Does this happen to other kids?
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Anonymous
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My second grader tells me tonight at dinner that boys have been spitting at her during recess. She says she told an adult today(assuming it was a para on recess duty). Also, her teacher messaged me on Class Dojo to tell me she lost my child for over 10 minutes while the class stopped at the water fountain and that I should remind my kid to follow directions. How about the teacher watch the kids?!? She only has 17 and they are lined up against a wall I don’t understand. I teach secondary classes in MCPS with large class sizes (40+) and my number 1 job is to keep the students safe.
Does stuff like this happen to other kids in MCPS? I already alerted the principal and the SpEd teacher about my concerns about this teacher being solely responsible for the class. The homeroom teacher seems to never take responsibility for her anything and just messages me in Class Dojo everyday about how I need to tell my kid this or that. Ain’t gonna work, lady! You are the person there so you need to remind them of expectations and then watch them! |
Anonymous
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Does your child have special needs?
I have a kid with severe inattentive ADHD who was harassed by other boys at school. I notified the teacher, and she addressed it. No teacher ever sent me messages about my kid getting lost or not following directions, though, maybe because they all knew he had an IEP… |
Anonymous
We have the initial Child Find meeting later this week. The teacher is not responsive to anything that happens during recess or specials. When I spoke to the principal on the phone last week he www in full support of the teacher handling things her preferred way. |
Anonymous
PP you replied to. That doesn't sound right, OP. Even if the teacher is not supervising at recess or during specials, she's still the point person to address bullying. Have you filed one of those bullying forms? Have you done a private neuropsychological evaluation? The report, if it finds significant impairment, can bolster your request for an IEP. |
Anonymous
| Also you might want to post in the Special Needs forum, where people are knowledgeable about wrangling schools and asking for accommodations. |
Anonymous
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I have kids with autism adhd and anxiety. None of them have been spat at. If it happens again file a bullying report immediately. Keep very careful records of your child's work and the notes home and each incident re getting lost, etc. You may be lobbying for an iep. In fact, I would suggest you try to get one that specifically puts the onus of keeping your child safe - first place in the bathroom line. Etc.
As an aside. Child find missed my child's autism. I would get on a list for an evaluation at children's national. It may take 18 months to 2 years but will save you $5,000. You will pay a few hundred extra for educational testing but the rest is covered by insurance. Best case scenario. Nothing is found, but at least you didn't wait until it is too late. Do not let the school test your child. It is in their best interest to find nothing wrong and then you have 2 conflicting reports at any future iep meeting. Lastly, if the bullying report goes no where, please instruct your child to defend themselves. Children who get reputations as "the easy target" in elementary carry that through high school. You first ask the adult for help, then file the report and step 3 is lay the kid out. |
Anonymous
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If bullying is happening, submit a bullying report. Each and every time.
https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/contentassets/a6dc980d5563457dabf5c37a951cbc37/bullying-reporting-form-230-35.pdf |
Anonymous
| As an elementary specials teacher, I will say that 2nd graders shouldn’t be getting “lost.” Maybe kindergarteners, but 2nd graders should know where everything is in the school and how to go where their class is going. What the teacher seems to be saying is that your child intentionally snuck away. In more extreme cases that’s called eloping and it’s a big deal because teachers’ eyes can’t be on everyone every minute. A teacher should not have to be concerned that a 2nd grader who asks to go to the bathroom will actually wander the halls or God forbid try to leave the school. |
Anonymous
| She lost your kid? Ask for a teacher change. I’m sure it happens but not ok. |
Anonymous
| I can’t imagine you’re an mcps teacher with this kind of attitude. You should know better than anyone that is absolutely your job as a parent to reinforce at home how your child should be behaving at school. While you’re not there and it is the teachers responsibility to watch your child at school, you have a job as a parent to teach your kids how to behave and act in society. Stop relying on schools to raise your kids entirely for you. |
Anonymous
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> while the class stopped at the water fountain
What is this? M kids have been forced to carry water bottles everywhere for years. |
Anonymous
Yeah I was going to say that the teacher is kindly telling you that your child is intentionally eloping and you really should address it with her. A teacher cannot have her eyes on 17 kids at once. Teachers don’t cover lunch or specials and I’ve never seen the teacher be the point person for them. For specials questions, email the specials teacher. For lunch email the assistant principal of principal. For bullying email the teacher and the principal. As far as spitting, I can recall a few incidents between three kids but nothing besides isolated incidents. Can your daughter identify the kids who are doing it? If you have an old school yearbook that might help her. |
Anonymous
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> her teacher messaged me on Class Dojo to tell me she lost my child for over 10 minutes while the class stopped at the water fountain and that I should remind my kid to follow directions.
This is very poor handling of the situation. Unfortunately, it's common. Does the teacher really think that you don't remind your kid to follow directions? And if you are a free spirit parent who let's your kids run wild, telling you to stop is clearly pointless. The teacher is externalizing blame for a situation where you weren't even present, and while this might be something you can work on at home, the suggestion isn't helping. |
Anonymous
It's really sad how little mcps does to educate teachers about special needs and hidden disabilities. Both of these teachers have a Victorian mentality that her daughter is a naughty girl who needs discipline at home. In reality. It sounds like the child might have autism and while you may not ever understand how and why autistic kids wander off or elope, it is a fairly common theme in autistic kids and part of their disability..and since it is part of the disability. It actually is YOUR problem at school as a teacher to ensure their safety. Your job is educating ALL students. Not just the white ones. Not just the neurotypical ones. |
Anonymous
Yes, we have done all kinds of testing. We are new to MCPS and I provided copies of all tests and evaluations directly yo the principal when I register d my child in August. It wasn’t until a month later after I bagged them on email that they scheduled the Child Find meeting. She has ADHD, dyslexia and dysgraphia. At the open house before school started I let the homeroom teacher know if her diagnosis and provided a copy of the summary of the psychoed report. The principal said the homeroom teacher is supposed to get filled in by the specials teacher when they hand off the kids but the homeroom teacher said she “doesn’t know anything that goes on in specials”. I don’t see how 2 teachers could have any kind of meaningful conversation with the incoming and outgoing students present. |