Teacher & Principal upset, was I wrong? (assignments, graduated, profession)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
[Are schools usually open to trying to make a good match with student/teacher? I was hoping that for next year we could get a teacher with #1) some experience, plus one that is able to deal with all kinds of children, and one that can maybe make the learning experience a little more fun instead of being a drill seargent. Has anyone made that request of a school? How was the request received and did you get the desired result?]
Sorry, Dyan, i did cut this question out of your other thread so I could respond to it. I know Sam responded in the negative, but she was speaking to you requesting a CERTAIN teacher.
As I just said in my previous comment, you certainly CAN and probably SHOULD, if your daughter will remain in this school, talk to the guidance counselor.
When my son finished kindergarten, we were moving to another town. His Kindergarten teacher recommended that I send a letter requesting a teacher with a "firm yet loving hand". I sent a letter to guidance describing my son, who really is a loving , spirited little boy. His K teacher didn't think he would do well with some old battle axe and it was very important for him to get the right teacher in order for him to be successful in his new school.
I called the guidance counselor to make sure that she got the letter and we had a conversation about it.
Though I did have one problem with the teacher last year (the one I described that I took to the principal) she didn't seem to take it out on my son. And though I wasn't crazy about her, she did manage my son pretty well and he had a good year.
The schools don't want parents coming in asking for certain teacher's because they have heard from other moms that have been gossiping. But if you approach them, discuss your child's needs, strengths, and weaknesses, and leave it up to their judgment to choose an appropriate teacher, they will work in your child's best interest. They know their staff better than anyone.
I didn't speak to guidance for 2nd grade, and wondered if they would still act on the conversation we had the year before, but he got a wonderful, VERY experienced teacher who I think is just great for him. I suppose when he leaves his school I will have a conversation with the next guidance counselor as well.
Your child deserves every chance to do well, and matching the child to the right teacher is essential in some cases. You just need to speak up to the people that make those decisions.
Told my oldest that in college it does not matter if you ace everything if the prof does not like you they CAN fail you and there is not a thing you can do about it.
I know this is off on a tangent, but I'd just like to say that this is absolutely untrue. There is NO WAY a professor can fail a student who aced everything. You have to provide documentation about how the grade is calculated and what grades were received by each student. The student can at any time ask about his grades, and since he gets his assignments back, shouldn't be shocked at the grade at the end of the semester. If the student feels he's being unjustly graded low, especially if it's something as subjective as an essay, and has no distinct grading rubric, he can go to the dept chair or dean.
However, if there's a student on the bubble, right at the low C-high D range, something as simple as missing 3 classes can be all it takes to justify a D, AS LONG AS attendance is stated in the syllabus as representing part of the grade. Grades like that are far from aceing everything.
I did not consider the journal to be "student records". It is just my daughter's school work and I wanted to see it. It is not ever sent home. To see it I would have to go to the school. My company is experiencing lay offs and I have had to miss a lot of work due to my kid's & my own illnesses. I was not able to take extra time off to go to the school. I do not see anything wrong with taking the journal to review it and sending it back the next day. I don't think I should have to view it in there presence. What do the other parents/teachers say?
Why did you want to review the journals? Was there something you were looking for in particular. It does sound very controlling on your part, but maybe I do not know the full story.
OP, you did not follow the school's policy. You were wrong for that. You did not give the teacher the chance to even respond. What was the rush exactly?
Like I mentioned before, the teacher could have gotten in trouble for not having the journal if the prinicipal requested it. Since I always try and make sure that I have a good relationship with the parents, I would have politely informed you of the school's policy if I were in the same situation. I probably would have told the principal because my principal likes to know what is going on in the building. After that I would have let it rest.
By the way, all school work done is considered a record of your child's progress. So those who are telling you it is not a record or a documet are incorrect.
Record (n.)-an account in writing or the like preserving the memory or knowledge of facts or events.
document (n.)-any written item, as a book, article, or letter, esp. of a factual or informative nature.
With all due respect, Sam, I believe you to be factually incorrect here as far as student work counting as a record under FERPA. As I said in a previous post, I am not an expert; however, in the link that was given above, there is a PDF document in which the definition of what constitutes a "record" is given.
In that PDF file is an interesting challenge to the FERPA law in which a parent brought suit against the school because her child's class engaged in peer-editing of student tests and papers -- a fairly common educational practice. The parent's contention was that peer editing violated her student's privacy rights under FERPA and that the practice of peer editing should be discontinued.
The court ruled against her, contending that we don't have a "record" until the teacher records a grade in her grade book -- a ruling that strongly suggests schoolwork itself is not a record, but the grades are.
No, a kindergartener is not like an employee. The teacher is actually more like an employee of the parent. If the parent does not think that teacher is doing her job, he or she can "fire" the teacher by removing the child from her care.
An employer would not give an employee's file to the employee's mother, but neither would he send a "report card" home to the said mother.
Like it or not, parents are responsible for the care and education of their children. They can choose to delegate some of that to a teacher or school, but that does not mean that they hand over all control. A parent of a child under 18 has the right and the responsibility to oversee what is going on and to make decisions accordingly.
Well said-Bravo! To the OP, whatever you do, take beanandpumpkin & Charles Wallace's advice to heart. I've been in many, many situations similar to yours with various schools. I chose to not be stressed out from the public schools, & homeschooled instead. I could probably write a book about the incredibly outrageous things the teachers I've dealt with have done/said. Bottom line is you are the parent. You have every right to know everything that's going on in that school, & to review anything your kid is doing. It's appalling, really that some (not all) teachers think its a competition between the parents & them for power. Little story: after a few years of homeschooling my oldest,(2nd. grade through 5th.) I put him in the local school. He was there for a month. The teacher, (amazing guy) at parent teacher night, took me aside privately. He told me what an excellent job I'd done, then told me to pull my son out & go back to homeschooling. Shocked, I asked why? He said the school was lacking in too many areas, the curriculum was a joke, & the other kids were out of control. He really implored me to go back to homeschooling, & I did. Not many teachers are that honest & I still admire that particular teacher. The point is, you may want to research homeschooling & give it a try.
Why did you want to review the journals? Was there something you were looking for in particular. It does sound very controlling on your part, but maybe I do not know the full story.
The point of reading the journal was because the teacher was giving the student low marks, claiming she had not been writing in the journal. The parent wanted to see this for herself, no different than getting a low grade on a spelling test and asking to look at the test. Is that too controlling?? I don't think so, at least not on the part of the parent.
The bigger question is, why didn't the teacher and principal want the parent to look at the journal.
[Are schools usually open to trying to make a good match with student/teacher? I was hoping that for next year we could get a teacher with #1) some experience, plus one that is able to deal with all kinds of children, and one that can maybe make the learning experience a little more fun instead of being a drill seargent. Has anyone made that request of a school? How was the request received and did you get the desired result?]
Sorry, Dyan, i did cut this question out of your other thread so I could respond to it. I know Sam responded in the negative, but she was speaking to you requesting a CERTAIN teacher.
As I just said in my previous comment, you certainly CAN and probably SHOULD, if your daughter will remain in this school, talk to the guidance counselor.
When my son finished kindergarten, we were moving to another town. His Kindergarten teacher recommended that I send a letter requesting a teacher with a "firm yet loving hand". I sent a letter to guidance describing my son, who really is a loving , spirited little boy. His K teacher didn't think he would do well with some old battle axe and it was very important for him to get the right teacher in order for him to be successful in his new school.
I called the guidance counselor to make sure that she got the letter and we had a conversation about it.
Though I did have one problem with the teacher last year (the one I described that I took to the principal) she didn't seem to take it out on my son. And though I wasn't crazy about her, she did manage my son pretty well and he had a good year.
The schools don't want parents coming in asking for certain teacher's because they have heard from other moms that have been gossiping. But if you approach them, discuss your child's needs, strengths, and weaknesses, and leave it up to their judgment to choose an appropriate teacher, they will work in your child's best interest. They know their staff better than anyone.
I didn't speak to guidance for 2nd grade, and wondered if they would still act on the conversation we had the year before, but he got a wonderful, VERY experienced teacher who I think is just great for him. I suppose when he leaves his school I will have a conversation with the next guidance counselor as well.
Your child deserves every chance to do well, and matching the child to the right teacher is essential in some cases. You just need to speak up to the people that make those decisions.
When I was in elementary school my mom requested my teacher every year. We always had two or more teachers per grade, but only one would be a good teacher. The kids who were in that class were the kids whose parent's requested that teacher. Granted, this was in the 90's.
My daughter's teacher and the principal at her school are upset with me because I took my daughter's writing journal home to review over the weekend. I emailed and called the school on a Friday to request the journal. Both the teacher and the principal were not there (this was during the school day when I emailed & called). When my daughter was picked up that day, I instructed her grandmother to bring me the journal to review. I sent it back Monday morning with her. I sent a note attached to the journal and also emailed the teacher about taking the journal. The principal told me it was inappropriate. Here is her reason:
Federal law controls the access of student records. Parents have a right to see records upon following proper procedures. Viewing or making copies in the presence of school employees would be appropriate. To due otherwise could compromise the records of others. That is why it is inappropriate.
I did not consider the journal to be "student records". It is just my daughter's school work and I wanted to see it. It is not ever sent home. To see it I would have to go to the school. My company is experiencing lay offs and I have had to miss a lot of work due to my kid's & my own illnesses. I was not able to take extra time off to go to the school. I do not see anything wrong with taking the journal to review it and sending it back the next day. I don't think I should have to view it in there presence. What do the other parents/teachers say?
If the principal sent out an email with misuse of the word "due" I would seriously question her credentials. I believe someone working in education teaching our children, should at the very least know how to spell and know the meanings of the words they choose to use.
First of all, I definitely agree with Twinkle Toes on the issue of the spelling by an educator.
Second, original op, I have to wonder if you had an underlying motive and took advantage of the situation already knowing that it was against the rules for this school, no matter the age or anything else? Even if you did though, I wouldn't blame you. They holler that they want us parents to be and get involved but if something doesn't go their way than they get really stupid on the parents and yes, than our child more times than not does get the extra suffering from the teacher and administration.
If it is only kindergarten, than you might give it more time. I too had a very serious situation on my hands when my little guy was getting pummeled by the senior boys on the bus.The biggest one was the worst. I went to the bus service and the principal. To no avail. So I told my little bitty kindergartener to double up his fist and hit that boy as hard as he could right in the nose. HE did. LOL. He bloodied the boys lip and sent him to school crying. This is a 250 pd. football playing senior, whose father is a State cop. Well needless to say, the principal and I had a big screaming fallout. I had the same thoughts as you but was talked into staying anyway. He was there all 13 years of his schooling.
Although our little people can't always make the best decisions, we still need to listen to them, weigh it all out. I hope this has helped. Good luck in whatever you decide.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Unite
