hs teacher problems

[Anonymous]

ds is at big 3 and is super stressed that other kids are doing better than him because some kids got the super easy teachers and he has the really hard ones? what strategies do you have for a kid like this?

[Anonymous]

I doubt that across all 4 years, he will consistently get the hard teachers and others will get the easy teachers. It's far more likely that he will get a mix, which evens out. When he does have hard teachers, it's an opportunity to learn to work hard and to see teachers outside of class for questions/classifications.

[Anonymous]

There are no “super easy” teachers at these schools. Some are definitely harder than others but it all evens out in the end.

[Anonymous]

This is always an issue and I'm not sure why the departmental heads don't manage it better.
I don't think there's anything you can do as a parent. Basically life isn't fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is always an issue and I'm not sure why the departmental heads don't manage it better.
I don't think there's anything you can do as a parent. Basically life isn't fair.

totally agree — kid is totally stressed whereas other kids are coasting!! There should be honors classes at theses school so kids can CHOOSE what lass they are getting into

[Anonymous]

This sounds like the adults in his life aren't helping him have perspective. Rather they're getting wrapped up in a bunch of teen drama and impressions about teachers. Please act like a grown up. Don't assume everything other kids say is true.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at a not big 3 school and has the same situation. It is unfortunate but not sure what one can do. I am frustrated that the school does not try to manage these differences better

[Anonymous]

Our HS Head explained that students' perceptions of this don't always match reality. School actually compares grade distribution across teachers in the same subject and even has them cross grade some essays to see if their grading is different and its actually very similar.

[Anonymous]

The strategy is to help your child do their best and know that life presents these challenges some times. That's how you help your child. Help them rise to the occasion.

Resist the urge to be the snowplow parent! Let them know that sometimes we learn the most from the "hardest" teachers and the least from the "easiest."

[Anonymous]

Sounds like life.
Boo hoo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is always an issue and I'm not sure why the departmental heads don't manage it better.
I don't think there's anything you can do as a parent. Basically life isn't fair.

Agree this is always an issue....it's part of life and part of being a student. Also remember that it varies by person. Some students will find a certain teacher hard and others won't and vice versa. Just learn how to succeed in each class and hopefully you won't always get the bad match for you...but there's not much you can do (other than try to avoid certain classes as Jr/Sr if you know that teacher is the only one...) I know at our Big 3 your chances or switching classes are zero.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ds is at big 3 and is super stressed that other kids are doing better than him because some kids got the super easy teachers and he has the really hard ones? what strategies do you have for a kid like this?

If you make a big sink you can switch classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are no “super easy” teachers at these schools. Some are definitely harder than others but it all evens out in the end.

Remember, this is coming from a teen. This is how the teen feels. Some teachers are better than others in general and that might feel super easy vs terrible teachers who might feel super hard... Privates struggle to get the best teachers because the Publics pay so well (For example a teacher at Whitman in MCPS can make 120k per year working 9 months, getting off at three, and excellent benefits...). Why give that up for the prestige of working at a private?

[Anonymous]

This happened to my kid (not at a big 3).

He went to the other teacher for extra help and eventually took a summer course with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ds is at big 3 and is super stressed that other kids are doing better than him because some kids got the super easy teachers and he has the really hard ones? what strategies do you have for a kid like this?

If you make a big sink you can switch classes.

Ha - well, this is not true unless you are a big donor or otherwise a person they wish to appease. But you need to help your kid reframe this "unfairness" etc. as there are at least 15 other kids with the same teacher. The kid needs to advocate for themselves, not just once or twice or for a month until it gets better. Go to office hours. If something was unfairly graded from his perspective, ask about it. My child was convinced the teacher and tests were an issue in math -- he consistently was getting in the 70s on his assessments in the mid-level track. He thought many students were and confronted his teacher about it. The teacher had turned off the students' ability to view the distribution of grades on their LMS (I think at the directions of the school) to protect kids from knowing they were outliers. In this case, the teacher showed my child the distribution of grades -- what an eye-opener. He was the ONE student in the 70s. The teacher pointed out that more than one student, from a class of less than 20, earned above 95%. About 1/3 earned in the 90s and the rest in the 80s. Despite hard work, my kid was consistently the worst which was a him problem, not a teacher problem.