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Yes we would look bad. We are taught in college that good teachers do not need to send students to the office. One of the signs of a bad teacher is sending a student to the office (according to our college professors and our administrators). It means we are unsuccessful at controlling behavior in our classroom.
Until you work with seasoned teachers and learn that it is not this cut and dry. If a student is perpetually misbehaving and interrupting instruction for 20 other students then you are doing a disservice to the other students if you do not send him to the office.
Another thread in this very forum says that teachers can't sent children to the principals office because it makes them look bad as teachers. Explain this. Isn't it part of your job to do this if they are causing a disruption? [B
Who would you look bad to[/b]? It wouldn't to me as a parent.
We'd look bad to our administration. You know, the people who do our PR's and decide if we have a job next year.
I ASSumed I could send students to the office in my first job. I didn't last long. One of the things I struggle with is disruptive students. The message is clear that I am supposed to deal with them in my classroom but I have no power. What can I do? I can't send them to the office and most of the time, when I call parents, it's, painfully obvious whey the student is a problem in the first place. I can work with students who have a healthy fear of my calling home and I can work with students who want decent grades. What am I supposed to do with the ones who don't want to be in my class at all let alone learn something in my class? In their minds, derailing the lesson means they are held accountable for less and they're not afraid of being talked to by me, they know I can't send them to the office wihtout looking bad and they know their parents won't do anything if I call home.
I think I would quit my job and do something else if I were any of you. what else is there to do then?
There are days when I think about that. Discipline is a serious problem. It's treated like a classroom issue for the teacher when the best approach would often be to get the offending student out of the classroom (doing so takes away their audience and sends a message to the rest of the class that the behavior will not be tolerated).
The biggest problem is low level repeat offenders. Kids that, on a regular basis, display disruptive behaviors that seem petty WRT sending a child to the office or even calling home. The other kids in the class feed on negative behavior and often encourage is with chuckles and even applause, on occaision.
The problem is you have to have power to be able to enforce the rules. I can get the kids in their seats and started at the beginning of the hour because I can give them a tardy for not being in their seat and three tardies gets them a detention. There is not penalty like this for, say, just being disruptive during class. I wish there were and there were an automatic detention after so many infractions.
I am at a loss as to what to do with these students. Calling home rarely works as the parents are more likely to either tell me it's my classroom and my problem or tell me their special little snowflake would NEVER do that, I must be interpreting their child's actions wrong. Sending them to the office is taken as an indication that you cannot control your own classroom. In my old school, freshman teachers had tickets they could give kids and they added up to detentions and in school suspensions. I would love to see that kind of system for all teachers. Give me something with teeth for the students who don't care about grades and maybe I can do something. As things are, I'm fighting a losing battle with my worst offenders.
I think I would quit my job and do something else if I were any of you. what else is there to do then?
About sums it up...if it weren't for some misguided belief that things can change, most teachers would move on...plus there are not that many choices for employment nowdays..
At the age of 52 I am extremely fortunate to have another career lined up working as an parent / student advocate starting July 2012...
About sums it up...if it weren't for some misguided belief that things can change, most teachers would move on...plus there are not that many choices for employment nowdays..
At the age of 52 I am extremely fortunate to have another career lined up working as an parent / student advocate starting July 2012...
Our Connecticut governor, endorsed by our union because he is a Democrat, kicked off the new legislation by picking up the populist torch and making education his number one priority. Despite the fact that our state now has the dubious distinction of having the highest tax burden in the nation he is parroting the mantra coming out of the Obama administration that somehow our economic woes are related to teacher quality. His solution, a complete overhaul of teacher tenure and evaluation. Not surprisingly, HIS plan reads like the script from the Race to the Top initiative which the Department of Education is holding over the heads of cash-starved states not able to increase taxes any further without triggering a revolt.
Malloy's egregious statement regarding teacher tenure stated that the "only thing you have to do is to show up for four years." He completely ignored the fact that any district can non renew a teacher anytime in the first four years without cause or explanation. I know several teachers who have been dismissed under this procedure. Some were bad teachers and the dismissal seemed fitting. However, some were regarded as being good teachers who, for some reason, just weren't viewed that way by their administrator.
It's all a big game to fire up the uninformed to take their eye off our real problems which is unemployment and a society that has fewer places for people who do not have above average skills that can be marketed on a global basis.
I had to laugh about this, first of all i do NOT belong to a clique..while some teachers do form them, is that not the same of most work places? I also do not speak to most teachers nor do i hang out with teachers before or after school..i practice what most would call "professional courtesy"
As i have said before, it is the LAW, jesus man you are about as bad as the kids, blaming us for following the rules(in the students case, whatever the principal wants us to do) I'll tell you what i tell them, i don't make the rules i just follow them. If you don't like it, then speak to your congress man about repealing that law saying that we have to report these kind of things. Come with solutions, not with problems. As for your situation, I find it hard to believe that CPS is going to take the word of a few teachers, they are going to look at the over situation, where the child is living and how and then make an assessment. If that assessment turned out not in your favor, then I would suggest you spend time "righting the wrongs" of whatever they said than trying to blame a few people for actually doing their job.
Well, perhaps you don't know how CPS works. They have to investigate every complaint, even if repeated complaints from the same people.
ThE "where's there's smoke there's fire doesn'tt always apply. My ds had a habit of making stuff up, incredible stories, and it was believed. And, if you'd read my post, you'd see that I tried to communicate with the school. I made repeated requests for an appointment to discuss what was going on. I was told, oh, you need to wait until the first report card so we have something to talk about. Meanwhile, they were sending home notes every day, phone calls about every day, etc. My mistake was I tried to work with them ..I quickly found out they weren't looking for solutions, they were looking to vent. I had solutions, or at least posible solutions, they simply wouldn't listen.
His behavior fit a basic profile of an abused child, but everyone who fits that profile isn;t an automatic child abuse case.Get your facts straight, which I would have loved to do if just given the chance, but I was shut out of the evaluation process. What are my child's "issues?" I'm certainly not going into detail on a public board. Needless to say, they didn't necessiate CPS workers showing up at school, terrifying my children by asking questions like would you like to live somewhere else? Is your mommy mean? The kids didn't want to go to school after that for fear of being taken away. Also, it was completely inappropriate to have sheriffs and social workers show up at home and our place of employment asking damanging questions.
That old saw "where's there's smoke there's fire" followed us. CPS workers never come back to those they've interviewed and say the case was ruled out, we were found to be fine parents. People were left to draw their own conclusions with incomplete information. Basically the system destroyed our integrity as a family and sowed suspicion and mistrust. Good going----take an intact famly, both parents well-educated and very concerned for their child's educational welfare, and turn them into parents who don't even want to enter the school building. Parents aren't interested? How did it get that way, especially when we know you marvelous teachers have a foregone conclusion we are all a bunch of trash that's abusing our kids, so----THAT"'S why you can't teach!
Oh, and BTW, I certainly do understand how CPS works, having gone through 12-15 investigations. Seems you teachers can't handle critical thinking (but you....teach it). The minute you "suspect" anything wrong, (and lets face it, you "suspect" more with a child who's difficult to manage than a littlle darling who's mother is on the school board). Well, once it becomes a CPS issue, you can't speak with me. BS----you can't speak with me about the CPS issue, that doesn't mean you can't discuss my child's progress, or set up an IEP. The fact that we were under CPS investigation was used to refuse an ARD meeting---we can't speak with you while under CPS investigation. So who's not interested in the child's welfare? That's why we had to spend $$$$$ on attorney fees, us, the bad parents. But don't let the fact that you've just about destroyed a family that was doing just fine before you came along bother you any.
Oh, and both children are now in private school and flourishing. They're not looking for ways to kick the child out, or harass the parents to the point they can't function at their daily lives. There also tends to be a higher level of respect in private schools for the parents---we're professionals, too, not trailer trash that you readily admit you think public school students are!
I will agree with one thing the AP said, why didn't I mention all these "issues" to the school before he started? Frankly, I thought they were over with. Like I mentioned, he was in several school situations prior to public school, had been to individual and group counseling, and seemed ready, I had no idea such issues would resurface in the new environment. Do you suggest I go there and set him up with past, resolved issues? Looking backwards I suppose I should have. But, once labeled as the "horrible, abusive mother" like I said, they wouldn't even talk to me, wouldn't even say hello. Apparently they can't intrepret such basic rules.
So, DT (dear teachers), you might have a small inkling as to why you are hated. Perhaps if tried working with us, instead of automatically assuming we're the root of all evil, you might get somewhere.
So, DT (dear teachers), you might have a small inkling as to why you are hated. Perhaps if tried working with us, instead of automatically assuming we're the root of all evil, you might get somewhere.
And here I thought it was all due to those gosh-darned lime green binders ().
In all seriousness, I feel sorry for you -- I truly do. Such anger and hate ..... wow.
So, DT (dear teachers), you might have a small inkling as to why you are hated. Perhaps if tried working with us, instead of automatically assuming we're the root of all evil, you might get somewhere.
You do realize that in most states, a teacher who had not reported even the slightest suspicion of abuse when there was a founded case, would not only be out of a job but out of their license and out of the profession.
The rules handed down from the legislatures are strict, explicit, and leave no room for discretion on the part of the teacher to work with you.
And just for an interesting contrast, for -teachers- accused of abuse, Missouri and many other states have adopted the "where there is smoke" policy.
All accusations, even if demonstrated to be unfounded, now must follow a teacher throughout their career. If a teacher applies for a job in a new district, the old district must inform the new district of every accusation of abuse ever made against the teacher, and the new district must sign a statement declaring that if any incident of abuse occurs involving a teacher that had previous accusations, the district will accept for financial liability for the incident. Neither the old district nor the new district is allowed to differentiate between unfounded and founded accusations. The law actually bars the district from making any determination whatsoever if an allegation was true or false. If a court finds the accusation to be unsubstantiated, the district is allowed to terminate the teacher regardless of their current tenure status (if an accusation is not determined be unsubstantiated, then the district must immediately terminate the teacher, but has the option to reinstate the teacher later if the allegation is later ruled unsubstantiated by the courts).
Yes, you read that right. After any unsubstantiated allegation, the district has the option to immediately terminate the teacher regardless of current contract status of the teacher.
Last edited by marigolds6; 02-24-2012 at 10:50 AM..
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). The minute you "suspect" anything wrong, (and lets face it, you "suspect" more with a child who's difficult to manage than a littlle darling who's mother is on the school board). Well, once it becomes a CPS issue, you can't speak with me. BS----you can't speak with me about the CPS issue, that doesn't mean you can't discuss my child's progress, or set up an IEP. The fact that we were under CPS investigation was used to refuse an ARD meeting---we can't speak with you while under CPS investigation. So who's not interested in the child's welfare? That's why we had to spend $$$$$ on attorney fees, us, the bad parents. But don't let the fact that you've just about destroyed a family that was doing just fine before you came along bother you any.
