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My son is in 7th grade (Pre Algebra 2). In previous years he was an A student, and he really liked math. Now he gets F's and D's because he fails every single math test. The problem is timing. He completes 50% of the test correctly, but he has no time to finish the rest. He does his homework really well; he barely makes any mistakes, but he takes his time; he does not like to rush. Also, he scored high (Algebra level) on the MAP test (this test is not timed). He understands math problems and he knows how to solve them. He just can't solve them quickly. I tried practice with him more so that he can speed up. It did not work. He gets too nervous, and he starts to make silly mistakes. I asked his teacher if she could give him an extra time. She refused. I don't know what to do anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions? Can teacher refuse to give additional time to complete the test? Can I legally demand an additional time?
Can you afford a tutor? Maybe a different perspective-neither you nor the teacher-will make a difference.
We are helping you by providing some perspective on the situation. You are choosing to ignore our advice. Until you address the underlying problems and stop blaming others, your son is going to continue to fail his classes.
How do you know that I'm ignoring your advise? Did I tell you that? Did I tell you that I won't test my son for a disability? Did I say that I will sue the teacher?
I asked if I can legally demand extra time for the test because I was confused. The principal said that other children are finishing the test during the lunch time, but when I asked the teacher for more time, she refused. I did not tell her," But the principal told me..." I decided that before I tell her about my conversation with the principle, I will work with my son more so that he can speed up. Unfortunately, my idea did not work. He failed another test.
Now I'm looking for another solution. That is why I posted here. I already signed him up for tutoring. I will talk to the principle again, I will have my son tested for disability, or I will change the teacher if non of the other ideas will work.
I have to find the reason why my child does so bad in 7th grade even though he did great in all previous years. Maybe he has disability, maybe he is not ready for pre algebra 2, or maybe those tests are just poor. I'm open for any suggestions; I take other's advises seriously. But I'm not willing to listen rude/ disrespectful comments.
The tests may be benchmark style and the teacher has no control over content of them since they are developed and imposed from above. Typically those tests will be timed in order to acclimate the student to the exit exams states are now imposing. If that's the case changing the teacher now would have no impact, they will all be doing the same tests. Also, changing the teacher because of this, at this time of the school year, will send a message to the rest of the staff that the Principal may not wish to send.
Your son may have a disability but it should have manifested itself before now.
Not legally. I'm surprised the teacher wouldn't allow him to come after school to work on it.
Maybe talk to his counselor and he/she may be able to intervene on your behalf without it looking like you are going over the teacher's head.
I don't allow my students to come in after school and finish tests. Once they start the test, they are required to finish in one sitting. I will, however, separate pages of the test and allow a student to come in after school and complete pages they have not seen. Extra time is tricky. It's not fair when one student has seen the test then has time to review content that is on the test before coming back and finishing the test.
I don't allow my students to come in after school and finish tests. Once they start the test, they are required to finish in one sitting. I will, however, separate pages of the test and allow a student to come in after school and complete pages they have not seen. Extra time is tricky. It's not fair when one student has seen the test then has time to review content that is on the test before coming back and finishing the test.
I don't allow my students to come in after school and finish tests. Once they start the test, they are required to finish in one sitting. I will, however, separate pages of the test and allow a student to come in after school and complete pages they have not seen. Extra time is tricky. It's not fair when one student has seen the test then has time to review content that is on the test before coming back and finishing the test.
I don't mind giving a student a little extra time if they want to come in later that day. I don't want to judge teachers that don't share my view on that because, depending on the situation, it may not warrant extra time. (I don't mean to imply that you were being judgmental).
It doesn't sound like your son has a disability. If he did, it would manifest itself in all of his subjects, not just math. If you get him tested, one of the processes the special education department will do is to send a survey to all of his teachers asking if they have noticed something out of the ordinary or if he has trouble learning in their classes.
The advice to tell your son to finish all the questions before going back to check his work is sound. Most of the time the child will check his work and not change a thing because he did everything correctly. Here is what I would suggest:
-- tell your son to work through all the problems first. This way he should at least have an answer for all of the problems.
-- have your son mark the questions he is unsure about when he solves them. If there is time, he should review those problems first.
-- work with your son to find out what kind of questions he is having trouble with. Is he having trouble remembering formulas? Is he having issues remembering order of operations? Does he not understand what word problems are asking him to do?
-- work with your son to find strategies to lessen his anxiety. Maybe deep breaths or meditation. Above all, try to keep your anxieties from him. That will put more pressure on him to perform.
-- also be ready to hear that there is nothing wrong with your son, and that he is in over his head. That's okay. It sounds like you grew up with a European education. The American system is different. Your son will not be weeded out into a different program. He will have the opportunity to grow at his own pace. He will catch up. Just give him some time.
-- It sounds like you are a caring mother. Remember that middle school is a rough and miserable time for many adolescents. He will be fine. Keep your high expectations, teach him to act on his own behalf, and make sure he studies. If he develops these habits, anything else is gravy.
Not all of you. Some individuals tried to help me and gave me honest/ good advises. Thank you so much to people who did that.
By saying, "this is the first time I joined the forum... and the last time," I meant that I won't post any new subjects. I will still though read the comments related to this topic. Hope you don't mind.
If you are a perfectionist shouldn't you know that the word "advises" is not a real one?
Also, there are typos in your OP.
I only point this out because you claim to be a perfectionist who does every single thing correctly. Clearly that is not the case because no one does every single thing correctly.
Throughout life everyone has to complete things in a timely manner. If your son is not capable of that, and does not have a disability, he should learn skills to move at a faster pace.
I was a substitute teacher in middle schools in two different school districts this week. Both districts took time away from the teachers preparation time and added an additional class or student study hall to the school day this school year.
At the middle school where I taught on Monday the last period ended and the teacher's "paid work day ended" two minutes later!
At the school today, the final bell rang at 3:00 and meant that it was the end of the day for both students and teachers. Many students were just leaving the classroom at that time.
In those situations any time that a teacher would stay "after school" to have a student finish a test or to help a child on homework it would 100% totally be during the teacher's unpaid time and not on school time.
I'm not trying to start an argument, but I just wanted to point out that not all teacher have "after school time to help students" built into the school day.
Last edited by germaine2626; 11-19-2013 at 06:01 PM..
All I know is, my kid had ADD and he could do the work, but had trouble test taking in the time allotted. If your child has a time issue, it could be considered a learning disability, with access to a IEP. This being said, you might not want your kid labeled as an LD kid, if you can somehow motivate him to get speedier.
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