Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments A Dear Teacher... thread

I routinely send thank-you notes; I have my kids write them, too. Part of our end of year rituals here.

I also praise administrators who do excellent work, copied to the superintendent. These folks need to know what's working as well as what's not...

HK, I'm just so sorry. I hope your DD is still feeling good about her achievements.

And do make that complaint. Holy cow.

I know, I told her I wish I could clone her for next year. DS only had her for a short few months (after we switched schools). We are transferring DS yet again and the current teacher and IEP manager went with me to the new school to meet with the new teacher, principal, OT, etc. and the teacher really went to bat for DS, trying to get him advanced work. She had a huge crate full of assessments and things she'd done on him. I don't know how it's going to go with the new teacher but I am positive that if I had gone in there myself talking about my little genius needing advanced work, it wouldn't have been nearly as effective.

Dear Algebra II Teacher,

After two years of my son having excellent teachers who taught my son that he was not only good at math but he loved it. You have managed to kill not only his enthusiasm but the enthusiasm of the other kids in class as well. Was there a reason to give most of the the class D's or lower on thier last chapter test of year. I can maybe understand setting your standards on the first test.. but the last one?? These are a group of very bright math students and you had many of them practically crying in class because you tested them on material you not only didn't teach but that the students weren't expecting. This is not the first time this has happened. And when my son asked why he got a problem wrong you all but implied he was stupid for not noticing the "trick" involved.

I was warned about you by numerous other parents at the start of the year but there wasn't really much I could do about it because we liked most of his other teachers & class selections. I talked with parents who have tried to work with you in over the past number of years to realize that you are not at all flexible nor listen to the parents when they complain. And I am convinced but don't have the evidence that when you heard about the SST meeting for my son you switched my son's homework grade to an 80% just so you would be able to blame my son instead of your unreasonable testing practices. The one thing my son has done religiously is his math homework for the last 3 years.

And I might buy your "this is just a really hard class" line if it were not for the fact that this same classes taught by a different teacher the students are a lot happier and their grades a lot higher. In a school that sets absolutes for staying in their honors classes their grades MATTER. Giving the best and the brightest students this school has to offer mediocre grades is shame on you because it will follow this students into their college selection process. And quite probably convince a number of them that they aren't good at math when they are instead some of the best math students.

Dear administrator,


Thanks for: 1. not following through sufficiently that my child felt SAFE attending her own graduation ceremony (for a variety of reasons), 2. when confronted with this reality, offering to do NOTHING to make the situation better in any way, 3. adding a year to my child's actual age when announcing her as class salutatorian, 4. using an out of date, LOWER GPA than her actual cumulative GPA, by the way, and most of all... 5. thanks a BUNCH for skipping her name when you read the list. Think anyone noticed that last bit? Maybe?? Especially after you called her out as one of the top three in the class.

Oh yeah-- and my kid is responsible for over 10% of the total of scholarship awards in monetary value for her class of over 300 students, btw. But thanks. For nothing.

Sincerely,

Who me? Bitter? Nahhhh-- just really not regretting telling you to POUND SAND when you wanted to offer her up like a steak to the regional media.




And I really hate to say this-- but my DH completely called this one.

Dear Teacher,

I found the printed emails between you and the principal (from he**) that reference how you felt about our requests for enrichment and whether our child fit in your school in the end-of-year folder you sent home w/DS along with his precious assignments. Thank God I didn't have him sort through it and that it just went into the pile of school stuff a year ago. I don't know if you were being vindictive or just stupid. Either way, it hurt all over again.

Dear First Grade Teacher,
No thanks to you for being prejudiced against my son because he needs to go to the bathroom more times than other kids in your class. Making him run laps for going on "unscheduled" bathroom breaks is enough to traumatize him into his teen years. No, he does not have "impulse control" issues because of that. He is just a playful boy who really, really loves to climb play structures at recess and role play superheroes that he forgets to use recess time for bathroom breaks. You could have made everyone's life easier by reminding him a few times!
No thanks for not picking him for math competitions, spelling competitions and whatever else because of your prejudices. My little guy had the last laugh when the standardized test results came out and all your "compliant" favorite students scored nowhere near him. Was it humiliating for you to explain to the school principal how your "average" student scored 100% across the board and none of your "top scholars" even made it close to him? No thanks for not inviting me to the merit assembly where my child won the school's merit scholarship for outstanding academics - all the other select parents that you chose to invite would have been disappointed that their child did not receive the scholarship.
And no thanks to you for trying to kill my child's love for math by telling him that an equilateral triangle could have all three angles as right angles - and no thanks for covering up your embarrassment when a 6 year old challenged you by giving him "thinking time" in a corner. ******.
I am glad that we are well rid of you.

Sincerely,
A STEM professional who is mom to a really sweet, funny and smart kid who knows more math than you do, apparently.

Should we give the teacher credit for some higher level concepts?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Euclidean_geometry
(Naah, probably not.)

OK: the equilateral triangle episode takes the prize. I am so very sorry your dc was punished for speaking up.

My dc had a much milder but similar experience. Kindergarten teacher (holds up an equilateral triangle), "Now what is this?"

DC, age 5: "An equilateral triangle."

Teacher (frowning): "You're not supposed to know that. It's just a triangle."

I am so sorry that your child was put in the hot seat in early elementary class for knowing more math than they are supposed to know. Hopefully first grade brings a more encouraging teacher.