This year there is a new principal at my kids school. I really have nothing personal against her and wasn't "friends" with the old principal. However, I agreed with how the old principal ran the school. She seemed to really feed the staff and students. It was all about building self-esteem and self-confidence. She would work hard to keep the morale of the school up and bring great school spirit. This year the teachers don't seem "connect" the same. I have had my kids come home talking about how 2-3 people out of thier class passed the first six weeks exam. (this is more than one grade level) The response from the teachers is yelling at the kids, threatening to pull GT students out of GT. Telling the kids I'm going to lose my job and it's your fault and when I get fired I'm going to let the principal know it's you and she needs to do something about you guys not listening and learning what you need to. Are you kidding me!? That is border line abusive to me. And, these kids have enough on their shoulders without you putting your job on them. The teachers are partly responsible for the inability of their class to pass these tests. I do feel like part of the problem is I haven't seen the principal but twice. My daughter has come home so many times this year talking about we didn't finish this because there was a problem in class so we were running late for this class because the teacher was trying to take care of what was going on. That is the principals job get on with teaching the class already. We have class giving punishments to kids when there is a problem such as the offender having to stand up in class and answer questions the is given from each of the students. Yes, is this teacher prettier or is that teacher prettier was allowed. There is so much more but I feel like I am rambling. Am I overreacting?
I just want to say that I am partially blaming the principal because this is her first year and she just isn't around that much. Our old principal moved up not fired but things weren't like this when she was there. She encouraged the teachers and students to be the best and it was with her that the school got the exemplary rating. I have talked to several of the parents about these issues and for the most part we all agree but alot of them don't seem to agree with the banning together and filing a formal complaint. It is more of a just deal with it attitude. I have talked to one of the teachers about the outburst and she said she did say those things and she was sorry. She gave excuses and apologized to my daughter. All three of my children are very smart one in GT having made 1 B on her report card in her 4 years of school. Another one is all A's the last one is A's and B's. They aren't problem students but are directly affected by teachers taking care of the problems instead of sending them to the office, which to me has to have something to do with the office saying you take care of it and only send students down if it is a continuing problem. Oh, and somebody asked about ISS you get sent to a lower grade level to serve your time is what I have been told. Anyway, thanks for the advice I will definately be around the school more...
No you should address this with the principal they cant fix something if they dont no its broke.If no complaints then things will remain the same.
It sounds like there is a problem at your school. As you know, threats, yelling, and the fear of punishment do little to help whether you are referring to students, teachers, or the principal. Some problem solving needs to start.
Is student behavior getting in the way of learning?
Have students come into the grade without the proper skills?
Does the teacher need education on positive and effective discipline?
Has the work environment deteriorated so much that the teachers are at the breaking point?
Does the teacher lack an effective way to present the curriculum?
Is there a problem with the curriculum?
Only once the problem is identified, can a solution be found. The solution probably will not occur overnight. Read the paragraph below if you want a taste of what a teacher's job entails.
I am a relatively new teacher and we have a new superintendent. Our job is incredibly hard. We are expected to check the TEKS, make sure that we are covering those TEKS in the lessons that we present. We may have to create our own lesson because there is not a curriculum out there that correlated perfectly with our TEKS. We have to be prepared for the lesson with materials (that we create) ahead of time. We must type out our plans, our student expectations, and the TEKS that are covered. Then we present the lesson, have students practice it, then we must evaluate to see if they are actually learning the material. Of course all of the steps must be documented. We develop and implement remediation, enter grades, and find homework to reinforce new skills. Of course we must keep up the the homework, student work, and student behaviors. We cannot forget to keep the environment neat, attractive, relevant, and stimulating. Naturally, we tutor, participate in UIL activities, and participate in the PTA. I have attended about 80 hours of teacher training so far this year. We also meet with the administration and our team members at least once per week. We must develop our own tests on a weekly basis in addition to the curriculum tests, administer them, evaluate them, and then send them to central office. I am working about 75-80 hours per week. I am exhausted. I also know that I am not the best teacher. I love the children, but I just can't give anymore. Sometimes even with the hours that I put in, I am flipping through the lesson minutes before I teach it or even as I am teaching it. I teach third grade. While I teach all subjects, I will give you an example of our challenges using math: I am expected to teach problem solving, fractions, multiplication and division of two digit numbers, etc. Five of my students have trouble adding single digit numbers. I held up 4 fingers and asked my tutoring students how many fingers I was holding in the air. One student just could not figure it out. Of course, if my students cannot pass TAKS, not only am I held accountable, but our principal, and superintendent are too.
As for GT, if a student has been identified as GT, schools must provide differentiated instruction for those students. If those students have been put into GT simply for enrichment as they have in my school, basic curriculum comes first. If students have not learned basic material, it may not be a good idea to pull them away from instruction.
Good Luck,
Jen
PS. I learned an interesting fact this week. I saw a demonstration lesson. The teacher asked students for the temperature. They all agreed - 75 degrees F. Then she had then answer a test question. Is the temperature 85, 80, or 75. The students overwhelmingly said 80! Sometimes young students just don't have test taking skills. When the administration comes down hard on test results and doesn't just use them for learning opportunities, it can create a lot of tension.
I think you are right I had a simular issue with my childrens day care. My children wasn't fighting, bitting, hitting, or had bad behavier problems. I started them at a "so called school" Day care. I paid good money for their books, uniforms, etc. So I figured they would be learning and getting ready for Elem. school. Well I noticed that everyday they were fighting....someone hit or bit my child today. I would talk with there teachers and they would tell me that there is no structure, or punishment for bad behavier. I unenrolled them ASAP. I found another school "Academy" and they are doing great....
I think it should be like this....You pay your tax's, school, property, etc. They should have a school for children that want to learn. If there are children in a class room being disruptive, then seend their little butts down to the principles office and let them deal with this child. It is not fair to deprive a child wanting to learn. Why should your child be cheated out of learning, just because some crazy kid with no sence wants to act like a clown. The teacher should do something.......I would go talk to the principle about this issue if it was me. Then if nothing gets done, I would go up...up...up to the next person, over them, untill something was resolved....
It was a little hard to follow your meaning in the last part of your question, but I am trying to understand from that why you are looking toward the principle rather than the teachers for the teachers' bad behaviors.
There is no substitute for getting to know your children's teachers, their goals, their biggest challenges, how they feel your child is doing compared to their classmates, etc. Go to get info, not challenge or accuse. Ask how often they think a parent should meet with them each year for the most benefit.
If you find in those conversations that the principal is putting undue pressures on them and causing the teachers to lose it, ask the teachers how you can help. Would they think it beneficial for you to meet with the principal to ask why you are hearing such pressure coming from the teachers this year. Are they overwhelmed and need more support or ? (Support could be in the form of tutors for the kids that don't pick up the info as quickly. Was the previous principal not stressing test grades enough so the school district replaced her? We all have heard the complaints about how teachers have to teach to the test more than anything else nowdays.
But if the kids aren't studying at home, then the parents may need to be the one to help their kids "get" how important it is to study and make good grades. The number one problem I've heard is that many parents aren't involved enough or care enough to help their kids or encourage their kids to do their best. If a parent didn't get that support from their own parent, they may not realize that they could and should be more involved with their teachers and their kid's educational success.
I'm not 100% sure of what you're asking. I think you had some typos, but I wanted to say don't take what you're kids say for the absolute truth. When I was teaching and pregnant I had a parent come to me and accuse me of threatening the students that if they didn't behave, my baby could die. I NEVER said that. Of course I wouldn't put a miscarriage on the shoulders of my 9 and 10-year old students. It was implied from a student. So the students heard something like that and told their parents. Don't necessarily assume the worst. Maybe you should talk with the teacher (in a non-threatening way) and see what's going on.
In second grade my child started getting in trouble everyday and then started not wanting to go to school. This from a kid who loves school. Spoke to the teacher and she said her and this boy were hving issuies. I explained she needed to make sure my daughter likes school again. Well it went well for a week then started back up again. Went in made the princple switch classes. You can force the issue. And she went from getting in troubl every day to not getting in trouble at all and loving school. Thsi year she was even put in the advanced gifted class and is doign work a grade higher than normal and the teacher loves her and not one piece of trouble in 3 months. This tells you that you need to go to the school tell the principle i want her out of that class now and put in another class wether the teacher likes it or not.
Dear C. W,
You should go to the School and have a talk with your Princapal. The teacher should be looked at. That sounds a little off the wall as far as I am conserned.
Good luck
MK
I think you need to contact the school district and get a third party to look into it.
It is never appropriate for a teacher to tell the kids he/she is going to lose their job because of the kids performance. It is never appropriate to publicly chastise a child. For these kinds of things I would be flying up to school on my broomstick to speak with teachers and principal. On the other hand your school is going through a huge transition with a new principal and you want to cut as much slack as you can, but...... Have you talked to other parents? Do they agree with your concerns? Get a little perspective from people who are closer to the situation. Get involved. Get on the PTA board, volunteer to help the teacher. Get closer where you can see for yourself what is going on. Don't expect perfection and pick your battles. Speak UP.........and that is when you are upset, and when praise is in order.
