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Number one, I never said teachers shouldn't have to do evening conferences. I have ONLY worked in the corporate world and more often than not was paid OT for anything over 40 hours.
Well, that's what the original discussion was about. Some thought teachers should accommodate parents by having conferences at night. Some thought they should be during the day because that is the teacher's normal work day. Many people pointed out that lots of people, especially these days, work many more than their normal 40 hours. Sorry, it is a really sore subject with me because of the nature of my husband's job.
^^I think that as society has changed, teachers have to change along with it. While at one time it may have been OK to do daytime conferences which only the mothers (who didn't work outside the home) attended, those days are long gone. Even in my jr. high (ugh!), they had an evening back to school night. I remember my father attending. This was back in 1961.
Even in my jr. high (ugh!), they had an evening back to school night. I remember my father attending. This was back in 1961.
I was in elementary school in 1961 and back-to-school night was at night. It was a HUGE deal. My father wore a coat and tie and my mother wore heels and perfume. I can still hear my father telling the teacher, "And if this one" (meaning me) "gives you any trouble I want to hear about it."
Needless to say with that hanging over my head I sat up straight and kept my hands to myself when we lined up at the drinking fountain.
Great article.
As a teacher (though not working at the moment), I have met some of these "helicopter parents"... but never met most parents, actually, since they really didn't seem to care about meeting the teachers!
People should accept the fact their kids are not perfect...
By the way, having a bad grade is not the end of the world... I was weak in some subjects (maths and physics), that didn't prevent me from graduating college!
Sure it's not the end of the world but what's wrong with going the extra step so that a student isn't "weak" in some subjects? My son struggled all last year in 5th grade Math. I addressed my concerns with the teacher and was blown off with the excuse that "some kids get it some don't-besides, it's a new Math curriculum". He's in the 6th grade this year and I've noticed during homework that he cannot do basic simple division. He does not know the steps and the homework takes him twice as long as it should. What upsets me is that I am having to teach him basic Math skills at home and he is "getting" it just fine. Keep in mind that this is one teacher out of numerous (I have four boys, two are grown) that I have been disappointed in. All of my boys struggled in this particular teachers grade. Girls on the other hand excell in her class, many going to G/T in that grade. Settling for the excuse that some students are just "weak" in a subject is an excuse for a teacher to settle for less than a students best although that teacher is usually the one who expects nothing less than the best from that student.
Sure it's not the end of the world but what's wrong with going the extra step so that a student isn't "weak" in some subjects? My son struggled all last year in 5th grade Math. I addressed my concerns with the teacher and was blown off with the excuse that "some kids get it some don't-besides, it's a new Math curriculum". He's in the 6th grade this year and I've noticed during homework that he cannot do basic simple division. He does not know the steps and the homework takes him twice as long as it should. What upsets me is that I am having to teach him basic Math skills at home and he is "getting" it just fine. Keep in mind that this is one teacher out of numerous (I have four boys, two are grown) that I have been disappointed in. All of my boys struggled in this particular teachers grade. Girls on the other hand excell in her class, many going to G/T in that grade. Settling for the excuse that some students are just "weak" in a subject is an excuse for a teacher to settle for less than a students best although that teacher is usually the one who expects nothing less than the best from that student.
I am happy for you and your son that he is no longer struggling in that subject. Additionally I cannot speak for that teacher but only myself and the reality is teachers have limited resources in terms of their time and attention and frequently unlimited number of students who need help. It is a sad reality.
There are a number of my students who struggle and despite meeting with them at lunch for half an hour every day, they need more time than that to "get it". I do not have the resources to meet with 15-20 kids everyday after school for hours on end to tutor them. Additionally, some portion of them are struggling because they do not have a great work ethic, and sometimes that is not easy to tell who is who. Even when I do know it is hard to decide who to help, the student who with a little help (because they blew off the reading) will "get it" or the one who needs an hour a day of one on one tutoring?
Now I am a high school teacher in a notoriously "hard" subject but it is true that some children just have more of an aptitude in one subject or another. And I do not have the time or energy to devote to hours of tutoring students outside of school that their parents do.
I'm going to join this debate to make one really anecdotal point. My mom does daycare. She has done daycare for 40 years. She has been licensed that long. We added it up one time, and she has enough credit hours for a master's degree in child development and early childhood education. She just doesn't have the certificate or degree itself. That being said, I read the article to her, and she told me that it was all well and good, she just wished teachers followed their own advice.
Most of her clients are teachers, and they do the same thing to her, when she tells them that their children have behavioral issues, when their children may have a developmental problem, and many of them do not want the negative reports or advice. They discount her opinion because she is not a "professional", rather she is a glorified babysitter. I can personally vouch for this, as I witnessed it as both a child growing up in her household, and as a parent. When my own child was suspected to have autism, I asked my mom her opinion, not as my mom, but as someone, who was educated in child development and someone who had worked with children (at that time) 35 years.
Furthermore, teachers are also not all-knowing. When my son was first diagnosed, I went to a military spouses event. My husband is a major in the Air Force, and the colonel's wife proceeded to announce to the entire crowd that my son did not have autism, how did she know, because she is a special education teacher and is trained to know these things. My son is moderately-to-severely autistic. He is repeating Kindergarten for a third time. Being a teacher, just as being a doctor, does not make someone omnipresent.
Sure it's not the end of the world but what's wrong with going the extra step so that a student isn't "weak" in some subjects? My son struggled all last year in 5th grade Math. I addressed my concerns with the teacher and was blown off with the excuse that "some kids get it some don't-besides, it's a new Math curriculum". He's in the 6th grade this year and I've noticed during homework that he cannot do basic simple division. He does not know the steps and the homework takes him twice as long as it should. What upsets me is that I am having to teach him basic Math skills at home and he is "getting" it just fine. Keep in mind that this is one teacher out of numerous (I have four boys, two are grown) that I have been disappointed in. All of my boys struggled in this particular teachers grade. Girls on the other hand excell in her class, many going to G/T in that grade. Settling for the excuse that some students are just "weak" in a subject is an excuse for a teacher to settle for less than a students best although that teacher is usually the one who expects nothing less than the best from that student.
It may be that he is "getting it" now because he has one on one instruction. Or because he isn't distracted by all of the other kids in class. Or maybe his brain wasn't quite ready for it last year. There are so many factors in play that there is no way of knowing what changed for him. Not many teachers have time to sit with each child and give them long one on one sessions.
Sure it's not the end of the world but what's wrong with going the extra step so that a student isn't "weak" in some subjects? My son struggled all last year in 5th grade Math. I addressed my concerns with the teacher and was blown off with the excuse that "some kids get it some don't-besides, it's a new Math curriculum". He's in the 6th grade this year and I've noticed during homework that he cannot do basic simple division. He does not know the steps and the homework takes him twice as long as it should. What upsets me is that I am having to teach him basic Math skills at home and he is "getting" it just fine. Keep in mind that this is one teacher out of numerous (I have four boys, two are grown) that I have been disappointed in. All of my boys struggled in this particular teachers grade. Girls on the other hand excell in her class, many going to G/T in that grade. Settling for the excuse that some students are just "weak" in a subject is an excuse for a teacher to settle for less than a students best although that teacher is usually the one who expects nothing less than the best from that student.
I guess I don't see the problem?? This is how schools and parents are supposed to work TOGETHER. The teacher has what 25 students, you have ONE. Spending a little time at home reinforcing what is learned at school or clarifying what it learned, helping them with things they don't quite understand is YOUR job at home. No student gets everything all the time. Did your son ask for extra help at school? Did he see if he could come in before school or stay after for extra help? Over the years our kids would come home and not quite understand something. We would spend some time going over it and often just having it presented in a different way makes all the difference. I never thought that this was a problem with the teachers .
I guess I don't see the problem?? This is how schools and parents are supposed to work TOGETHER. The teacher has what 25 students, you have ONE. Spending a little time at home reinforcing what is learned at school or clarifying what it learned, helping them with things they don't quite understand is YOUR job at home. No student gets everything all the time. Did your son ask for extra help at school? Did he see if he could come in before school or stay after for extra help? Over the years our kids would come home and not quite understand something. We would spend some time going over it and often just having it presented in a different way makes all the difference. I never thought that this was a problem with the teachers .
+1
Exactly how I feel about it. Thank you for wording it so wonderfully.
I guess I don't see the problem?? This is how schools and parents are supposed to work TOGETHER. The teacher has what 25 students, you have ONE. Spending a little time at home reinforcing what is learned at school or clarifying what it learned, helping them with things they don't quite understand is YOUR job at home. No student gets everything all the time. Did your son ask for extra help at school? Did he see if he could come in before school or stay after for extra help? Over the years our kids would come home and not quite understand something. We would spend some time going over it and often just having it presented in a different way makes all the difference. I never thought that this was a problem with the teachers .
First off, I have four boys and work two jobs. Second, our school is tiny. My sons class has less than 10 students. My point in my post was that he DID NOT learn division. If a student is struggling that bad where he/she cannot learn basic Math skills, that should've been a red flag for the teacher to talk to the parents. Not once did we receive a call concerning his Math. I don't have a problem helping my boys with their homework, we actually have time set aside every night when the tv and phones are off so that they can better concentrate and we can help. I do however, resent that I have to teach my son Math skills that he should've and we thought he had learned the year before. If I had not caught the problem early, he could've struggled all this year. How is that fair for the student?
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