Teachers, Grades and BS

[fett]

My son in middle school, a few years back, got an A+ in math. I know my son and there was no way. He is very smart, but his grades sucked. I actually called the teacher so he could explain the grade. I asked him; "Did Keith get a A on all his homework and tests?". He said; "No" I asked him; "Then why did you give him an A+?" He said; " It was more than just math." Keith went from a "C" to "A+" because he had a nice attitude. I said; "You are not doing my son any favors. Now he thinks he's a math major." But, Keith and I knew that was not the case. Way back when, I used to play the teachers. But, now the teachers are so paranoid about the parents they knuckle under and give these kids a false sense of accomplishment. I told that teacher he was off his ass. But, now an A is demanded.

[Jason1212]

When my daughter was in the second grade the teacher sent home weekly comments on her progress along with her graded home work. The comments mentioned she was attentive and a hard worker. The grades would be good B's and A's with check marks and smiley faces. Then we got the first report card and it had a lot of C's on it. We had a conference with the teacher and were like WTF. She said she did that so the kids would not get discouraged. I didnt really tear into her but I told her that was no help at all. It gave us a false sense of well being and did nothing to help my daughter at all. Things changed after that, but it was good because we addressed the issues and the grades came up.

[Spivonious]

That's the most idiotic thing I've ever heard of! Grades are earned, good or bad. Teachers should report the truth, not worry about encouraging the kid.

[dg]

Yep, it's the parents' job to worry about the encouragement. I guess since so many parents are blowing off that role, some teachers think they need to do it, but this was totally the wrong way to go about it. Misleading the kid & the parents about performance helps no one.

[Cygnus X1]

Some don't give out much homework, here it seems to be district policy to load 'em up. At least instead of false grades (which some do), getting to know what Jr. is actually doing by looking at their work yourself beats trusting someone with a garbage education degree.
I recieved an email from a mid level administrator today concerning my request to discuss different options (like changing teachers) for my son, who is having a bit of trouble with algebra. The two paragraph message contained at least 5 misspellings. I was to tempted to correct it when I responded back.
She would probably file me under "Does not Play Well With Others"...

[Reverend Timmy]

I keep waiting for someone at my job,a chemical plant,to ask me to diagram a sentence...................

[Cygnus X1]

I keep waiting for someone at my job,a chemical plant,to ask me to diagram a sentence...................

Or exactly who the Hapsbergs were, and Rasputin, oh, hell, I'll just go out for Jeapordy. At least advanced mathematics has helped with problem solving, I think. I don't know, I guess...at least I have that feeling. Well, I feel good, I got an "A' on it.

Edit: (Why do I only notice misspellings in white on black, but not when I am composing? It's as bad as recording sometimes.)

[Bri]

I think it is important to have an ongoing dialog. Both parties need to listen and speak with honesty and respect. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher here in L.A. If she had a dollar for every time she heard "My child wouldn't do that." her salary wouldn't suck so bad. She does keep parents up to date and grades based on the actual work and effort. Some parents love her for it, some provide endless grief.

[RacerX]

Or exactly who the Hapsbergs were,

The who? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapsburgs Heh

[AdRock]

My fiance is an elementary school music teacher and I can't beleive some of the crap she's made to put up with. In the politically correct society you sometimes get in trouble for getting on the kids. If you discipline them you're not "helping their feelings of self worth". Most parents don't give shit about being involved with their kids school goings on. That is until their monster gets a teacher that actually disciplines them... Then the kid comes home and says the teacher is being mean... Then the parents come up to the school in a complete fit and start yelling at the teacher, yes my fiance had this happen last week. Of course the parent say " Our little angel would never act up". Bullshit, they let their kid be a monster at home but they have no idea because they don't pay any attention to them until something happens, then they're baffled as to WHY it happened.

My sister is also a teacher. 1st grade. Last year she had to buy one of her kids some shoes because he showed up everyday with them. When she asked why, he said his mom hadn't bought him any. When my sister phoned the boys mom to ask how come he didn't have shoes she was met with.. " If he needs shoes that bad and you can't stand it.. Than go by them fucking self" and then the lady hung up on her. These are the people that teachers get to deal with all the time and it's this type of bullshit that most of the world never sees.

RANT OFF.....

[Jason1212]

My wife is very involved at the school volunteering and we have a friend that works at another grade school in this district. In some cases it is absolutely insane how some parents have checked out when it comes to schooling. Our friend spends one day a six weeks in court to testify on child truancy. It is regular to have parents be found in contempt because they have not made the efforts to get their grade school age child to school as the court has directed in the past. My daughter has yet to go from one grade to the next without having someone in her class held and for two years straight she has had a class mate in her class that was held back the year before. All because parents really could care less.

[thetroy]

The who? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapsburgs Heh

I bet you had to look that one up yourself

[delt]

Yeah, the human species "reproductiion"...... do we really reproduce ourselves, or only the worst parts of ourselves..... why does it -exponentially- go to shit with each generation -especially- in the last 100 years or so.... ??? If you've seen the movie "28 days later" you know what i'm talking about- especially if you took a look at one specific "bonus features" on the DVD.

Yep, it's the parents' job to worry about the encouragement. I guess since so many parents are blowing off that role, some teachers think they need to do it, but this was totally the wrong way to go about it. Misleading the kid & the parents about performance helps no one.

I'm very lucky. I came from an -exemplary- good family. Only in recent years i've realized that 90% to 99% of other ppl around me (incl. my immediate surroundings) aren't so fortunate. So where i live, the block (nearly half the town actually) consists of drug addicts, rapists, (as per lc18:20 see why i don't speak any further about this).......

If you discipline them you're not "helping their feelings of self worth". Most parents don't give shit about being involved with their kids school goings on. That is until their monster gets a teacher that actually disciplines them...

That just points out 2 problems, at least in north american society... the first one being that kids, in general, don't give a shit about their parents (2tim.3:2+mt24:??) and the second, that so-called "human rights" (for ex. provided by the U.N.) pretty much interferes with nature*'s design regarding offspring/descendance. (1co.11:3,4)

... but then again, i'm not a parent so... this is just my (un)biased opinion i just happnened to stumble upon some seriously mental shit that was written 2000 to 3600 years ago


Note that all comments in this post are written by some +drunk+ dumbass who observed the world and has seen its tendencies in the past 31 years - do NOT take any of this seriously

* nature: see TETRAGRAMMATON

[Cygnus X1]

My fiance is an elementary school music teacher and I can't beleive some of the crap she's made to put up with. In the politically correct society you sometimes get in trouble for getting on the kids. If you discipline them you're not "helping their feelings of self worth". Most parents don't give shit about being involved with their kids school goings on. That is until their monster gets a teacher that actually disciplines them...
RANT OFF.....

That's not a rant, it's the truth. Both of my charming angelic cherubs (read, typical BOYS), know that until I find otherwise, I trust what the teacher is saying or writing before I'll buy their side of the story. And going to talk to teachers gets a lot more done than hurling insults on the school or teacher.
Wife and I generally take the approach, what can we do toether? What is the underlying problem? What are the goals? And the boys will usually respond positively to well defined, clear objectives, rather than "Just try harder!" One fourth grade teacher was very picky about class organization, often used the dreaded red pen, and my son kept complaining. My wife was getting an attitude against this teacher. We went and talked for a good half hour with her, and my wife was even more livid when we left. I reminded her that this was exactly what he needed, I turned out to be right, that "tough old witch" was one of the best in the end.

[dg]

My sister is also a teacher. 1st grade. Last year she had to buy one of her kids some shoes because he showed up everyday with them. When she asked why, he said his mom hadn't bought him any. When my sister phoned the boys mom to ask how come he didn't have shoes she was met with.. " If he needs shoes that bad and you can't stand it.. Than go by them fucking self" and then the lady hung up on her. These are the people that teachers get to deal with all the time and it's this type of bullshit that most of the world never sees.

RANT OFF.....

A friend of my wife was fired for buying shoes for a kid in her class. The "parents" were offended and took it up with the school board. She refused to kiss ass or back down and lost her job.