The Math Marks Mystery (Part II)
I don’t care if you pass or fail. I’m just here for my paycheck.
This is what the math teacher said to her class. Or so SS says.
I didn’t believe it. DW believed SS right away. This caused a heated argument between us. We knew this math teacher was different. We knew she was candid, strict and we knew SS would have a hard time. We also knew that SS has been fooling around, putting in the bare minimum of effort and lying to us.
Well I found out last week from my inside source that in this instance, SS was indeed telling the truth.
My heart goes out to those who are in the teaching profession. It is truly a labor of love. I know many teachers – one of whom is my best friend – who pour their heart and soul into what they do, and they are held to such high (often ridiculous) standards and are forced to deal with budgetary cut-backs after cut-backs.
But when a teacher says something like *that* to her students,…they place themselves in an undefendable position.
It still doesn’t explain why SS is floundering in his other classes - so I didn't understand why DW was more focused on this math teacher whom she is is convinced is the devil incarnate.
"I want SS out of her class!"
I also finally got SS's math quiz results for the past month; 20%, 32%, 50%, 70%, 1%, 50%, 0%
I told DW to please think about this. I had some horrible teachers back in my day, but even if I tried, I still would manage to squeak by. 1% and 0% is indicative of a student doing SFA and does not solely point to a teacher purposely trying to fail a student.
DW would hear none of it. So armed with a mother’s conviction that her son is being treated unjustly, off DW went to see the vice-principal on Friday.
The vice-principal proved to be a much more adept diplomat over the matter and managed to calm down DW’s concerns over the math teacher. Pulling SS out of the math class is just not an option (and may also make the situation worse), but the VP said that she will talk to her. The vice-principal also said that she will open up “Planning Room” sessions for SS to work on his math. Basically, the planning room is a special room set aside for students to go to during the portions of the class where the students are expected to work on their own (like do in class assignments and quizzes). There, the student does the work that is expected of them while another teacher/volunteer) sits next to him and supervises.
“Normally we do this with students who are in serious trouble, or who are on the IEP program” The VP explained to DW. “but in SS’s case, we can easily make an exception.”
The VP also asked permission to have the school board perform a learning assessment on SS. DW agreed and seemed quite pleased about the affair when she returned home.
Oh and professional tutoring is a go. Donkeykong finally agreed and said he would pay for his share of it.
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crazytrain, I swear I was
crazytrain, I swear I was this
-> <-
Close to throwing in the towel. I am so glad this has worked itself out.
I'm pretty shocked that the
I'm pretty shocked that the teacher would tell the class that. Now, in having conversations with my SD, who is 14, about school, she has expressed frustration with teachers who don't seem to care and I have told her that sometimes, schools take advantage of teachers (I know plenty by proxy who are forced to follow ridiculous standards, like you mentioned, and jump through hoops for pitiful pay) so, sometimes you get a teacher who at least acts like they don't care when they're probably just beat up and tired over the situation. Of course, I know that there are probably those teachers out there who have given up on caring and are just biding their time until they can retire, but I didn't tell SD that, she already has a pretty defeatist attitude when it comes to school.
But, what I told SD is WAAAAAAY different than a teacher telling a class that they don't care if the kids pass or fail and that they're just there for the paycheck.
I feel for teachers, too,
I feel for teachers, too, especially those that teach in public schools. But I don't think it's necessarily appropriate for a teacher to tell that to the class. My SD can be a real PITA, but, when she even so much as got the impression that a teacher didn't care, she stopped caring about the class. Her words to me were something along the lines of "if the teacher doesn't care, then why should I?" I think there's a better way to address lack of respect towards a teacher from students. But that's just my thought.
I sometimes see it in my
I sometimes see it in my friend’s face when he talks to me about his teaching profession. I see the hesitation and the pauses while he carefully chooses his words. I tell him “Dude. It’s me. I’m not a parent and neither will I go running to the school board to relay what you tell me. “
Teacher’s are humans too, but if I tell my boss “I don’t care if the client accepts my work or not, I’m just here for my paycheck.” I think my time here would be short lived.
Exactly, there's an
Exactly, there's an appropriate audience for those kinds of comments and it isn't the students.
I was wondering if it was
I was wondering if it was taken out of context... perhaps the teacher REALLY said. "I don't care if you pass or fail, I will still collect my paycheck."
A teacherism I love is... "If you promise not to believe everything your child says happens in class, then I promise to not believe everything your child says happens at home."
I used to have a history
I used to have a history teacher who would sometimes give me a lift because he lived in the same area as I did. He really liked me. He was rather candid with me too. We would talk about all kinds of things - even personal things. In those moments he wasn't a teacher, he was more like an "older" friend. But nothing he would say or do made me feel uncomfortable. He was just a normal guy, with a normal family trying to make ends meet. Maybe he was a bit too "chatty" but the same could be said about me now days. I dunno why this comment made me think about this. Teachers are human too but I strongly believe they are under a LOT more pressure now than they were back in my day.
Especially when you add
Especially when you add social media to the mix.
I used to teach middle school
I used to teach middle school and was very frank and sarcastic with those kids. I was in my early twenties and I had two classes that were HELL. I'm sure I said lots of things to them that could have been construed differently.
Heck, I may have even told them it doesn't matter if they pass or fail - I get paid the same amoount. LOL.
Oh my! I used to teach middle
Oh my! I used to teach middle school and absolutely could not stand mothers like your DW. Here's a kid that is screwing around and clearly not doing the work. Then mom comes in and it's all the teacher's fault and will defend her son.
Something tells me that a new teacher is not going to magically improve SS's grades.
THIS x123,456,879!!!!! Like
THIS x123,456,879!!!!! Like really, does your DW think that this teacher (or any teacher) WANTS to have a kid failing their class? but it must be the teacher's fault because SS said so and because it couldn't POSSIBLY be that SS is at fault!
It's really at the point now
It's really at the point now where unless we have a nanny cam in the classroom, we do not know what is truth and what is fiction.
Here are how the facts have added up along with DW's rationale for them:
Fact: "SS has lied to us before about his math and we caught him."
DW's rationale: "SS only lied because he was scared to get into trouble. We can't blame him for that."
Fact: "The math teacher has been teaching middle school math for 20 years! I don't think she would still be a math teacher if she was singling out students and making life hard for them."
DW's rationale: "She may be a good math teacher but she obviously only cares about gifted (goody-two-shoes) students."
Fact: "SS routinely gets detention for being unprepared for math class despite being told in advance what he needs to bring and the teacher writing on the board what they need to bring to each class."
DW's Rationale: "SS has ADHD. He should be shown more leniency."
Fact: "There have been instances where teacher calls SS out for bad behavior. SS shuts down, sulks and refuses to work."
DW's rationale: "SS is a sensitive boy. The teacher hates him and SS feels like there is nothing he will do will make things better."
Fact: "SS is not only struggling in math class but in other subjects as well."
DW's rationale: "Yes but this math teacher seems to have it out for SS."
So as you can see, I was at a complete loss to get DW to see that SS needs a harsh dose of discipline. Yes, SS needs help, and I am glad that he is getting some extra help, but IMHO SS needs discipline too.
I had a teacher who was
I had a teacher who was horrible. She definitely was in it just until retirement. She would grade us on whether or not we could do the Vulcan Hand Sign. I was the youngest in the class and just couldn't DO it.
One time a boy slapped me across the face in class. She sent ME to the office (boy was teacher's pet). She put me in remedial math even though the Iowa Basics test said I was two grades ABOVE my grade level in math. Then she wondered why I was so disruptive. I had already LEARNED that math!
But it was very easy to point to THAT TEACHER as every other year and every other teacher I got great grades.
I had a similar experience
I had a similar experience when I was in high school. In honors algebra. My mother always went in to the parent-teacher conferences, and this class I was getting a low B in, she asked the teacher what we could do at home to help improve my grade/understanding... Teacher replied: "I don't care how he does in this class, I'm just teaching this class for the paycheck."
She reported it to the Vice Principal, but at the time I really wish she wouldn't have (this is 20 years ago now). I certainly was not that teacher's favorite student after that.
Heh! One day, in grade 4, I
Heh! One day, in grade 4, I came home with no homework. When my Dad asked about my homework situation I replied "I have no homework". My Dad didn't believ me. He got furious and actually called the school to make sure I wasn't lying.
Even after discovering that I had told the truth, he gave the principal an earlful. Ever since then, I was issued mountain piles of homework even when there was no homework to be assigned.
Thanks Dad!