7th-8th the teachers start kicking ass to prepare the kids for the harder standards of high school.

I remember 7th grade as very similar to what you describe. I was shocked when I got my first zero for missing a deadline. Couldn't the teacher have reminded me? No--you're not in elementary school any more.

I would be very observant of your son's reactions. Is he responding/maturing in an appropriate way? The episode you described should have scared the crap out of him such that he'll never turn in an assignment late again! Did it? Or did he make excuses? "prone to silly boy stuff" starts to run out at this age. Make sure his responsibility level is improving proportionally, and not by kicking he ass. That's the perfect age to start using organizational tools. Give him a small day planner if he doesn't use one already. Make him write down upcoming assignments and deadlines. Review them every night at a specified time. You can help him get organized to the point where he'll weather bad teachers well, and not get put back on his heels by them.

It only gets tougher on him from here on.

No, it's really not that tough. I agree that some have to work harder than others, but with even moderate effort good grades should be easy. This assumes no severe learning disabilities.

Jim has described a kid that gets 1 hour of professional tutoring a day and does 8-10 hours of work at home per week with a concerned parent. There is NO excuse for not getting good grades unless there is a severe underlying problem (not necessarily a mental one).

Please don't take that wrong Jim, it could be that your kids horny as hell and can't think of anything but skirts. :D

My wife is a teacher and she's at work almost an hour earley and stays at least an hour late every day, as well as working through lunch time and she brings home work every night. She has been spending 3-4 hours at work every Saturday. There are some other teachers at her school (where both of our kids attend) that do the same thing. Same as any other profession, there are dedicated professionals and there are the slackers...