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That's a terrible thing to write on his paper, but I am not sure she deserves to be fired over it. She probably should have some special training about being positive not negative to all her students. OTOH, what was the other rudeness she showed to this child?
I assume this was one of those timed math facts test and she expected the children to complete more of it, but that is not an excuse for her remark.
The father should be having a conference with the teacher and school administrators. Putting stuff like this one social media is what's wrong with the world we live in today. Have we gotten to the point where people don't actually know how to communicate in person?
There are 50 problems on that page, meaning these 2nd Grade students had 3.6 secs for each problem if they were to answer every one in the 3 min. This kid took 14 secs for every question he answered and he got 11 correct. It may not be where she wants him to be, but maybe he needs extra math help, maybe he has an undiagnosed learning disability, maybe he's not good at tests, maybe he's paralysed through fear of his teacher. And maybe he just didn't study - but does that justify telling a 7 or 8 year old their efforts are absolutely pathetic?
I'm always shocked that many adults talk to children in a way that they would never dream of talking to another adult (except in online forums...). Words matter.
There are 50 problems on that page, meaning these 2nd Grade students had 3.6 secs for each problem if they were to answer every one in the 3 min. This kid took 14 secs for every question he answered and he got 11 correct. It may not be where she wants him to be, but maybe he needs extra math help, maybe he has an undiagnosed learning disability, maybe he's not good at tests, maybe he's paralysed through fear of his teacher. And maybe he just didn't study - but does that justify telling a 7 or 8 year old their efforts are absolutely pathetic?
I'm always shocked that many adults talk to children in a way that they would never dream of talking to another adult (except in online forums...). Words matter.
Hmm.. the message sounds like it is toward the adult.
"Absolutely pathetic. He answered 13 in 3 minutes! Sad."
"He", is referring to the child. The message was not "you answered 13..."
While the child saw the note written but to me, the message was toward the parent. It wasn't that long ago when I had to sign some my kids test (I believe it was all the way up to 5th grade). This is the reason why the dad needs a conference with the teach/and or administrator.
What the teacher did required an explanation. If the father finds that the administration isn't handling this properly, it's time to go to social media. First reaction shouldn't be social media unless all you want is attention.
Sometimes getting the correct answers is more important than how many you can do in 3 minutes.
Exactly!!! My kids were both slower at math than the average kids in first and second grade and those timed math facts about did us in. They did this huge end if the year party for the kids who mastered their math facts within the three minutes. My kids would get every answer correct, but they struggled to get it within the time frame allowed. The more they pushed the kids, the more they stressed out and struggled. Eventually they both made it in the time they needed, but it was nearly an entire year of them hating math and those dumb math facts.
Now as for what the teacher wrote I think they crossed a line. They are clearly speaking to the parent and instead of making passive aggressive remarks the teacher should have set up a time to call or have the parent come in so the teacher could explain their concern and work with the parent to help the child who was struggling. It's supposed to be a team parent and teacher both wanting to help the students succeed and instead there is all this animosity and strife.
The teacher went about it all wrong. I feel like being fired is too harsh, but maybe a good explanation of how to do things in the future is definitely called for by one of the teachers higher ups or a class on how to speak to parents would be smart.
I'm not for treating kids like snowflakes or anything, but this teacher went too far.
Okay, so how did the rest of the class do? Did the rest of the class finish?
This isn't a math test per se, it is a memorization test. The students aren't working out the math problems, they are recalling math facts. When you do multiplication tables, you don't do the 7x7x7x7x7 = 35, you memorize 5 x 7 = 35. Now-a-days, adding and subtracting are taught by the same method.
My guess is this child isn't doing his homework. This parents were suppose to reinforce math facts as homework. Sounds like they didn't do their part. "Absolutely pathetic" is probably beyond the reading level of a second grader and the note was for his parents.
Teachers' reviews are based on how well their students do. Search "Teacher Performance Pay." Tons of articles on how teachers only receive bonuses or pay increase when their students test well.
I am not a proponent of everything being rainbows and unicorns all the time. The real world doesn't work that way.
But IoT is going to change that.
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