Someone please set me straight - should we expect the counselor to reply?

[Anonymous]

I have serious concerns about how the teacher is teaching (or not) my kid's geometry class. There seems to be way too much "read through these slides" or "watch this video and do this formative" and then telling them to ask questions if they have them. And not nearly enough of him actually teaching them new material himself. Our daughter is really struggling in the class and it's upsetting her and also making her hate math, the teacher, and going to school. We're now supplementing with a tutor 1-2 times a week and even she commented that when they were working on a homework assignment together, it seemed like it was the first time our daughter was hearing the instruction/material.

I emailed her counselor last week about my concerns hoping we could talk to her more. I'd be very happy if she could change to a different teacher. But if that isn't an option I would still expect the counselor to tell us that and hear us out and maybe even offer some suggestions.

Am I wrong to even expect a response from the counselor? Is that the point we've gotten to now?

[Anonymous]

I would expect the counselor to reply, but they aren't there to tell the Geometry teacher how to teach. Are you in HS ? Your schools website should list what Asst Principal oversees each curriculum area. If you aren't going to talk to the teacher, then reach out to the appropriate AP.

But unfortunately, the days of lectures and teachers teaching, have morphed into what you describe in almost all of my kids classes. I think it is the new way of thinking. I don't think it is going anywhere

[Anonymous]

I would expect the counselor would respond, yes. Forward the original message back to them and say, "Just checking in, can we please schedule a phone call to talk?" They are in the middle of registering kids for next year so it's really challenging to get ahold of them right now, but a good counselor will respond.

At the same time, there is nothing the counselor can do. They do not allow class switching for disliking the teacher/style of teaching.

[Anonymous]

Watch video is the current most common way to learn/teach

[Anonymous]

You’re not wrong to expect a response, but you’re wrong to expect anything to change. In my long experience with school issues, you often just have to accept that things are not going to go the way your kid deserves and move on to affect what you can. In this case ai think making a stink about changing to a different teacher is the thing to do. But be smart about it - don’t insult the teacher, just say “the teaching style is not working for DD, please change the teacher.” And continue to politely escalate.

If it doesn’t work then just stick with tutoring.

[pettifogger]

It's unfortunately the norm these days, OP.

The below eye opening read describes the sad reality of how mathematics is typically taught (or rather not taught) in K12, and it does so very eloquently. It should be required reading for anyone interested in their child's education. There's a also a short section about geometry that is spot on:

https://maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf

For those interested, the full book is on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Mathematicians-Lament-School-Fascinating-Imaginative/dp/1934137170

[Anonymous]

Counselor here. My first question would be, have you shared your concerns with the teacher? My second question would be, have you reached out to the admin that supervises that teacher. Counselors cannot change teachers w/o an admin's approval. And any school staff that meets with you about your concerns is first going to ask what your communication has been with the teacher. But you should absolutely expect a reply or an out of office explaining a slow reply due to academic advising this month.

[Anonymous]

They won't respond. Can't even get them to respond to iep and 504 plan parents with questions like this even when they've already talked to the teacher. The counselors aren't equipped to handle these questions. I've found they are only good with class schedules and college questions and very minor social issues.

[Anonymous]

Is this 9th grade? This describes my kid’s geometry teacher to a T. So many parents complained at the start of the year but have given up at this point. Teacher is doing a “flipped” classroom where lectures are on video at home and questions answered in class. No class teaching or sharing of teacher responses from one kid to the next. Class time is independent work then. So very strange.

Everyone we know either moved from honors to regular or got a tutor.

[Anonymous]

She will probably answer but it won’t make a difference. Some kids don’t vibe with their teacher that year. It is what it is. They won’t tell the teacher to change how they teach or their personality. They can’t fire the teacher and if they could there’d be nobody to teach the class. They might switch but there’s no guarantee she likes that teacher either. As a high school teacher I find frankly that a lot of math teachers teach this way and have this type of class . He sounds like most of the math teachers at my school.

[Anonymous]

You should expect the counselor to respond. But now you know about the necessity of a math tutor for most kids in FCPS. I messed up with my 1st kid and now start with a tutor before school starts to stay ahead of the teacher. Our tutor even analyzes our teacher's grading style - what she expects to see on a geometry test. In our experience, it was hard for a tutor to get our older kid caught up in the middle of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watch video is the current most common way to learn/teach

It is not the most common. It is the trendy, fashionable way to teach that is being pushed on teachers by people who don't teach. Most teachers know better than to do this.

[Anonymous]

Why not reach out to the teacher?

[Anonymous]

I don't know how a professional considers a nonanswer an answer. I don't know how they respect themselves.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible the email got “buried” and went unnoticed? When did you email last week? I might look at this differently if you emailed on Tuesday vs Friday for example.

Maybe you could email back with a “Just wanted to check back…” follow-up.