7th Grade History Teacher: Inappropriate?

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D

DurocShark

Lifer
Apr 18, 2001
15,708
5
56
Cliff Notes at the bottom

My son has started 7th grade at an advanced middle/high school. He (like me) has ADHD and is (unlike me) on medication... Strattera. It helps..

anyway, his 7th grade history teacher and he have been having some wars...

My son isn't the most social kid in school, and when his class was told to form groups, he ended up without one. I didn't see a problem, and told him to ask the teacher for help. He did and she told him it was his problem, but he'd better get in a group since the 7 projects due this year MUST be done in a group. WTF? Now, he's embarrassed and so won't make an effort to do it. The teacher is being just as childish and refusing to help... So he's gonna flunk History if this continues...

She also talks about the school district's budget problems, and to help is demanding kids pay for their own ScanTron forms (the bubble sheets kids fill out for tests), pay a "fee" to be able to do extra credit, and is explaining how the school isn't paying her enough, so one week a month she will be working another job and leaving a substitute there. She's apparently very excited about this job too and talks about it constantly.

My wife and I have e-mailed her many times asking for help and specific information about homework and projects, and we're constantly brushed off. We've tried to make appointments with the counselor and are told she's busy and to leave a message. we get no call backs.

It turns out that the teacher just got out of college in 1999, and has little or no experience with kids in general, let alone the "advanced" kids in this school, which is obvious when you consider her lack of organization and condsideration of ADD kids. (BTW: She said there are no ADD kids in this school except my son, but the school nurse said at least half of the kids there are on ritalin or a similar drug... sheesh)

Is it just me or is this teacher (and possibly the counselor's) behavior inappropriate for a school? If we have no results by the end of this week, the principal and the school council will be contacted... But I shouldn't have to go that far just to get some communication with the friggin teacher.

Cliff Notes
Son in 7th grade at an advanced (GATE/honors) school
History teacher refuses to help my son
My son has ADHD and needs speicfic instructions and occasional assistance with social skills
Teacher charges kids money for inappropriate things
Discusses her "night" job that is affecting her teaching
Refuses to answer questions both by my son and myself
School counselor always too "busy" to meet
 
K

Konigin

Platinum Member
Jan 21, 2003
2,358
0
0
Totally inappropriate, you need to call the dean or the principal, go in and talk to them about the teacher and the problems. They need to know what she is doing with her students. Don't bother with the counselor, they won't do anything anyway, you need to talk to someone who has authority over the teacher, like the principal.
 
AgaBoogaBoo

AgaBoogaBoo

Lifer
Feb 16, 2003
26,108
5
81
Meet with the principal and go to some of those PTO meetings or whatever and start making your voice heard. I'm sure if you find a few others in a similar situation, that something can go through.
 
N

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
0
Sounds like you got a teacher who doesn't really want to teach, but couldn't find anything else to do with a history degree.
 
OutHouse

OutHouse

Lifer
Jun 5, 2000
36,410
616
126
yip, go up the chain. My kids principal is very open and will listen and correct ligimate problems. I hope yours is the sameway. This teacher shouldnt be teaching.
 
Y

Yossarian

Lifer
Dec 26, 2000
18,010
1
81
Requiring kids to pay for extra credit should be enough to get her fired. BTW, wtf kind of school is it that half the kids are on behavior modification drugs??
 
A

AvesPKS

Diamond Member
Apr 21, 2000
4,729
0
0
I don't know, teachers do a lot that goes above and beyond the call of duty. When I was in high school, the teachers had a work slowdown for a week while trying to negotiate for a new contract. It's not that they did anything untoward; they stuck to the letter of what their contracts spelled out, namely that they do not get paid for taking work home, or staying late.

My aunt's an English teacher, and she had to stop working in public schools because of mainstreaming. She just couldn't handle her job being turned into babysitting half the time.
 
waggy

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
Originally posted by: PipBoy
Requiring kids to pay for extra credit should be enough to get her fired. BTW, wtf kind of school is it that half the kids are on behavior modification drugs??
Click to expand...

yeah she should get canned for makeing htem pay for the extra credit.

I would contact the principle or the supertendet. I would do that as soon as possible.

i would also try and get my kid out of her class. a teacher who treats such kids do more harm then good! trust me i speak from experiance.

 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
Wow.. craziness.

Kudos that your kid's bright enough that even with ADHD he's able to qualify for a GATE courses.
The school is ok with her working a second job once week a month? That not only sounds odd, but also detrimental to the kids in her class.
The fee for the priviledge of doing extra credit is morally repugnant, and likely illegal.
About the kids paying for scantrons.. *shrug*. Is it only her students, or the entire school? Sounds like a budgeting problem that has nothing to do with the teacher.
The teacher should have assigned your son to the group containing the least number of kids, or a group at random, or a group based on where she thought he'd be the best fit. Is the teacher required to force the ADHD student to develop social skills by putting him on the spot, so to speak?
The fact that this teacher is not making herself available to the parents (just you, or everyone?) is criminal. You have the right and responsibility to understand what your kid should be studying.

Good luck!
 
C

conjur

No Lifer
Jun 7, 2001
58,686
3
0
Show up in person and march right into the principal's office.

Also, call and call and call. Emails are too easy to ignore.
 
Pliablemoose

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
25,195
0
56
I suspect your state a mandatory conference between parents & the school for children with identified learning disabilities.

Call for school principal set a meeting, keep a notebook with attempted contacts, etc, start raising hell.
 
P

PCMarine

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2002
3,277
0
0
Is this a public or private school?

Either way, you should seriously have your son switch schools
 
E

EyeMWing

Banned
Jun 13, 2003
15,670
1
0
Walk into the main office and don't leave until you've spoken to someone that will pay attention.

Paying for extra credit sounds like 'under the table' pay. Paying for scantrons is legit - if the teacher/department doesn't get an allotment of them from the school and/or exceeds that allotment, which I find unlikely this early in the year. And it may well be that your son is the only true ADD kid at school - you do know that doctors are all about over-medicating nowadays, right?
 
R

Riprorin

Banned
Apr 25, 2000
9,634
0
0
My take:

Give me a break. And your son deserves special attention because...? Apparently, you think the world exists to cater to you.

"My son isn't the most social kid in school". Translation: he's a social misfit who has no interpersonal skills.

He was told to join a group and he didn't and you don't see the problem. WTF, the problem is HE DIDN'T DO WHAT HE WAS TOLD TO DO!

ADD, ADHD, blah. Sounds like your kid's problem is that he is a spoiled brat.

Why are you pestering the teacher to get information about your son's projects and assignments? He's in 7th grade and he's advanced. Can't he figure it out for himself?

Parents like you is what drives teachers out of education.



 
J

jonmullen

Platinum Member
Jun 17, 2002
2,517
0
0
Originally posted by: Riprorin
My take:

Give me a break. And your son deserves special attention because...? Apparently, you think the world exists to cater to you.

"My son isn't the most social kid in school". Translation: he's a social misfit who has no interpersonal skills.

He was told to join a group and he didn't and you don't see the problem. WTF, the problem is HE DIDN'T DO WHAT HE WAS TOLD TO DO!

ADD, ADHD, blah. Sounds like your kid's problem is that he is a spoiled brat.

Why are you pestering the teacher to get information about your son's projects and assignments? He's in 7th grade and he's advanced. Can't he figure it out for himself?

Parents like you is what drives teachers out of education.
Click to expand...

damn...tell us how you really feel
 
R

Riprorin

Banned
Apr 25, 2000
9,634
0
0
I'm sick of all the teacher bashing here.

Doesn't anyone take the side of a teacher?

If my kids act up at school I expect:

a. the teacher to reprimand them.

b. the teacher to notify me so I can reprimand them at home.
 
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