I followed your advice and met with the principal today.He kept me there for 3 hours. I showed him all my documents and he agreed that the teachers response was unexceptable. The teacher sent me to walmart for workbooks instead of working with me.He agreed that she closed the door.
He gave me extra work and proceeded to explain TAT. This is a teachers assistance team. They evaluate my child and the teacher. He brought in the school psychologist.She is going to mediate my parent/teacher conference on Thursday.I have to get her approval for my child to see TAT. If she says NO,then I have to ask for a meeting with the principal, myself and the teacher.I have to explain to the teacher that I need further assistance. The principal wanted to be my mediator but we were afraid that the teacher would be intimitated.
He does not understand her low report card. He was just as confused as I was.He told me to ask this on Thursday.If I get no where then we will take it from there.He asked me nicely…to try speaking with the teacher before I moved my child.My child also will see the school psychologist to make sure that her self esteem has not dropped.I do not want her to close down.
The principal seemed to go out of his way to accomodate me but I also have the feeling this teacher has been reported before.Why keep me for 3 hours and make sure both of us are on the same page.He said that his door is always open.He also said this is his job.He seemed very concerned about what was happening in the room. Please offer your comments???
Re: help...I met with the principal
You might ask how the grades were derived. What scores/grades are recorded. I did this one year. This was a year that we were getting nothing graded back. It turned out that this teacher graded all the students low and some grades were based on very little objective data. Parents were not very happy and the teacher left at the end of the year to return to the school she came from.
Helen
Re: help...I met with the principal
Although I TRULY respect the other posters opinions, I do not see this so rosey.
The principal is using you to do the dirty work possibly because the teacher is a bulldog? If you sense this is not the first complaint, most likely you are right.
Why would a principal suggest such a round-a-bout way to solve this problem. This scenario puts you in the position that most likely you (((and most importantly your child))) will not win.
The principal is the teacher’s BOSS. When there is a problem with an employee’s performance (no matter who or what it is) you don’t send the customer in to fix it.
I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. Does is seem that the principal is intimidated by this teacher?
In a similar situation, I was given the advice to document everything and send cc’s to the superintendent and most importantly the school board immediately; especially the principal’s “plan of action” outlined for them to see. In order for the school district (school board included) to get to the bottom of teacher problems, everything follows a procedure and it begins with your letter of complaint. If it escalates, you need the history. I would be willing to bet that a record of your 3 hour meeting will be nowhere to be found unless you submit it.
Why should you spend the remainder of the year walking on egg shells, dodging bombs and helping the principal avoid conflict simply because you are looking out for the welfare of your child?
This sounds like a case of the principal without a backbone. We have one of those too.
Re: help...I met with the principal
I agree that this is ridiculous. So much of what we deal with is ridiculous. That being said, one has a responsibility to one’s child to do what it takes to get her what she needs. Everything is a means to an end.
I would never suggest that you go through this for an entire year. By taking her suggestion for now you can prove later that, “you tried.”
In the end you will need this principal to do what you want. It is rare for a superintendant to step into a situation that is this new. I wouldn’t count on that. If you do what is asked of you for now, you will have a leg to stand on later. Otherwise, you could just take up the fight and insist that you cannot deal with the teacher and you just want her moved, This might work. What if it doesn’t?
I think dealing with the principal in a cooperative but smart way will get your daughter a new class, which is the ultimate goal. Don’t be her dormat. Document that 3 hour conversation especially the part about, “Try this first before we move her.” Make sure you are both clear that the implication is that if it doesn’t work, she will be moved. You can use that documentation later for a complaint with the superintendant if you start to get the brush off.
I am someone who has no problem dealing with people directly. I was able to do this without really making it personal. It was just, this, this and that don’t work for my son; what are you going to do about it? She did appreciate this but in the end she was just the wrong teacher for my child. I really still don’t see her as all bad. She had some really tough kids in that class and I realize she was doing her best to maintain order. My little guy was caught in the crossfire.
Re: help...I met with the principal
Is your state a union state? Is the NEA strong in your state or AFT? In some states, it is the case that it is very difficult, even impossible, to dismiss teachers.
What’s also true is that few schools have methods or means to help struggling teachers who are pretty much left to go on struggling. A caring principal (there are some) may be fairly helpless to dismiss a teacher and just as helpless to help him/her.
If it’s a strong union state, principals have no real authority over their faculty.
I would also say though that I have seen much the same be true in schools where there is no tenure. Schools are generally not well run or well managed places regardless of what state they may be in. The amount of time this principal spent with you may be his way of working to manage the situation without managing the teacher.
Re: help...I met with the principal
I am in Mass….A few years back, My oldest daughter had a teacher the school wanted to get rid of. The only way to eliminate her from the school was to get her to apply for a opening in the other ele.school in town. She went to the other side of town. I have moved from that area but still live in Ma. Atleast back in the old town,I was offered school choice. This area does not offer that program.
Tenure has to be looked at. Many teachers can not be touched.
Michele,
I am getting that deja vu kind of sense over here. Geeez, this was the same situation. I felt like they were using me to remediate the teacher. I played along for awhile and things did improve, but not enough for me. They must of liked the work I was doing helping her to see the error of her ways because they wanted this to continue. I actually got a thank you note from this teacher saying thanks for being so honest. I was very honest but got uncomfortable with having to be so honest after awhile. I finally said enough, just move him.
I did get a call from another parent whom I didn’t even know, out of the blue, after he was moved. She said that she had similar problems with this teacher and that she knew of others who felt the same way. She wanted to know how I got him moved. I could then see why they hadn’t wanted to move him; it opened a can of worms.
I would play for now. I think the principal has to go through certain administrative hoops. Document everything that is happening. In the end you may have to say, “We really tried, but it just isn’t working. Thank you for your help but please move her.” I think you will have a better case for doing this if it seems you are working with them. I wouldn’t go full guns at them yet, otherwise you will seem unreasonable. You do not have as strong of a legal angle because she is not classified, so you have to play your cards right.
Make sure that you do things in a way that garners their respect. This may sound strange but if they realize they are dealing with someone who is persistant and strong rather than hysterical and weak they will be more likely to do it your way. Do not take the brush off if you see it coming. Make sure all meetings are timely and keep notes on what is said. Write I just want to clarify letters. I would even write a letter summarizing what was said in the 3 hour meeting. Write it in the form of a thank you letter. I just wanted to say thanks for taking this important issue so seriously, I just want to clarify that a meeting will be help on x date to discussn xxx. I will speak to the teacher regarding these issues to try to gain a level of understanding before moving her Yada yada yada…..
Then later you can say we tried that and it didn’t work so it is time to take the next step and move her. It sounds as though the implication here was that he would move your daughter if you played along. Hold him to that implication.