Hi, I was wanting a 2nd opinion. My son is in 6th grade and in middle school.He was in resource room for 5th, we came to Germany where he had a “DODDS” eval. was found to be average in everything so was put back in reg. classes with support.He is doing very well for 3 different teachers(social studies, English, science) plus his electives teachers. However he has the same teacher for reading and math(his weakest subjects)and has currently a d and an f in her classes. He is able to do the work, but it doesn’t always get counted on time or he doesn’t do it exactly the way she wants it.Also, she makes the students responsible for arranging to take missed tests or to retake them to improve a grade, if they are absent the kids have to look in the folders for the date and pick out worksheets they may have missed and do them. This along with the block schedule, I just think is too much organization for a kid with ADD to keep up with. I am supposed to have another csc meeting next Monday to discuss Chris’ program and this particular teacher is supposed to be at this meeting as the teacher rep. As an aside, at the 2nd report card teacher meeting my son was doing poorly in her class as well, this particular teacher was all ready for my husband and me with a homework contract because mostly the poor grades were from not turning in homework(the first grade period were all a’s and b’s,Chris was in resource for reading and l.a. and we never saw homework, asked about it and was assured all was right so we did not worry about the lack of homework the 2nd grading period).So.. he is doing the homework, we are abiding by the contract and he is still not doing well.The teacher sent home a progress report that stated he was missing all sorts of assignments, I looked in the folder and they were all there, ungraded. I talked to the teacher and she told me all about the stuff Chris is supposed to know about and keep up with, she also doesn’t give any credit for him doing the homework unless it is all correct, no credit for effort at all. I emailed the Sp Ed teacher who sounds like she thinks my concerns are valid(at least she says she sees my point) so now we have another meeting to go to. Does it sound reasonable to keep trying to work with this teacher along with the Sped teacher, trying to use what works for the other teachers or should we ask to let him finish the year in the resource room? I apologize for being so long, I guess I felt the to vent as well as ask a question. Has anyone else come across this kind of experience? Thanks in advance for your help.
Re: 2nd childstudy meeting this year(sorry so long)
Hi Sara, thanks for your reply. As far as his attitude, my son seems mostly ok although he likes to tell me that Germany ‘stinks’ and he misses VA. He likes his other teachers doesn’t like this one and has actually asked me to put him back in resource.This from a kid who said he hated me when I first told him he would be going into resource(4th grade) and cried like his heart was breaking.He wants to make good grades in school and the papers he is credited for are generally in the b and c range, he failed a test and is supposed to be able to retake it(in his iep even) but the teacher expects him to arrange for the test to be retaken. Of course I had told him he could do this at an earlier time but you know the memory thing. I am used to the teacher being responsible for things such as tests.
Historically, my son has had great difficulty with reading which is how we ended up with the dx of ADD/inattentive and eventually got him in sped as ohi. So honestly I have no idea how he is actually reading, whether he is on grade level or not. I know reading is involved with learning in English,social studies and science, all classes he does well in, which is,I guess,why I question the fit with this other teacher.
I have talked to another mom who has a son in her class(not during my son’s period) who has always been a good student, no academic difficulties, he also has the same kinds of problems with this teacher. I have since learned of another math teacher who does the same things with her class.Could this be the mentality of math teachers who have to teach a 2nd subject? My dad was a math major but he could not teach without tears on my part. Not to disparage math majors or those who are good at it!! I just happen to think that the thought processes might be different between those of us who enjoy words vs. those of us who prefer numbers:o)
Those are good questions you posed and I will ask them when I go to the meeting. I certainly appreciate your help. Thanks!
How is your son through all this? Is he chipper and happy or does he seem unhappy? If this teacher and her absurd policies are making him unhappy, I might consider having him spend the rest of the year in resource room.
This teacher has a confusion in her goals. Does she want her students to learn math? To learn reading? Or to learn organization? She shouldn’t be using the math curriculum or the reading curriculum to “teach” organizational skills. Sadly, it’s a common practice in modern education but a poor one.
It is not a common practice to give no credit for homework unless it is 100% corrent but that also strikes me as a poor teaching practice.
What do other parents say about this teacher? She doesn’t seem very “student-friendly” to me. I’m not hopeful that any meeting could make a positive dent in these harmful practices. Perhaps you could go to the meeting and see if there’s any hope that she might make some proper accomodations for your son. If not, you could always request that he return to the resource room.
It wouldn’t be unfair to say at the meeting that your son is doing well in all his other classes that do not use such practices. Ask her flat out if his reading skills are growing and if math skills seem strong. If so, then why is he getting bad grades? It isn’t unfair to ask how she accomodates for his ADD in her classroom.
Good luck.