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Labeling someone casually as OCD seems a little over the top in my opinion. OCD is a mental disorder, not some personality quirk. Obsessive
Not disagreeing about the problem your daughter is having, I would just caution you on describing her as "OCD".
Agreed. As someone who has some background in mental health, I have a real problem with people diagnosing others with mental illnesses. You see this a lot on CD.
Someone with OCD may have a cleaning/germ compulsion such as your teacher, Charles22. However, I have to disagree with the original poster that expecting children to follow directions is OCD. If it is, then I am OCD because if my children don't do what they are told, when they are told, then consequences follow. I don't care how creative their thinking process is and disobedience is definately "outside of the box thinking". My 4 and 6 year old like different foods. One day they were at the table when the rest of us were done. They decided that my son would eat my daugters chicken if she would eat his broccoli. It was cute. It was creative. They each got another helping of the food they didn't eat.
The great thing about private school is that they can say, "We'll miss Mikey. If you don't like it, there's the door," because there are plenty of other parents waiting to get their kids in. I know of parents that were told that for their little darlings in Catholic school. In the real world your kid is going to have to work for bosses they don't like. They have to learn that, too.
I think your daughter should get use to dealing with all kinds of people, the world is full of them. On that note, she should be learning to deal with it. She should talk to the teacher about it first, give her a chance to work it out with out her mom. Then if there is no resolve you can step in.
I let my kids handle their problems as well as they can first, it's a great skill to learn. Lots of lessons in life. Good luck.
P.S. I also agree that labeling someone with a mental illness because you are unsure of their policies isn't very mature. Either way, everyone has issues to work around. Some are easier than others.
I call thing likes this "Playing the game." I've had teachers, bosses and co-worker want things to be done in strange ways. It's obtain easier just to go along with the strange demands and get a good grade/review then fight it and still end up with a bad rating.
I don't understand why your first course of action isn't to speak to the teacher directly about your concerns. In your example, why didn't you discuss with the teacher why she felt like an F was warranted on your daughter's assignment because you neglected to date your signature?
It appears that your daughter is sharing this information with you - which is great. But it's only one side of the story. And middle school students don't fully understand the reason why teachers do/say what they do. I'm surprised that you are considering pulling your child from this school without even talking to the teacher first. Is that the lesson you want to teach your children? If you don't like the way someone is doing something, just go someplace else? And hasn't the school year been in session for only a month?
In our school, middle school students meet with their Advisory group daily. Often, they do a locker reorganization/clean out.
"Mrs. Davis - why do I have to clean out my locker AGAIN? I know exactly where everything is. My locker isn't messy!"
"Because it takes you 10 minutes between classes to pull your books & notebooks out of your locker. Which makes you tardy for class, and it is disruptive for your classmates."
In my school, the protocol for parents to express their concerns is to speak with the teacher first. If the resolution isn't satisfactory, take it to the Assistant Principal and if that resolution isn't satisfactory, take it to the Principal.
People, please, no one can "be" OCD. No one "is" OCD. Say it out loud: does "She is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" sound right to you? If someone had cancer, would you say, "She is Cancer?"
Someone HAS OCD.
This odd way of expressing that someone has this mental disorder popped up a few years ago. Let's all do what we can to make sense, shall we? Thank you.
People, please, no one can "be" OCD. No one "is" OCD. Say it out loud: does "She is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" sound right to you? If someone had cancer, would you say, "She is Cancer?"
Someone HAS OCD.
This odd way of expressing that someone has this mental disorder popped up a few years ago. Let's all do what we can to make sense, shall we? Thank you.
yup.... Just some some other people around here...
I disagree with this. I actually think many young kids are quite creative and school tends to squash this creativity with the insistence that all kids do things the same way. I know this is necessary for order, but it doesn't mean that kids cannot think outside the box. I recommend you read a recent study that was done on the declining scores on the Torrance Tests of Creativity. (edited to add link: The Creativity Crisis) Studies have actually found that creativity and thinking outside the box are the keys to success-but unfortunately students' abilities in these areas have been declining over the last couple of decades.
I try to foster my middle daughter's interest in science by involving her in programs outside school. She attended a course at a local university last year. My daughter LOVED the class. During the course, the teacher, who is a middle school science teacher, taught them some material and then gave the students a problem to solve in any way they wanted. They had to absolutely think outside the box to do these projects. There were no directions on how to do the project, and many ways the project could be completed. There were 4th grade students in this course, and they thrived on learning this way. I have never seen my daughter so excited about science.
While I was at the university, a physics professor had a session for parents, and she criticized the way that science is taught in middle school in particular. She said that she thought schools lost many potential science students in middle school because of the focus on memorizing, blindly following directions and just worrying about grades. She said the university often struggles with freshman students because they are so hesitant to think for themselves and potentially have an idea fail.
I actually come from a family full of scientists. I know following the directions is of course quite important in some areas. You don't want a chemist to blow something up because they did something wrong. However, my family members in science are all good at analyzing problems from multiple angles.
As for this teacher, I would support her more if she was just trying to teach them to follow directions, but as I tried to allude to in my original post, she goes way overboard. I have an advanced degree and have never encountered anyone like her in all of my schooling. She is one of the most commonly discussed teachers in the parent circle because she drives so many of us crazy. Teaming up with them may not be a bad idea, as someone else suggested. This teacher is actually nice, but her concerns about appearances and her unusual demands about organization, which are strange, are a distraction to say the least.
I agree with your viewpoint. I'm a parent, but know for a fact that good science requires creativity and originality. Engineering can apply science in a very rigid way, but even engineers have to think "outside the box" to problem solve (ie. my engineering husband designs around problems all the time, and that requires creative thinking skills). Scientists must understand all of the basics, but then take those tools to pose original questions with sometimes novel designs. To me, it seems that this teacher is taking the magic away from her lectures and experiments.
I had a wonderful physics teacher whom would pose a question and then ask us to design how we would determine the answer -- after having us all delve into deeper thinking, he would present the answer according to physics (or have us figure it out via our homework), describe the historical significance of a discovery, and introduce new concepts through a fascinating experiment or demonstration. Of course we had to use the equipment correctly and do homework that required us to use calculus to solve problems, the nitty gritty ultizing the tools stuff, but these activities are joyful when done within the framework of discovery. This is how science should be taught to youth. They should be left with wonder after every class thinking, "wow, is that how the world works? How cool". The tools, methods, concepts, basics...should be taught in a way that encourages students to think more creatively and deeply. It's not just about memorizing facts and following instruction manuals!
This teacher you describe is anal and dull, and that rigidity completely kills any enthusiasm kids could have for a subject. Kids should be expected to show up for class, engage in classroom discussion, utilize their brain, and do homework -- but to give an "F" for trivial mistakes? Ridiculous. I certainly wouldn't pay for subpar teaching ( and in fact have my kiddo enrolled in an awesome public STEM school because a good science education is extremely important to me). Middle schoolers are still learning how to learn, in addition to the topical material. They are not yet in the corporate world and should not be held to arbitrary standards. The GOAL is to, 1) inspire them to continue their science education, and, 2) learn basic science literacy. Both components are essential.
Last edited by west seattle gal; 10-02-2013 at 03:38 PM..
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