7th Grade History Teacher: Inappropriate?

[Riprorin]

I send my kids to a Catholic school and I've been more than satisfied.

I have no doubt that a lot of good teachers are driven out of the profession by overbearing parents who think that their children are geniuses who can do no wrong.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
Duroc Shark,

I'm glad things are working out for your son. I've read a little about Ritalin and apparently it acts on the same receptor sites as cocaine. When given a choice, primates will take Ritalin over cocaine. Now way I would ever put my kids on that stuff. It sounds like you've found a better medication.

Personally, I won't take a pharmaceutical product until I've exhausted all other avenues such as diet and vitamins/nutrients. You may want to explore that approach.

Make sure your son gets enough sleep. I have a 7 year old son and a 9 year old son and when they don't get enough sleep, especially my daugher, they are really hard to handle.

We do focus on both diet and sleep.

I've found that for myself and my son that a low carb, high vitamin (veggies) diet does make a difference. We had actually started that in the beginning. Also, codfish oil has gobs of Omega B that enhances receptor function.

These things improve the overall situation, but not enough for him to be able to handle schoolwork. If it wasn't for school, we'd not be using any medications. But the way school is structured, it's necessary. (And I'm not dissing school in general. It's structured the way it is because it works for 99.99% of kids.)

I've come up with a theory as to the cause of clinical ADD. Has anybody noticed the new "Brain Function Enhanced" baby formula out there? Both myself and my son were formula fed babies. I don't know about me, but my son couldn't breast feed because my wife got a serious infection after giving birth, and the antibiotics she was on was making him sick. My daughter, on the other hand, is fed nothing but breast milk.

I can't help but think that something missing from formula either contributed or even triggered the ADD symptoms in myself and my son. The fact that diet can improve the situation just puts more weight on the theory. I've passed this on to my son's psychologist (the one that actually TALKS to him and recommends medication changes to the psychiatrist) and he says he's seen some minor papers on just that subject, but no major studies have been done yet. It kinda makes sense though. If there is a predisposition to ADD in a child, and that child is missing some signifigant nutrient in its diet for the first year of its life (when the largest brain development occurs), that would be like leaning on that tower in Piza.

 

[esun]

The more you talk, the more likely she will be fired. So keep talking and hope for the best (for you and your son; the worst, of course, for the teacher). I've seen a teacher get fired because enough students and teachers complained about how bad she was.

 

[Riprorin]

That sounds plausible to me. After all, infants were intended to drink breast milk. Likewise, humans are hunters/gatherers. We were intended to eat meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, etc., not all of the refined crap we eat today. That's why diabetes and obesity is so rampant.

Given that so many women rush back to work after they've given birth I wonder how many babies are breast fed anymore.

If your theory is true, that doesn't bode well for society.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I don't think I'm perfect - far from it. What does that have to do with anything anyway?

There's a lot of doctors and psychologists that think ADHD is a made-up disease and I tend to agree with them.

It's a gene. If I hadn't thrown away the pop sci the article was in (a year ago or so, I think), I'd scan it for you right now.

Can you explain why you didn't think it was a problem when your son was told to join a group and he didn't?

Hell, there could be tons of reasons. One could be he doesn't like the other kids there. he may dislike the teacher, and be putting her into some grief for her being a b!tch. He might just not work well with others. IMO, he should have been put into a group by force. When that happens, he'll do most of the work, everyone knows it, but the other kids names go on it and everyone is happy (can you tell I did this a few times in the past?).

Personally, when my kids teachers say that they did something wrong, I believe them. And, I support them by disciplining the kids at home.

And you should, assuming they indeed did something wrong. You know some teachers have gone as far as declaring how kids take notes? Come on, that's going a bit far.

Did you ever consider giving the teacher the benefit of the doubt rather than making excuses for your kid?

What's he going to do when he gets in the real world and there's no one around to coddle him?

He'll probably be glad to be able to do things his own way, not being stopped by teachers from getting things done, since their ways sucked.

 

[bozack]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I send my kids to a Catholic school and I've been more than satisfied.

I have no doubt that a lot of good teachers are driven out of the profession by overbearing parents who think that their children are geniuses who can do no wrong.

They will hate you in the future for that....both my brother and I along with all of our friends went to both private and catholic/jesuit education and we all absolutely abhore our parents for it....get ready for a miserable future filled with spite and contempt

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose

Originally posted by: Riprorin
And you've discussed this with each and every one of them?

I bet your the life of the party!

I'n an RN & work in a teaching hospital, you lost your point & attack me? Do some damn research & stop talking out of your a$$...

ADHD/ADHD is a legitimate diagnosis, and it's real, measurable as CPU speeds...

I'm just attacking your assertion that you're right because you know a lot of people in the medical profession.

At the very least, ADD is way, way over diagnosed.

Here's a quote from an ADD expert that I tend to agree with:

"A lot of what is diagnosed and medicated in the U.S. as ADD or, especially, as ADHD is simply normal childhood behavior."

Can't disagree with that. I take Wellbutrin and home-roasted coffee , but yeah, anyone using ADD as an excuse for behavior is not acceptable.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: DurocShark

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: Pliablemoose

Originally posted by: Riprorin
And you've discussed this with each and every one of them?

I bet your the life of the party!

I'n an RN & work in a teaching hospital, you lost your point & attack me? Do some damn research & stop talking out of your a$$...

ADHD/ADHD is a legitimate diagnosis, and it's real, measurable as CPU speeds...

I'm just attacking your assertion that you're right because you know a lot of people in the medical profession.

At the very least, ADD is way, way over diagnosed.

Here's a quote from an ADD expert that I tend to agree with:

"A lot of what is diagnosed and medicated in the U.S. as ADD or, especially, as ADHD is simply normal childhood behavior."

(Funny side note: Found out she jumped on my son for pronouncing Byzantine properly.. She mispronounced it and said her way was right... My son just agreed and shut up, but was cracking up when I saw him tonight. He said the whole class laughed about it afterwards. Just a clue as to what her teaching style is like... LoL)

That's one lucky teacher you've got there. I'd have found a dictionary for her . If I'm right and the teacher isn't, I'm going to prove it to everyone there before I shut up. As such, I don't mind when other people do that to me, which does happen every now and then, because obviously I deserved it.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: Cerb

That's one lucky teacher you've got there. I'd have found a dictionary for her . If I'm right and the teacher isn't, I'm going to prove it to everyone there before I shut up. As such, I don't mind when other people do that to me, which does happen every now and then, because obviously I deserved it.

Heh... I was the same way.

I remember my 3rd grade teacher trying to tell me the moon doesn't spin on an axis. Why? Because it always has the same face pointing towards Earth! Bwahahahah

Took me a week to figure out how to prove he was wrong (remember, I was in 3rd grade). I stood in one spot and told him to be the moon (the way he "proved" to me that it DIDN'T rotate) and revolve around me. He did that a coupla times, with this smug look on his face. I then stepped out of his orbit and told him to keep orbiting that spot.

I then told him to make his orbit smaller... He did, still thinking he won. Until his orbit was around a spot between his feet. He realized suddenly that I was right. He was sooo pissed that I did that in front of the class. But he couldn't say jack because he was the one that made an a$$ of himself. All I did was make him realize he'd already done it.

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

i'm not sure if you are part of LAUSD or not, but from my recollection, for children in public school, a teacher can't force a student to buy anything, the includes books, pens, pencil, paper, etc. if its the case that the student cannot afford a pen, pencil, paper, etc, the teacher can't provide it, the the students don't have to use it. of course you can be some what extreme with this but most teachers so have lined paper and pens and pencils to offer their students. of course I could be wrong, but I was told this by one of my teachers who was always very honest with me and a great teacher overall. personally, I would take it to the school's administration, she is very lucky to be teaching a accelerated class comming straight out of college, i know a teacher who had the credentials to teach ap calc or any advanced math class since she did so well on certain math test, but since she was a new teacher she was forced to teach remedial math and ended leaving teaching since she was soo mistreated. (she became a actuary instead, go her)

 

[Riprorin]

Originally posted by: bozack

Originally posted by: Riprorin
I send my kids to a Catholic school and I've been more than satisfied.

I have no doubt that a lot of good teachers are driven out of the profession by overbearing parents who think that their children are geniuses who can do no wrong.

They will hate you in the future for that....both my brother and I along with all of our friends went to both private and catholic/jesuit education and we all absolutely abhore our parents for it....get ready for a miserable future filled with spite and contempt

I went to a Catholic HS (Brothers of Holy Cross) and I loved it. However, I've always had a healthy respect for authority and play by the rules. If you have a rebellious streak, Catholic school is probably not for you.

I also went to a Jesuit university but wasn't nearly as impressed by that.

I'm not Catholic, but I send my kids to Catholic school. My kids absolutely love school.

It's strict but not overbearing and there's plenty of praise for good behavior.

I go out of my way to stroke the teachers because given what they are paid, it's a labor of love.

 

[Atlechnik]

have you tried just showing up after school and talking directly to the teacher to understand WTF her problem is? if that does not solve the problem, I would definately contact the principal, things like this should not happen.

 

[Atlechnik]

have you tried just showing up after school and talking directly to the teacher to understand WTF her problem is? if that does not solve the problem, I would definately contact the principal, things like this should not happen.

 

[Pacfanweb]

The bottom line is this: In a school for the gifted and talented, they should have gifted and talented teachers. Your son's teacher is obviously NOT.

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

That's exactly right.

in general, teachers need to be paid much more.

That idea has some merit, since it would get better people to earn teaching degrees and actually want to teach. That way we'd get rid of the riff-raff that currently graduates every year with teaching degrees.
I realize that there are lots of very smart teachers out there, but there are also LOTS of dumbasses that teach. All you have to do is work with the general public, and take note of the teachers you meet and see how intelligent they are....you'd be shocked at how stupid some are. Yet they've gotten their degree and are teaching when in fact they aren't even as smart as some of their students.

 

[PunDogg]

go to the princlple and then school board, cuz school boards love to hear from TAX paying parents, they will have a talk with the teacher

Dogg

 

[oboeguy]

Reading the Cliff's Notes, I say it's a bad deal for you and your kid. If this has been going on, and you are being reasonable (not The Crazy Parent(TM)), then maybe it IS time to go to the top on it. Please be sure you're not exaggerating. Teachers ARE over-worked, and guess what? teaching is so badly paid and so under-respected, that a lot of teachers will have gotten out of college in the last few years. OTOH, if she's been at this job for four years, she should know better.

Good luck!

 

[Chaotic42]

The only thing I agree with the teacher about is making your son join a group. He's not a baby anymore, he needs to learn that he's going to have to work with other people his entire life, antisocial or not.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: Riprorin

Originally posted by: PipBoy

Originally posted by: Riprorin
Kids and parents are always right and teachers are aways wrong.

Or so it is Anandtech land.

And there's always one jackass who thinks he's smarter than everyone else. More truths of Anandtech land.

Maybe the kid is only having problems with this one teacher because she's the only one that holds the kid accountable for his actions.

I thought ATers were a critical and skeptical lot?

So sorry if I didn't jump on the bandwagon and immediately take the side of a parent rather than a teacher when I'm getting a one sided account.

My read of the situation is that the kid didn't do what he was told (to join a group) and the parent is making excuses for him and blaming the teacher.

Given the limited amount I know, I tend to side with the teacher.

I really don't understand how you can take the teacher's side considering her complaining all the time about how she doesn't get paid enough. Plus the fact that she states that this job is not her main priority. I've never had a teacher who would "abuse" the "substitute program" and get a substitute teacher once a month so they can work at another job. That's just wrong.

 

[Riprorin]

We're getting one side of the story.

The kid was told to join a group and he didn't. The parent thinks that not following directions is not a problem. The teacher does and I agree. Try doing that in the workplace, School is supposed to prepare us for life, isn't it?

A 7th grader in an advanced class should be able to manage his own homework and projects. At my kids school they get an assignment pad in the third grade. The kids write down their assignments, the teacher signs it, and the parent sign it when it's complete. Again, when you're boss tells you something you're supposed to remember to do it, aren't you?

My take is that this teacher refuses to coddle the kid and the parents don't like it.

The rest of the stuff (working a second job, paying for extra credit projects) sounds like fluff to me.

I'm anmazed at what a bunch of lemmings you people are.

Unless this kid grows up and starts taking some responsibilty for himself, he's going to have a rough time when he gets older.

I think the teacher's doing him a favor by being hard on him.

 

[Jzero]

I'm anmazed at what a bunch of lemmings you people are.

If they are lemmings for believing what he says, you are yourself are as much a lemming for believing the exact opposite.

I think it's a middle groud. The kid can be a PITA but the teacher can still suck sh!t. That's the story of my whole freaking life. Sure, I was lazy and didn't do my homework, but when I told my parents a teacher was incompetent, I was dead freaking serious and it took them a long time to figure out that I wasn't exaggerating.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: Riprorin
We're getting one side of the story.

The kid was told to join a group and he didn't. The parent thinks that not following directions is not a problem. The teacher does and I agree. Try doing that in the workplace, School is supposed to prepare us for life, isn't it?

A 7th grader in an advanced class should be able to manage his own homework and projects. At my kids school they get an assignment pad in the third grade. The kids write down their assignments, the teacher signs it, and the parent sign it when it's complete. Again, when you're boss tells you something you're supposed to remember to do it, aren't you?

My take is that this teacher refuses to coddle the kid and the parents don't like it.

The rest of the stuff (working a second job, paying for extra credit projects) sounds like fluff to me.

I'm anmazed at what a bunch of lemmings you people are.

Unless this kid grows up and starts taking some responsibilty for himself, he's going to have a rough time when he gets older.

I think the teacher's doing him a favor by being hard on him.

You've obviously misread my posts. I *want* the teacher to be hard. She needs to lay out consequences and stick to them. But she also NEEDS to communicate with me.

Seems to me that if I was teaching and I had a student that wouldn't/couldn't join a group, I'd force him into one. None of this "work it out" bullcrap. You don't wanna choose a group? Here. You're in SmellyPete's group. Tada! Solved.

I've explained to her that he NEEDS to be dealt with firmly. Example: He has a thing about hats. He loves to wear them, but hates taking them off once he's wearing one (hat hair). He walked into her class twice with his hat on and she has a rule that no hats are worn in her class. Sounds fair. Well, I got an e-mail from her whining that he keeps doing it. I'm like wtf? Just take the friggin thing away from him! If he can't wear it and be responsible, then he doesn't deserve to keep it.

She is confused, disorganized (you should see the 4 conflicting rubric's she's sent home so far!), and uncommunicative. And the money crap really pisses me off when NO other teachers do that. Maybe they're paying for stuff out of their pockets and this one won't/can't. But I seriously doubt the school is requiring students to pay for the priviledge of doing extra credit.

EDIT: for grammar (too early in the morning)

 

[DurocShark]

I was just going through the papers sent home by this teacher at the beginning of the year. Here's her dissertation for the school year that she sent with each student:

So you're starting school at Oxford Academy today. Wow, that's great. Bet you have lots of questions and concerns about what to do, what to say, maybe even what to think. I bet you're wondering what that one guy by your lockers thought of the way you talked, or that girl you keep seeing in the hallway. I remember how it was. Sheesh, even if it's over 15 years ago. 15 years ago!??!?!!! Wow, you think to yourself. You are ANCIENT. As I turned 27 this last August, I realized I'm not getting any younger, and though my first class of students were only 5 years younger than me, this number gets bigger and bigger with time.

And this is just mathematics, which I'm not teaching this year, to much of my regret. The administration saw fit that I return to my roots, which is social studies. In fact, they wanted me to REALLY appreciate this experience, so they knocked ALL math classes off my schedule. And boy was I bummed!!! I've been teaching in both the social studies and math departments since I've been at OA 3 years ago. This will be my first year of teaching in one department, let alone one subject.

Some of you may really like studying history. Some of you may had a teacher who was, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about the subject and really ruined it for you. Well, let me tell you, I love the darn subject. Because history isn't about memorizing dates and people who have waived their goodbyes. It is about SELF-DISCOVERY, SELF-AWARENESS, and LEARNING ABOUT WHY WE DO THE THINGS WE DO. There are a few rights and wrongs, but more than that, there areopinions about what has happened and why certain events have taken place. If you internalize this and go forth in this class with the understanding that I am trying to get you to think for yourself, what you will get out of this class will be that which belong in your wildest imagination.

This class isn't designed to be a thorn in your side. Trust me when I say if you feel that you are doing too much work, either 1. you've procrastinated, or 2. I'm giving you too much work. If you are CERTAIN that the answer isn't 1, come talk to me. We'll work something out. And remember I'm here to help you. But I warn you, I'm strict. When I say something is due, it is DUE. Come talk to me BEFORE something is due; we'll work it out.

Be responsible, and have fun. If you're not responsible for your own actions, and if you're not having fun, you won't be learning. Then you'll just be taking up space and air in my classroom, and I'd rather you be doing something more exciting, don't you? Remember Life isn't going to hand you everything on a silver platter and that nothing in Life worth anything ever came easily. Good don't finish last, and what goes around, comes around. Have fun and talk to me. I promise I won't bite.

The grammatical errors and bold and caps are all her.

The second paragraph is the most telling. She's pissed that she isn't allowed to teach what she's used to teaching. She lost her math classes.

EDIT: Typo

 

[308nato]

A 504 plan is required by law for adhd students as long as its within reason. What your son needs is well within reason. Its the law, make them abide and accomodate.

 

[Nitemare]

public school systems are a joke.

Pull him out now

 

[Riprorin]

"Seems to me that if I was teaching and I had a student that wouldn't/couldn't join a group, I'd force him into one. None of this "work it out" bullcrap. You don't wanna choose a group? Here. You're in SmellyPete's group. Tada! Solved."

But you aren't the teacher are you?

What are you teaching your kid, to throw a temper tantrum every time he doesn't get his way?

The teacher made the rules and like it or not, he should follow them. Gee, what if every kid wanted his own way? Do you know what you would have? Chaos, which seems to be fairly common in todays classrooms.

I don't think you're doing your kid any favors by undermining authority figures.

I suspect that your kid is highly immature and you're just making the situation worse and aren't doing him any favors for the long haul.