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Old 08-07-2015, 03:48 PM
 
37 posts, read 48,872 times
Reputation: 76

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What to do, folks? We spent a lot of money to move into an expensive, but highly rated public elementary school district. My kid won a lottery spot for 4 year pre-k at this school last year, and had a wonderful teacher and great year. We just came back from orientation for 5 year kindergarten, and the teacher was "lame". First, I heard from other neighborhood parents that their kids' 5 year kindergarten teachers had sent welcome postcards to their homes. Ours sent nothing. When we met her in the classroom, she didn't welcome the kids or parents. She had no speech or directions whatsoever. We just helped ourselves to filling out forms at various tables in the room. I had to ask her about supplies, what the kids were supposed to bring the first day, where the bathrooms were, if we needed to supply a change of clothes, if they had nap time, how do they bring snacks, will she keep their cafeteria purchase cards, etc. Hubby asked her if she had ever opened a new school before (this is the first year in a new building - very exciting!) and she said, with no energy whatsoever, that all schools were the same. The assistant teacher didn't even show up. I asked her about the assistant, if she had worked with her before, and she said no but she had seen her face. Obviously, she did not make a good impression on me. I already have a negative view of this woman and her classroom and want my son in a good teacher's room, like one of the other 4 teachers. Advice?
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Old 08-07-2015, 03:53 PM
 
Location: Blackistan
3,006 posts, read 2,612,383 times
Reputation: 4531
Maybe she was having a bad day? I can imagine it's very difficult having to deal with 5 year olds and their parents almost every day. It's not likely your child will have all star teachers every year for the next 12 years.
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Old 08-07-2015, 04:03 PM
 
37 posts, read 48,872 times
Reputation: 76
Bad day? If she can't get it together for 2 hours during orientation, how is she going to last the whole year? Supposedly she has 25 - 30 years of experience. I think she is lazy and has checked out. Anyway, how do I get my son re-assigned to a good teacher with minimal impact on him?
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Old 08-07-2015, 04:03 PM
 
36 posts, read 45,036 times
Reputation: 36
When it comes to these sorts of things, you only get what you buy with good old brown nosing and palm greasing. Perhaps you dropped the ball on one of those this year. They don't make much money, and probably arrange to have a "bad" teacher to keep the sidestream revenue going.
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Old 08-07-2015, 04:30 PM
 
37 posts, read 48,872 times
Reputation: 76
hahaha....
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Old 08-07-2015, 04:42 PM
 
2,613 posts, read 4,124,289 times
Reputation: 1486
Give her a chance - evaluate her according to how she teaches your child. She may be the best teacher there. Who gives a crap about receiving postcards or having a super happy person? Again, maybe she was having a bad day. What if she'd just had a death in the family, for example? Who knows.
Evaluate her according to her merits, not stupid crap like whether she had a welcome speech or sent post cards. That's fluff stuff anyway. Do you know they make most teachers buy supplies (and postcards) out of their own pocket? My husband has had to buy his supplies for years now. Maybe she didn't want to take money from her own family to buy postcards.

I would have taken that opportunity to talk to her about REAL issues, not whether they have a nap and whether they need a change of clothes. Did you talk to her about the curriculum or where your daughter is? Was she aware? Was she interested?

I know you didn't move into an expensive neighborhood to receive stupid postcards from the teacher.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cedar_ATL View Post
What to do, folks? We spent a lot of money to move into an expensive, but highly rated public elementary school district. My kid won a lottery spot for 4 year pre-k at this school last year, and had a wonderful teacher and great year. We just came back from orientation for 5 year kindergarten, and the teacher was "lame". First, I heard from other neighborhood parents that their kids' 5 year kindergarten teachers had sent welcome postcards to their homes. Ours sent nothing. When we met her in the classroom, she didn't welcome the kids or parents. She had no speech or directions whatsoever. We just helped ourselves to filling out forms at various tables in the room. I had to ask her about supplies, what the kids were supposed to bring the first day, where the bathrooms were, if we needed to supply a change of clothes, if they had nap time, how do they bring snacks, will she keep their cafeteria purchase cards, etc. Hubby asked her if she had ever opened a new school before (this is the first year in a new building - very exciting!) and she said, with no energy whatsoever, that all schools were the same. The assistant teacher didn't even show up. I asked her about the assistant, if she had worked with her before, and she said no but she had seen her face. Obviously, she did not make a good impression on me. I already have a negative view of this woman and her classroom and want my son in a good teacher's room, like one of the other 4 teachers. Advice?
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Old 08-07-2015, 05:31 PM
 
37 posts, read 48,872 times
Reputation: 76
The curriculum is the same across all normal learner classes at 5K, so that's not questionable. The primary purpose of the orientation should have been to get everyone acquainted with the layout, the schedule, details on what to provide, what to expect, and make everyone feel welcomed, warm, fuzzy, safe and excited for the school year. This is for 5 year old little children, many of whom have never been to school. Everything in the orientation was great except the teacher's portion. I'm not attacking your husband, or any other teacher (in fact I was so impressed with last year's teacher!). Her lack of preparation, presentation, kind words, etc. was very disappointing. Anyone would want to best environment for their child - and this is a let down. Further to your point about the postcards, the PTA gives a huge amount to the teachers, fully funds a science center (and extra teacher for it not paid for by the district), smart boards, etc., so bringing up the cost of postcards (cards and mailing would be less than $20 total - or free if she sent an email) is not relevant to this situation.
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Old 08-07-2015, 06:07 PM
 
Location: ATLANTA
708 posts, read 995,804 times
Reputation: 285
You can also talk to the counselor about changing your child to another class.
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Old 08-07-2015, 06:07 PM
 
2,613 posts, read 4,124,289 times
Reputation: 1486
I know you are not attacking my husband. I'm just saying that everything you described was mostly personality and about her excitement level. She put the papers out and let you help yourself. Ok.... She let you ask the questions you wanted answers to instead of giving a speech. Ok.... Some teachers don't give a speech. The PTA provides money for postcards. Ok.... Maybe she took her postcard allocation and spent it on something meaningful for the class bc postcards to parents sure as heck is not. Or maybe she was prepping hands-on activities for the kids or something and did not have time to send the postcards. I'm just saying give her a chance.

The fact that you are on here talking about stuff that does not matter and dismiss the curriculum as "all the same" and no need to discuss is very telling. What about discussing with her how she plans to implement aspects of the curriculum, your child's strengths and weaknesses, whst type of learner she is. You missed a great opportunity looking for fluff.
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Old 08-07-2015, 06:08 PM
 
36 posts, read 45,036 times
Reputation: 36
Laugh all you want.....But here is you a dose of clarity.. Somebodies kids have to get that teacher, and if you think it's done randomly your foolish. You and whoever else got that teacher are in disfavor, or didn't make any effort garner any favor... Other parents did, and now you are where you are... Your going to have a year to think about it, because your out of luck now.
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