Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Advice needed on very difficult teacher

Great point. I meant to mention that as a potential source of disaster-- from personal experience, I mean.

There's a textbook for some material, but not all of it.

To add a bit more, I've recently learned that other students and parents have frustrations with this teacher. Another of her practices is to call out kids who get the right answers in front of the whole class (eg candy to kids who pass timed tests and nothing to those who don't, and saying "Sally got this one right and no one else did)."

Thoughts?

My only thought is that your daughter needs to avoid this teacher.

She is probably set in her ways and will not change.

Try to ask local parents (current and past). It is not a new problem - other people have tried to deal with it. (Local internet forums might also be useful.)

(You'll also need to do this discreetly. You might not want to be the main troublemaker in the teacher's eyes (unless you have to). Though you may already be a prime candidate for this role - as the teacher wants to talk to you.)

A successful parent rebellion (and the resulting change) is unlikely. If it has not happened before, why should it happen this year?

Thoughts?

Um, nothing printable or fit to state in mixed company, I'm afraid.


How does this kind of thing foster a "positive learning community?"


It seems inappropriate developmentally to have that kind of "us and them" mentality, and a dog-eat-dog kind of competitive atmosphere in a classroom. It's not as though tweens generally NEED a lot of encouragement toward excluding and humiliating/shaming their peers, after all.

VERY Lord of the Flies of her.

What about kids who are motivated by competition? I wanted to do better than other kids in school, and I did not mind being recognized for it, but I never tried to hinder anyone else. There is little or negative social benefit to being a top student in elementary school, but by high school there was (in part because the smart kid could help you with your work). There are countries where class ranks are posted from 1st grade on, and it's not clear that their educational systems produce inferior results to ours.

There is significant evidence that such environments may well be the main reason why girls tend to avoid STEM into and after adolescence, however.

If it's inappropriate for a good percentage of students, it's counterproductive. Our educational system here is obligated to meet the needs of all eligible students-- not just some of them.

Kids who are motivated by competition naturally will find ways to compare and compete. The problem is that a teacher that avoids collaboration in a classroom is shutting the door on anything ELSE.

Well, I disagree with you on this one, Bostonian. My DD had a similar teacher in 5th grade- her 100%s were always announced, her essays and writing read aloud to the class. We complained and the teacher continued to read the top scores, while leaving my DD off the list (as DD explained, this was almost worse, because by then everyone knew she had top scores, and was being left off conspicuously...). It led to a year of terrible exclusion and bullying, which the teacher seemed not to notice or at least acknowledge. She completely didn't get it.

As far as note-taking, Val, this is pretty standard here in 5th, though with some scaffolding (ie, surprise notebook checks to make sure everything is as expected in the notes). That said, our math program is quite different- they don't seem to have much of what I would consider note-taking in math, but do in other subjects.

Indeed, HK.

It's also worth noting that a successful career in STEM requires collaboration, so a teaching environment that focuses on competition produces an unsuitable job force.

Boys have now fallen behind girls academically in the U.S. (for example in the number getting bachelor's degrees), and some have speculated that removing competitive elements from the classroom can turn off boys. What about meeting their needs?

Val, our schools start teaching and expecting note-taking for subjects like Social Studies, Language Arts etc in 6th grade (middle school). I see note-taking in math as a slightly less complicated skill, and students here are typically starting to copy an example problem from the board in 4th-5th grade, and I'd be ok with a teacher expecting that in 5th grade for sure, especially once your child is in accelerated math (which I realize hasn't happened this week yet :)).

In your dd's situation, I think the problem is larger than concern about one thing here (note-taking requirement) or one-thing there (type of paper etc) - your dd and you are uncomfortable with the teacher. We're all going to run into a year here or there where our kids have a teacher we don't get along well with or don't like or whatever - but your dd is looking at another 5 (?) years with this teacher. So from my perspective you need to focus your efforts on finding a way to get your dd out of this teacher's class all together. Since she's the only math teacher at the school (I think that's what you mentioned before), I'd probably focus on putting together some type of plan for your dd to work independently through an accredited online course or something similar, as independent study - if you think that would work for your dd.

I seriously doubt the teacher is going to change or her methods are going to change.

Best wishes,

polarbear