Remember when School teachers actually cared?

[Jims5543]

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

[serge944]

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

[stevepaa]

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.

[svandamme]

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 )

[Tobra]

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.

[dd74]

Originally posted by stevepaa

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

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.

[Craig 930 RS]

No kidding.

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

[alf]

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.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by alf
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

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.

[Jims5543]

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.

[dd74]

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.

[Moneyguy1]

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....

[Evans, Marv]

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.

[alf]

Originally posted by dd74
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.

+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?

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by Moneyguy1
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....

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.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by CS119laCoS
Not based on your description it isn't.

And if that's "one of the best" in your area, I'd hate to see one of the worst.

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.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by alf
+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?

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.

[Jims5543]

Originally posted by Evans, Marv
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.

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.

[JeffO]

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.

[dd74]

Originally posted by JeffO
Your son forgets twice to get his makeup work and you freak on the teacher. I see this as a personal responsibility lesson.

+1. Look inward first.