To my daughter's algebra teacher

[Jewels 0]

Just a quick comment to mention that Sartre's far from a detached parent who wants to gripe without being involved in her daughter's education. I took the post just as a place to vent the ongoing frustration of the situation. For those of you who might not know her personally, please give her the benefit of the doubt without assuming that she's expecting the teacher to do all the work. Taking responsibility for making sure her daughter is learning the material is one thing (and I don't read the context of this thread to suggest that it has been ignored); recognizing that not all teachers are good at what they do is another.

TPM Sister #102

[Richards 0]

They should offer higher wages to teachers (to entice the best and brightest), and eliminate tenure (get rid of deadweight like that teacher) and you might see some improvements, until then, hire a tutor or seek private schooling.

My biggest handicap is that sometimes the hole in the front of my head operates a tad bit faster than the grey matter contained within.

[sartre 0]

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how about this for a math problem

bad grade in algebra for your child and 2596 posts (5.3 per day).


Time well spent?

lol Look carefully. I never once said my child had a bad grade in Algebra. I happen to be good at algebra, so it's not been a problem for her. She's been on the honor roll every semester this year.

I am concerned about the teaching that's taking place for those that don't have the ability or financial resources to negate the effects of a lousy teacher.

Have a great day, though.

[sartre 0]

Ah Jewels, (and you too Skycat) thanks for the support. Believe me, the ONE thing I'm not concerned about is my involvement in my daughter's life.

2500+ posts...yep. Guilty as hell. Today alone I've probably posted 20 times. I've also:

walked to Starbucks this morning with my daughter so we could sit and talk

watched a show with her she wanted me to watch

attended her piano recital (in which she rocked!!)

went to a movie with her right after the recital

arrived home, grabbed blankets and jackets and walked to the local park to spend an hour listening to the Highlands Ranch Concert Band performing. The only reason we left after an hour is because it was over.

Spending too much time on dz.com? Maybe. But certainly not at her expense.

[sartre 0]

I think you have exactly captured the picture here. Even the other teachers know all is not well with his teaching skills. I have the utmost respect for teachers--meaning those who teach, not just look at it as a paycheck. Which, thank God, is most of the teachers out there. I could not do what they do, no matter what amount of money was paid to me. I have always known it takes a special soul to teach our youth, and I definately don't have what it takes.

99% of the teachers we've had have been amazing, dedicated, underpaid, underappreciated, gifted individuals. I make sure they know how very grateful I am for their talents. God (or whoever) bless you teachers!!!! There's just not adequate compensation for what you do.

[Snowwhite 0]

I was the reason a teacher got canned once. She was a lousy 4th grade teacher and almost the entire class was smarter than she.
She wouldn't open a book to find out if she had misspelled something, or used a word out of context.
Her message on my sons spelling paper said
"dont writ to fast"
He brought it home and showed it to me. I took it to the principal. It was a spelling test on which my son had spelled every word correctly, but the teacher had given him a D, because she didn't like his penmanship.
When I showed her spelling to the principal, and to the teacher, the teacher defended her misspelling of the word "to".
I'm not sure if she ever understood that she had made 3 errors in 4 words, but her boss did, and it was a short year for her.

skydiveTaylorville.org
freefallbeth@yahoo.com

[popsjumper 2]

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...but her boss did, and it was a short year for her.

This should happen more often.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Snowwhite 0]

Funny thing was, a few years later my son was in a different school system for 7th grade and had a substitute teacher. Same lady. When she called roll she looked at my son and said "I don't think your mother likes me very much" to which he replied "She likes you just fine, but she thinks you would be better equiped as something other than a teacher."

skydiveTaylorville.org
freefallbeth@yahoo.com

[peregrinerose 0]

What whas the degree of preparation of math classes in previous years? If he's stuck trying to teach algebra to a bunch of kids that can barely add 1 + 1, he might be facing an uphill battle.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[ryoder 1,590]

Ask him if he has studied statistics. (I assume he has if is is qualified to teach math). Then ask him to show you how to calculate the statistical probability that all but 4 students in his class are below average.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Squeak 17]

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What whas the degree of preparation of math classes in previous years? If he's stuck trying to teach algebra to a bunch of kids that can barely add 1 + 1, he might be facing an uphill battle.

If he is a Maths TEACHER there is no such thing

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Ask him if he has studied statistics. (I assume he has if is is qualified to teach math). Then ask him to show you how to calculate the statistical probability that all but 4 students in his class are below average.

Chi Squared Test with a really lousy confidence interval

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[ryoder 1,590]

Squeak, are you a math teacher?

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[jumper03 0]

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It's not about one class. Or one comment. Or one student. This has been his litany all year, yet he can give no concrete suggestions for what specifically they need to do. Work harder. That's his motto. I have spoken to the man, and I must say, I felt like he was talking in circles and saying absolutely nothing. And hearing absolutely nothing.

If 4 out of 60 or 70 kids scored above a D, when does the teacher have some accountability?

How did your daughter do?
Did you spend time helping her with her homework? How much time on average did she spend on homework/studying?

Scars remind us that the past is real

[peregrinerose 0]

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If he is a Maths TEACHER there is no such thing

I disagree. He is there to teach algebra. If he is hypothetically faced with a classroom of students who do not have the knowledge base to advance to algebra, how can he successfully teach them algebra? I'm not saying this is the case, just showing that there are other possibilities besides him being a crappy teacher.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[jumper03 0]

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Quote

If he is a Maths TEACHER there is no such thing

I disagree. He is there to teach algebra. If he is hypothetically faced with a classroom of students who do not have the knowledge base to advance to algebra, how can he successfully teach them algebra? I'm not saying this is the case, just showing that there are other possibilities besides him being a crappy teacher.

that was the reason I asked my questions because this is something I face every day (drives me to drinking it does).

I teach college physics, chemistry and Earth/Space science. But the incoming freshmen are so ill prepaired, I spend my time teaching basic arithematic, algebra, and how many seconds in a minute

A lot of times the students are apathetic and ambivilent and the most wonderful teacher in the world will fall on their face. Then you end up with a situation with a jaded teacher, apathetic students and parents that just bitch - leaving everyone out in the cold.

I guess the only advice I would give in this situation is to be proactive - suggest setting up tutoring sessions for the students after school, host study groups, bring in outside help. The most common response to that is "But that is the schools job" to which I respond "your childs education is YOUR responsibility - get involved. If the school/teacher is falling down on the job - do something!" You can bitch and vent on dz.com all day - doesn't help the problem.

And it is a problem that should scare the shit out of everyone one of us.

Scars remind us that the past is real

[LyraM45 0]

I agree about the students coming in ill prepared. I went to a crappy hell hole of a high school where I was in the honors and AP programs for everything, including math/science. I went to Florida Tech for college, a VERY heavy math/science based school, and I fell right on my face. I had never even seen a unit circle before I came to school and now these people wanted to test me on it right off the bat as basic knowledge. It took me a year to realize that my education was my responsibility at that point and if I had to spend 40 hours a week on top of regular homework to study and get caught up on the material so I could be prepared, then so be it. It's so much easier to sit back and blame it all on a professor. You just have to take initiative for yourself (and in this case your daughter) and realize that extra is going to have to be done to catch up to where you are either making an A or at the top end of the curve. If she's at that spot, then congrats to her, but as for the other kids in the class who aren't making the cut, they just might have to take some initiative.

Another thing I ran into in college was that it wasn't so much a bad professor or that the class was ill equipped, but the material was just plain friggen hard, which caused a low average even amongst people who were prepared.

Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

[jenfly00 0]

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Have him teach you one class. See if you can understand him. Then judge.

Agreed. Not enough data to make a call at this point.

-----------------------
"O brave new world that has such people in it".

[Thanatos340 1]

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A lot of times the students are apathetic and ambivalent and the most wonderful teacher in the world will fall on their face. Then you end up with a situation with a jaded teacher, apathetic students and parents that just bitch - leaving everyone out in the cold.

Well Said!

My daughter has always struggled with Algebra as well. It was always the teachers fault in her mind. She had always been a pure straight A student until Algebra. Suddenly she actually had put forth effort into learning something. Not something she was used to.

Her mother wasn’t much help as she just agreed with my daughter that the class was too hard (since she didn’t understand it either) and was able to get my daughter transferred into a different class. Different Teacher, Same result.

The eventual solution was that my Daughter had to call me every night and we would review her homework and what was covered in class until she understood it. (I had to struggle for the first couple weeks as I had forgotten so much) but after a couple weeks the grades came back up.

For bright kids that have breezed through School without having to put effort into learning before I think will have the hardest time when suddenly faced with something that just isn’t as simple as everything had been up till that point.

[VanillaSkyGirl 6]

I agree that it's up to the students to take the initiative to learn because it's their future, but sometimes, it takes a village to raise one child. If you are good in Algebra, then perhaps you and the concerned parents can host study groups or tutoring sessions for the rest of the children in your child's class.

Also, arrange a meeting with the teacher, the principal, the parents and the students to talk about what can be done to change this situation. Make sure to bring your questions about class performance, and seek suggestions/alternatives as a group in response to teaching methods that might not currently be working for the class. Before you have that meeting, you might want to have an informal meeting with the other parents, so you appear well-organized as a group, when meeting with the teacher/principal.

One more thing...give the teacher the benefit of the doubt. Try to understand why he is choosing his stance and teaching methods. It sounds like he is burnt out, so a positive approach is best. If you are able to encourage the teacher to go beyond, he just might take the initiative. Let him know, that the parents and students want to work positively along with him towards better grades. The students need to be able to promise that they will study harder and try to learn, not just rely on the teacher to handle all of the changes.

Finally, be sure to thank the teacher for being open to working with you, the parents. Even if he doesn't inititally want to do this, if you react in a positive manner and display confidence in him, he will probably want to make a difference. The parents, students and the teacher should always work together as a team when seeking a positive and difficult change. Good luck!

[sartre 0]

To address some points: I am not one to absolve myself or my daughter of responsibility. I expect her to bring home stuff she doesn't understand and go over it with me. If she chooses not to, then she is choosing to get a poor grade, regardless of the teacher.

The algebra class has prerequisites for getting into; they have a team teaching style. So as 7th graders, if they struggled with pre-algebra, they were sent on one path for 8th grade, for those that had a's and b's, they went on to Algebra. The same is true for next year, geometry. AFTER signing off on the AP students going to geometry, he gave his speech and said that many of them should repeat algebra.

It's funny, everyone has their own viewpoint, but I feel I handled the situation within the confines of the system as well as I could. I get chastised by some on here for not being proactive enough, yet am considered a trouble maker by the administration at the school if I keep pressing the point. There's no pleasing everyone, and taking flack is part of posting on this forum.

I can't change the entire system. I can let my voice be heard, which I did, and then teach my daughter that sometimes you have to find alternate ways to succeed. She is still on the honor roll for this final semester, she didn't pull out an A or B in algebra, but she learned to cope with a difficult teacher.

We don't spend a lot of energy worrying about him, but she happened to tell me about his comments and I decided to air them for opinions. Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[jumper03 0]

I didn't see where you got chastised - but people read things differently.
Keep pressing your point with the administration though- if you don't - who will? Proactivity is the key and good job to your daughter for the honor roll.

Scars remind us that the past is real

[rehmwa 2]

Good, bad, nice, lazy, cooperative, whatever -

The teacher is having lousy results in his/her class. Whatever the reasons/excuses, however legitimate those reasons/excuses are, that teacher is failing to make it better.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[rehmwa 2]

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but the incoming freshmen are so ill prepaired, I spend my time teaching basic arithematic, algebra, and how many seconds in a minute

So, you are then a good teacher, you identified the weak points and worked them because you had to, to get to your initial curriculum.

If you were in a high school rather than college, you'd also highlight this to the admin so it gets fed back to the earlier education providers that they are doing a lousy job. You'd also let the parents know that their kids were shortchanged in the previous grades, and share your training plan with them so they know your plan to close that gap. Kids that don't make it get to repeat, or go back to the previous teacher who passed them unnecessarily......

What you wouldn't do is just throw up your hands and routinely chastise the kids for being idiots. This does keep the union and the other teachers on your side, but doesn't teach the kids.

Take up the slack, let the right people know who screwed up last year, get the job done.

I don't see why teaching should be any different than other jobs.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[skymedic 0]

My wife is an algebra teacher. She has a class where more than half are failing. She is a great teacher...as she gets many many complements from teacher, adminstrators, etc. The problem is many of these failing students are more worried about boys, out of school events, etc. than to take there education seriously. Half her class fails yet it is somehow the teachers fault??? I don't think so...Algebra is just not that difficult...it is NOT rocket science...it is NOT brain surgery...it is simple math. If you actually do some homework and LISTEN to the teacher as they teach...you can pass. PERIOD

I am so tired of parents and students bitching about teachers failing students without out looking at one of the issues that is prevelent in many of our high school youth...an extreme apathy towards THEIR education.

Marc
otherwise known as Mr.Fallinwoman....