Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion What teachers think

This article really annoyed me. It feels like an attempt to discourage parents from approaching teachers. It also has such negative feelings towards students.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html

Ohhh I think I know who this principal is! There was another article about her and what a big loss it is to the district she is in to lose her... But on a private facebook group I am on for special needs children the parents in that school linked the article in our group and all taking about how horrible she was to special needs and twice exceptional students and she fought them so hard she drove many of them out of the school

And I agree with you Squishy.

I agree. The tone is off putting and adversarial from the start.

I understand some of the pain teachers must go through with some parents. But just as there are probably very few really bad teachers, there are probably very few really bad parents (and I mean bad in the way this article defines bad).

DS11 has received 3 bs in his school experience thus far and in the end they averaged out to all As. The first b he received was in third grade. The other two he received in 5th. There was only one I discussed with his teacher and that was because he told me she hadn't gone over the material with the class. And through the parent-grapevine I learned that the dc who normally received As all received Bs or lower that 6wks. So I went in. But I didn't go in accusing the teacher of not teaching the material. And I didn't talk about all the others not doing well. I simply said, "Is my son doing all he can do in your estimation. Because he is capable of understanding any material you teach and this is a red-flag."

The teacher was and is one of the best teachers he's had and was, at least that afternoon, defensive and nearly defeated, and surprised me with her angst.

It's a complex issue. I rarely go in to discuss issues with ds's teachers. But when the situation warrants it, or I want more information, I will do so. It's my obligation to do so.

I've read that one before and what really stuck with me was the comment about turning to the student and asking, "Did you do that?". How demeaning for a teacher! A person in authority who is, in their presence, being asked by a child if their account of an event happened or not. Kids lie to get out of trouble. (This is not apropos in accusations of abuse, of course.)

Overall, I have to agree with the article. Teachers are pushed to the limit by parents.

Quoting: This one may be hard to accept, but you shouldn't assume that because your child makes straight A's that he/she is getting a good education. The truth is, a lot of times it's the bad teachers who give the easiest grades, because they know by giving good grades everyone will leave them alone. Parents will say, "My child has a great teacher! He made all A's this year!"

Wow. Come on now. In all honesty, it's usually the best teachers who are giving the lowest grades, because they are raising expectations. Yet, when your children receive low scores you want to complain and head to the principal's office.

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I really hope my son (6) doesn't encounter a teacher who will give him an A just to pacify his father and me. I expect the school to grade him on his true performance...and that performance at the level in which he is capable...regardless of age. I know I may not like to hear the teacher's comment, but does she really "have it out for my kid?" Probably not.

You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. ~Walt Disney

And I wonder if teachers were paid an adequate salary and were empowered to do their jobs, if there would be less adversarial interactions.

Ooh, here's a comment that cuts both ways:


And if we're playing Spot the Contradiction, I submit these:

Excellent point. We're also getting a bunch of very passionate people for whom teaching is a calling, and then I hate to say mediocre folks because why would the high achieves go into a profession with such low pay? (I did but I'm a high achiever with the calling, so much the worse for my pocketbook.)

I do think the point about one tiny mistake costing you your career is a real issue. As a parent I want excellent supervision and care of my kids. As a teacher, the idea that dropping the ball for one second could mean the end--that's terrifying.

I agree, more transparency would help. Someday we'll have classroom webcams, right? :p I've had a few awful, awful parents trying bail out their kids who NEVER came to AP English, but the vast majority of parents are awesome, like their awesome kids!

As a parent of a twice exceptional kid, I simply can't just trust the teachers, take their advice and/or just hand my 2E kid over. They almost destroyed my son. In my experience so far, teachers jump to conclusions like ADHD, Autism and/or have decided that just needs some old fashioned discipline and to be shown whose boss. Most have never even heard of dysgraphia but know all about adhd and autism and will immediately lump any "problem" child right into that category. My kid, as many of you know has a genetic disorder which is rather invisible but greatly effects classroom performance and causes anxiety. It's also obvious to all of us on 'DS's side' that he has a learning disability (i.e., obvious to his therapists, his doctors, his parents and grandparents) but the teacher(s) will fight me tooth and nail on that one, too. MANY teachers have written him off as oppositional and more than one had 'diagnosed' him with adhd and autism after he began to act out b/c of teachers who do not understand him at all. Sorry, it may be a completely different experience for teachers and parents with a neurotypical child but I thank God I 'fought' the teachers and did not just take their advice and follow it. Sorry to bash but in my opinion and experience they want things easy - they want the kids to all be the same and they REALLY do not want to deal with an asynchronous kid. So I am a bit tired of their whining. Also in my experience ADULTS AND TEACHERS will lie like crazy to cover their asses ... most kids I know (at least under a certain age) are honest to a fault. When I started researching disability discrimination in schools, I was really horrified at what many children have suffered at the hands of nasty teachers. Sorry, teachers, that you can't just beat and shame children anymore! What a shame for you! And that's how it was done when I went to school - children were hit and constantly shamed for ANY difference or disability and parents just didn't question it at all in fact they backed the teacher up. Nowadays that isn't acceptable and yeah I guess that makes their job a little harder. Oh well.

Irena - check your pm's

I have to take issue with this idea. In California, teacher pay is high. The average salary in my county is $75,000 a year, and it's $68,000 overall in the state. This is for nine months of work. That's a GOOD salary. And we still have mediocre results (our test scores are near the bottom in reading and math). California schools have the same problems that other states have. And half of the state budget goes to education, yet they still want more money.

Personally, I'm convinced that our society oversimplifies the problems with our schools with claims that everything would get better if only the teachers got paid more and if only the class sizes were smaller. It's a complex problem.

And there are LOTS of people who go into professions for reasons other than pay (your post could be taken as implying that professions with low pay attract only mediocre types because people are only interested in money).