Cooper Middle School Math - horrible teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a particular teacher at Cooper Middle School who is known for being the worst. I won’t say the name. Please don’t use the teachers name when responding or they will delete this thread.

What have other parents done to help their child successfully complete Algebra I Honors when they had this teacher? Did you have to hire a tutor?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

What is the teacher doing right now that is the worst? My DC had Algebra at Cooper and did well — I actually loved the teacher, although I don’t know if this is the same teacher you are referring to. I learned a long time ago to not listen to other parents regarding “bad” teachers because their reasons don’t always align with mine. My DS’s favorite teacher in ES was one whose class parents actively sought to get their kid out of because she wasn’t viewed as “warm” (thus, she was “bad”); however, this teacher was awesome. She got my kid to love reading and writing, and she was very caring in her own, weird way.

I’m absolutely sure it wasn’t the same teacher.

How do you know? I have had three kids go through Cooper (one recently), all took Algebra, and all did well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The suggestions that teachers do a little self-advocacy comes from this claim that they suffer from bad teachers too. If thats false than cool, enjoy carrying your colleagues dead weight and stop telling parents not to advocate for their kids

1. As a teacher, you are seldom in another teacher's classroom. You do not necessarily know what other teachers are doing. If you have team meetings, you can get a sense of it. As an elementary teacher, I knew if another teacher's class was rowdy--but that does not mean she is a poor teacher.
2. What, exactly, do you expect a teacher to do?

Do you work?
If so, do you complain about your co-workers to your boss? Do you try to get them fired?

I’ve already answered thus— I am the boss. When people come to me with issues of colleagues not pulling their weight, its my job to solve those problems. Yes sometimes that means I fire a low performer, since low performers create the resentment and toxicity discussed above— that doesn’t mean the person who reported the issue is bad.

Then call the administration. Don't blame the teachers. The teachers are not in the other teacher's classroom.

Teachers and administrators have a role in the solution. If teachers want to work with parents to start holding other teachers accountable, their workplace will benefit. If teachers just want to complain about the mean unfair expectations on them to shoulder the burden of their slacking colleagues without doing anything about it they can expect more of the same.

Oh, yes. That will do wonders for the workplace environment. I don't think you get it: teachers are not shouldering their slacking colleagues. They may not even know if their colleagues are slacking. They may hear things from students--but, that is not the same thing.
And, if for some reason, they are shouldering it, I guarantee you the administration knows.

So the heroic teacher on this thread doing “tremendous” work to the detriment of her health and family because parents ask to switch their kids into her class...making it up?

No, I’m not. My colleagues have smaller classes than I do because of parent requests. I grade more. I reach out to parents more. I have a bigger workload.

It isn’t fair… and it’s still NOT MY JOB to fix this. My job is to continue doing my job. Admin’s job is to fix this.

And all your bellyaching doesn’t change that. Would your bosses like it if you started unilaterally doing their job?

If I failed to address low performers because I was afraid of someone being mad at me at the copy machine, my bosses would fire me.

You clearly have no idea how a school functions. I’ve tried to explain it to you, but you willfully want to pin this on hardworking teachers.

Not ONCE have you said you would take the issue up with admin, the very people who are specifically tasked with teacher evaluation and teacher quality. We have very delineated roles for a reason in a school, reasons you cavalierly discard.

You’re debating from a place of arrogance and ignorance, which means we’ll get nowhere. I’m through.

And you’re debating from a premise that teachers have no agency and no role in a solution to a problem you claim impacts them. I hope you teach your students better logic.

There is a bigger problem. The large possibility that there is not a teacher to replace the said “bad teacher”.

According to FCPS this isn’t a problem.

https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-schools-record-low-teacher-vacancy-rate-retention-major-results-fcps-attrition-compensation-contracts-special-education-international-licensure-substitute-apply-program-virginia-intent-to-return-pandemic

Well, we know they’ve lied about this before.

Hey I understand from this thread that there’s no bad teachers, that if there were bad teachers they don’t impact the good ones, if they do impact the good ones theres absolutely nothing teachers can do to impact their working conditions, and that admin carefully tracks all the performance metrics of all teachers. The creative narratives aren’t limited to the leadership.

Nobody wrote any of this. The opposite is actually all over this thread. You are mad at teachers because they can’t solve a particular problem for you.

If you actually cared about the poor performance of a certain teacher, you would be reaching out to admin. They probably are already aware of the problem, and additional documentation would help them do their job. Spewing anger at teachers for not getting their bad colleagues fired? It’s illogical and ineffective. And silly.

I hope you don’t teach reading comprehension— every single one of those statements was made in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask to be switched. Every schools know who the problematic teachers are and what they teach. No school is going to pro-actively move your kid so ask to have the kid moved and give examples of why.

why is your kid special that s/he should be moved -- can all the kids in that class be moved?

Every parent wants their child to be removed from this class, it is the same year after year and parents try to get their kids switched and complain a lot. Nothing has been done by admin to change the situation. I’m not saying that this teacher needs to be fired, I believe that the administration should work with this teacher to be a more effective teacher and actually “teach” the students. There are some really great math teachers at Cooper that this teacher could learn from. Even sharing the other teachers notes would be helpful.

You said that “every parent” wants to move their child from this class, but what, specifically, has this teacher done right now that has adversely affected YOUR child? Expecting the administration to “do something” about a teacher is not helpful unless you can explain what exactly this teacher has done wrong.

This teacher doesn’t spend enough time “actually teaching” the subject. There are notes online (not detailed enough), not enough examples, the teacher reads the notes once and then has the students spend the rest of their time working in their own.

In math you can’t expect students to learn something by hearing it one time. It isn’t the same as History where students can read on their own and memorize facts. Math takes understanding and repetition. This isn’t just a problem for my child, it is an overall problem. Even the best math students are having problems with this teacher because they are confused and don’t understand what he is teaching.

I never said that I want other teachers to solve the problem this teacher creates. I asked specifically about Cooper MS because I know some students in the past have been able to switch to a different advisory teacher for QST or could have recommendations for local tutors near Cooper.

I really don’t understand why people are going off on the good teachers and saying it is their problem. This is 100% on the admin or head of the math department to figure out. The method that this teacher has been using for years is not successful and it’s time for someone to step in and work with this teacher to change their method of teaching.

Parents should not be expected to spend thousands of dollars a year, teach their child the subject, or expect 12 year olds to learn the subject on their own through Khan Academy. I personally have already begun to do those things with my child because I have the ability and desire to do so, but it shouldn’t be expected that parents have the time/finances/or mathematical abilities to educate their children outside of school. The teacher of the class should be expected to ensure that their students are receiving an appropriate level of instruction in order to master the subject.

This isn’t a one year problem and I don’t only care about my child. This is a problem every year. Algebra I is not a one and done class, it is a very important foundational class that is built upon year after year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a particular teacher at Cooper Middle School who is known for being the worst. I won’t say the name. Please don’t use the teachers name when responding or they will delete this thread.

What have other parents done to help their child successfully complete Algebra I Honors when they had this teacher? Did you have to hire a tutor?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

What is the teacher doing right now that is the worst? My DC had Algebra at Cooper and did well — I actually loved the teacher, although I don’t know if this is the same teacher you are referring to. I learned a long time ago to not listen to other parents regarding “bad” teachers because their reasons don’t always align with mine. My DS’s favorite teacher in ES was one whose class parents actively sought to get their kid out of because she wasn’t viewed as “warm” (thus, she was “bad”); however, this teacher was awesome. She got my kid to love reading and writing, and she was very caring in her own, weird way.

Did all 3 of your children got the same teacher? Is the teacher Ms. W?
I guess OP child's algebra 1 teacher is Mr. B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a particular teacher at Cooper Middle School who is known for being the worst. I won’t say the name. Please don’t use the teachers name when responding or they will delete this thread.

What have other parents done to help their child successfully complete Algebra I Honors when they had this teacher? Did you have to hire a tutor?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

What is the teacher doing right now that is the worst? My DC had Algebra at Cooper and did well — I actually loved the teacher, although I don’t know if this is the same teacher you are referring to. I learned a long time ago to not listen to other parents regarding “bad” teachers because their reasons don’t always align with mine. My DS’s favorite teacher in ES was one whose class parents actively sought to get their kid out of because she wasn’t viewed as “warm” (thus, she was “bad”); however, this teacher was awesome. She got my kid to love reading and writing, and she was very caring in her own, weird way.

Did all 3 of your children got the same teacher? Is the teacher Ms. W?
I guess OP child's algebra 1 teacher is Mr. B.

Sorry, misread your post with someone else's. You didn't mention "3 kids".
Anyway, Ms. W is really good and many students likes her. But there is someone who is terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask to be switched. Every schools know who the problematic teachers are and what they teach. No school is going to pro-actively move your kid so ask to have the kid moved and give examples of why.

why is your kid special that s/he should be moved -- can all the kids in that class be moved?

Every parent wants their child to be removed from this class, it is the same year after year and parents try to get their kids switched and complain a lot. Nothing has been done by admin to change the situation. I’m not saying that this teacher needs to be fired, I believe that the administration should work with this teacher to be a more effective teacher and actually “teach” the students. There are some really great math teachers at Cooper that this teacher could learn from. Even sharing the other teachers notes would be helpful.

You said that “every parent” wants to move their child from this class, but what, specifically, has this teacher done right now that has adversely affected YOUR child? Expecting the administration to “do something” about a teacher is not helpful unless you can explain what exactly this teacher has done wrong.

This teacher doesn’t spend enough time “actually teaching” the subject. There are notes online (not detailed enough), not enough examples, the teacher reads the notes once and then has the students spend the rest of their time working in their own.

In math you can’t expect students to learn something by hearing it one time. It isn’t the same as History where students can read on their own and memorize facts. Math takes understanding and repetition. This isn’t just a problem for my child, it is an overall problem. Even the best math students are having problems with this teacher because they are confused and don’t understand what he is teaching.

I never said that I want other teachers to solve the problem this teacher creates. I asked specifically about Cooper MS because I know some students in the past have been able to switch to a different advisory teacher for QST or could have recommendations for local tutors near Cooper.

I really don’t understand why people are going off on the good teachers and saying it is their problem. This is 100% on the admin or head of the math department to figure out. The method that this teacher has been using for years is not successful and it’s time for someone to step in and work with this teacher to change their method of teaching.

Parents should not be expected to spend thousands of dollars a year, teach their child the subject, or expect 12 year olds to learn the subject on their own through Khan Academy. I personally have already begun to do those things with my child because I have the ability and desire to do so, but it shouldn’t be expected that parents have the time/finances/or mathematical abilities to educate their children outside of school. The teacher of the class should be expected to ensure that their students are receiving an appropriate level of instruction in order to master the subject.

This isn’t a one year problem and I don’t only care about my child. This is a problem every year. Algebra I is not a one and done class, it is a very important foundational class that is built upon year after year.

There is a reason that some teachers only read the notes from slides. They themselves don't understand the content very well. They can't explain the concept, logic reasoning to the students. I know a student who corrected his Algebra 1 teacher at class. The teacher then treated that student badly at his class. And yes, the teacher is still teaching at Cooper. Perhaps, the OP's child is now in his class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The suggestions that teachers do a little self-advocacy comes from this claim that they suffer from bad teachers too. If thats false than cool, enjoy carrying your colleagues dead weight and stop telling parents not to advocate for their kids

1. As a teacher, you are seldom in another teacher's classroom. You do not necessarily know what other teachers are doing. If you have team meetings, you can get a sense of it. As an elementary teacher, I knew if another teacher's class was rowdy--but that does not mean she is a poor teacher.
2. What, exactly, do you expect a teacher to do?

Do you work?
If so, do you complain about your co-workers to your boss? Do you try to get them fired?

I’ve already answered thus— I am the boss. When people come to me with issues of colleagues not pulling their weight, its my job to solve those problems. Yes sometimes that means I fire a low performer, since low performers create the resentment and toxicity discussed above— that doesn’t mean the person who reported the issue is bad.

Then call the administration. Don't blame the teachers. The teachers are not in the other teacher's classroom.

Teachers and administrators have a role in the solution. If teachers want to work with parents to start holding other teachers accountable, their workplace will benefit. If teachers just want to complain about the mean unfair expectations on them to shoulder the burden of their slacking colleagues without doing anything about it they can expect more of the same.

Oh, yes. That will do wonders for the workplace environment. I don't think you get it: teachers are not shouldering their slacking colleagues. They may not even know if their colleagues are slacking. They may hear things from students--but, that is not the same thing.
And, if for some reason, they are shouldering it, I guarantee you the administration knows.

So the heroic teacher on this thread doing “tremendous” work to the detriment of her health and family because parents ask to switch their kids into her class...making it up?

No, I’m not. My colleagues have smaller classes than I do because of parent requests. I grade more. I reach out to parents more. I have a bigger workload.

It isn’t fair… and it’s still NOT MY JOB to fix this. My job is to continue doing my job. Admin’s job is to fix this.

And all your bellyaching doesn’t change that. Would your bosses like it if you started unilaterally doing their job?

If I failed to address low performers because I was afraid of someone being mad at me at the copy machine, my bosses would fire me.

You clearly have no idea how a school functions. I’ve tried to explain it to you, but you willfully want to pin this on hardworking teachers.

Not ONCE have you said you would take the issue up with admin, the very people who are specifically tasked with teacher evaluation and teacher quality. We have very delineated roles for a reason in a school, reasons you cavalierly discard.

You’re debating from a place of arrogance and ignorance, which means we’ll get nowhere. I’m through.

And you’re debating from a premise that teachers have no agency and no role in a solution to a problem you claim impacts them. I hope you teach your students better logic.

There is a bigger problem. The large possibility that there is not a teacher to replace the said “bad teacher”.

According to FCPS this isn’t a problem.

https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-schools-record-low-teacher-vacancy-rate-retention-major-results-fcps-attrition-compensation-contracts-special-education-international-licensure-substitute-apply-program-virginia-intent-to-return-pandemic

Well, we know they’ve lied about this before.

Hey I understand from this thread that there’s no bad teachers, that if there were bad teachers they don’t impact the good ones, if they do impact the good ones theres absolutely nothing teachers can do to impact their working conditions, and that admin carefully tracks all the performance metrics of all teachers. The creative narratives aren’t limited to the leadership.

Nobody wrote any of this. The opposite is actually all over this thread. You are mad at teachers because they can’t solve a particular problem for you.

If you actually cared about the poor performance of a certain teacher, you would be reaching out to admin. They probably are already aware of the problem, and additional documentation would help them do their job. Spewing anger at teachers for not getting their bad colleagues fired? It’s illogical and ineffective. And silly.

I hope you don’t teach reading comprehension— every single one of those statements was made in this thread.

Okay. Back that up. Provide evidence of each of your statements:
1. That someone said there are no bad teachers
2. That someone said bad teachers don’t impact the good ones
3. That someone said there’s nothing good teachers can do. (I do acknowledge that someone said it isn’t good teachers’ responsibility, which is different.)
4. That someone said admin carefully tracks performance metrics.

Respond with a direct quote to back these up. Looking forward to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The suggestions that teachers do a little self-advocacy comes from this claim that they suffer from bad teachers too. If thats false than cool, enjoy carrying your colleagues dead weight and stop telling parents not to advocate for their kids

1. As a teacher, you are seldom in another teacher's classroom. You do not necessarily know what other teachers are doing. If you have team meetings, you can get a sense of it. As an elementary teacher, I knew if another teacher's class was rowdy--but that does not mean she is a poor teacher.
2. What, exactly, do you expect a teacher to do?

Do you work?
If so, do you complain about your co-workers to your boss? Do you try to get them fired?

I’ve already answered thus— I am the boss. When people come to me with issues of colleagues not pulling their weight, its my job to solve those problems. Yes sometimes that means I fire a low performer, since low performers create the resentment and toxicity discussed above— that doesn’t mean the person who reported the issue is bad.

Then call the administration. Don't blame the teachers. The teachers are not in the other teacher's classroom.

Teachers and administrators have a role in the solution. If teachers want to work with parents to start holding other teachers accountable, their workplace will benefit. If teachers just want to complain about the mean unfair expectations on them to shoulder the burden of their slacking colleagues without doing anything about it they can expect more of the same.

Oh, yes. That will do wonders for the workplace environment. I don't think you get it: teachers are not shouldering their slacking colleagues. They may not even know if their colleagues are slacking. They may hear things from students--but, that is not the same thing.
And, if for some reason, they are shouldering it, I guarantee you the administration knows.

So the heroic teacher on this thread doing “tremendous” work to the detriment of her health and family because parents ask to switch their kids into her class...making it up?

No, I’m not. My colleagues have smaller classes than I do because of parent requests. I grade more. I reach out to parents more. I have a bigger workload.

It isn’t fair… and it’s still NOT MY JOB to fix this. My job is to continue doing my job. Admin’s job is to fix this.

And all your bellyaching doesn’t change that. Would your bosses like it if you started unilaterally doing their job?

If I failed to address low performers because I was afraid of someone being mad at me at the copy machine, my bosses would fire me.

You clearly have no idea how a school functions. I’ve tried to explain it to you, but you willfully want to pin this on hardworking teachers.

Not ONCE have you said you would take the issue up with admin, the very people who are specifically tasked with teacher evaluation and teacher quality. We have very delineated roles for a reason in a school, reasons you cavalierly discard.

You’re debating from a place of arrogance and ignorance, which means we’ll get nowhere. I’m through.

And you’re debating from a premise that teachers have no agency and no role in a solution to a problem you claim impacts them. I hope you teach your students better logic.

There is a bigger problem. The large possibility that there is not a teacher to replace the said “bad teacher”.

According to FCPS this isn’t a problem.

https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-schools-record-low-teacher-vacancy-rate-retention-major-results-fcps-attrition-compensation-contracts-special-education-international-licensure-substitute-apply-program-virginia-intent-to-return-pandemic

Well, we know they’ve lied about this before.

Hey I understand from this thread that there’s no bad teachers, that if there were bad teachers they don’t impact the good ones, if they do impact the good ones theres absolutely nothing teachers can do to impact their working conditions, and that admin carefully tracks all the performance metrics of all teachers. The creative narratives aren’t limited to the leadership.

Nobody wrote any of this. The opposite is actually all over this thread. You are mad at teachers because they can’t solve a particular problem for you.

If you actually cared about the poor performance of a certain teacher, you would be reaching out to admin. They probably are already aware of the problem, and additional documentation would help them do their job. Spewing anger at teachers for not getting their bad colleagues fired? It’s illogical and ineffective. And silly.

I hope you don’t teach reading comprehension— every single one of those statements was made in this thread.

Okay. Back that up. Provide evidence of each of your statements:
1. That someone said there are no bad teachers
2. That someone said bad teachers don’t impact the good ones
3. That someone said there’s nothing good teachers can do. (I do acknowledge that someone said it isn’t good teachers’ responsibility, which is different.)
4. That someone said admin carefully tracks performance metrics.

Respond with a direct quote to back these up. Looking forward to it.

As a good teacher would say, do the reading. Its not my job to do your homework for you. Consider it a skills challenge!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The suggestions that teachers do a little self-advocacy comes from this claim that they suffer from bad teachers too. If thats false than cool, enjoy carrying your colleagues dead weight and stop telling parents not to advocate for their kids

1. As a teacher, you are seldom in another teacher's classroom. You do not necessarily know what other teachers are doing. If you have team meetings, you can get a sense of it. As an elementary teacher, I knew if another teacher's class was rowdy--but that does not mean she is a poor teacher.
2. What, exactly, do you expect a teacher to do?

Do you work?
If so, do you complain about your co-workers to your boss? Do you try to get them fired?

I’ve already answered thus— I am the boss. When people come to me with issues of colleagues not pulling their weight, its my job to solve those problems. Yes sometimes that means I fire a low performer, since low performers create the resentment and toxicity discussed above— that doesn’t mean the person who reported the issue is bad.

Then call the administration. Don't blame the teachers. The teachers are not in the other teacher's classroom.

Teachers and administrators have a role in the solution. If teachers want to work with parents to start holding other teachers accountable, their workplace will benefit. If teachers just want to complain about the mean unfair expectations on them to shoulder the burden of their slacking colleagues without doing anything about it they can expect more of the same.

Oh, yes. That will do wonders for the workplace environment. I don't think you get it: teachers are not shouldering their slacking colleagues. They may not even know if their colleagues are slacking. They may hear things from students--but, that is not the same thing.
And, if for some reason, they are shouldering it, I guarantee you the administration knows.

So the heroic teacher on this thread doing “tremendous” work to the detriment of her health and family because parents ask to switch their kids into her class...making it up?

No, I’m not. My colleagues have smaller classes than I do because of parent requests. I grade more. I reach out to parents more. I have a bigger workload.

It isn’t fair… and it’s still NOT MY JOB to fix this. My job is to continue doing my job. Admin’s job is to fix this.

And all your bellyaching doesn’t change that. Would your bosses like it if you started unilaterally doing their job?

If I failed to address low performers because I was afraid of someone being mad at me at the copy machine, my bosses would fire me.

You clearly have no idea how a school functions. I’ve tried to explain it to you, but you willfully want to pin this on hardworking teachers.

Not ONCE have you said you would take the issue up with admin, the very people who are specifically tasked with teacher evaluation and teacher quality. We have very delineated roles for a reason in a school, reasons you cavalierly discard.

You’re debating from a place of arrogance and ignorance, which means we’ll get nowhere. I’m through.

And you’re debating from a premise that teachers have no agency and no role in a solution to a problem you claim impacts them. I hope you teach your students better logic.

There is a bigger problem. The large possibility that there is not a teacher to replace the said “bad teacher”.

According to FCPS this isn’t a problem.

https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-schools-record-low-teacher-vacancy-rate-retention-major-results-fcps-attrition-compensation-contracts-special-education-international-licensure-substitute-apply-program-virginia-intent-to-return-pandemic

Well, we know they’ve lied about this before.

Hey I understand from this thread that there’s no bad teachers, that if there were bad teachers they don’t impact the good ones, if they do impact the good ones theres absolutely nothing teachers can do to impact their working conditions, and that admin carefully tracks all the performance metrics of all teachers. The creative narratives aren’t limited to the leadership.

Nobody wrote any of this. The opposite is actually all over this thread. You are mad at teachers because they can’t solve a particular problem for you.

If you actually cared about the poor performance of a certain teacher, you would be reaching out to admin. They probably are already aware of the problem, and additional documentation would help them do their job. Spewing anger at teachers for not getting their bad colleagues fired? It’s illogical and ineffective. And silly.

I hope you don’t teach reading comprehension— every single one of those statements was made in this thread.

Okay. Back that up. Provide evidence of each of your statements:
1. That someone said there are no bad teachers
2. That someone said bad teachers don’t impact the good ones
3. That someone said there’s nothing good teachers can do. (I do acknowledge that someone said it isn’t good teachers’ responsibility, which is different.)
4. That someone said admin carefully tracks performance metrics.

Respond with a direct quote to back these up. Looking forward to it.

As a good teacher would say, do the reading. Its not my job to do your homework for you. Consider it a skills challenge!

Just deflect when you can’t prove anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The suggestions that teachers do a little self-advocacy comes from this claim that they suffer from bad teachers too. If thats false than cool, enjoy carrying your colleagues dead weight and stop telling parents not to advocate for their kids

1. As a teacher, you are seldom in another teacher's classroom. You do not necessarily know what other teachers are doing. If you have team meetings, you can get a sense of it. As an elementary teacher, I knew if another teacher's class was rowdy--but that does not mean she is a poor teacher.
2. What, exactly, do you expect a teacher to do?

Do you work?
If so, do you complain about your co-workers to your boss? Do you try to get them fired?

I’ve already answered thus— I am the boss. When people come to me with issues of colleagues not pulling their weight, its my job to solve those problems. Yes sometimes that means I fire a low performer, since low performers create the resentment and toxicity discussed above— that doesn’t mean the person who reported the issue is bad.

Then call the administration. Don't blame the teachers. The teachers are not in the other teacher's classroom.

Teachers and administrators have a role in the solution. If teachers want to work with parents to start holding other teachers accountable, their workplace will benefit. If teachers just want to complain about the mean unfair expectations on them to shoulder the burden of their slacking colleagues without doing anything about it they can expect more of the same.

Oh, yes. That will do wonders for the workplace environment. I don't think you get it: teachers are not shouldering their slacking colleagues. They may not even know if their colleagues are slacking. They may hear things from students--but, that is not the same thing.
And, if for some reason, they are shouldering it, I guarantee you the administration knows.

So the heroic teacher on this thread doing “tremendous” work to the detriment of her health and family because parents ask to switch their kids into her class...making it up?

No, I’m not. My colleagues have smaller classes than I do because of parent requests. I grade more. I reach out to parents more. I have a bigger workload.

It isn’t fair… and it’s still NOT MY JOB to fix this. My job is to continue doing my job. Admin’s job is to fix this.

And all your bellyaching doesn’t change that. Would your bosses like it if you started unilaterally doing their job?

If I failed to address low performers because I was afraid of someone being mad at me at the copy machine, my bosses would fire me.

You clearly have no idea how a school functions. I’ve tried to explain it to you, but you willfully want to pin this on hardworking teachers.

Not ONCE have you said you would take the issue up with admin, the very people who are specifically tasked with teacher evaluation and teacher quality. We have very delineated roles for a reason in a school, reasons you cavalierly discard.

You’re debating from a place of arrogance and ignorance, which means we’ll get nowhere. I’m through.

And you’re debating from a premise that teachers have no agency and no role in a solution to a problem you claim impacts them. I hope you teach your students better logic.

There is a bigger problem. The large possibility that there is not a teacher to replace the said “bad teacher”.

According to FCPS this isn’t a problem.

https://wjla.com/news/local/fairfax-county-schools-record-low-teacher-vacancy-rate-retention-major-results-fcps-attrition-compensation-contracts-special-education-international-licensure-substitute-apply-program-virginia-intent-to-return-pandemic

Well, we know they’ve lied about this before.

Hey I understand from this thread that there’s no bad teachers, that if there were bad teachers they don’t impact the good ones, if they do impact the good ones theres absolutely nothing teachers can do to impact their working conditions, and that admin carefully tracks all the performance metrics of all teachers. The creative narratives aren’t limited to the leadership.

Nobody wrote any of this. The opposite is actually all over this thread. You are mad at teachers because they can’t solve a particular problem for you.

If you actually cared about the poor performance of a certain teacher, you would be reaching out to admin. They probably are already aware of the problem, and additional documentation would help them do their job. Spewing anger at teachers for not getting their bad colleagues fired? It’s illogical and ineffective. And silly.

I hope you don’t teach reading comprehension— every single one of those statements was made in this thread.

Okay. Back that up. Provide evidence of each of your statements:
1. That someone said there are no bad teachers
2. That someone said bad teachers don’t impact the good ones
3. That someone said there’s nothing good teachers can do. (I do acknowledge that someone said it isn’t good teachers’ responsibility, which is different.)
4. That someone said admin carefully tracks performance metrics.

Respond with a direct quote to back these up. Looking forward to it.

As a good teacher would say, do the reading. Its not my job to do your homework for you. Consider it a skills challenge!

Cute response, but a good teacher would also set their students up for success.

You CAN’T find answers because those statements don’t exist.

Stop creating your own narrative and selling it as fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask to be switched. Every schools know who the problematic teachers are and what they teach. No school is going to pro-actively move your kid so ask to have the kid moved and give examples of why.

why is your kid special that s/he should be moved -- can all the kids in that class be moved?

Every parent wants their child to be removed from this class, it is the same year after year and parents try to get their kids switched and complain a lot. Nothing has been done by admin to change the situation. I’m not saying that this teacher needs to be fired, I believe that the administration should work with this teacher to be a more effective teacher and actually “teach” the students. There are some really great math teachers at Cooper that this teacher could learn from. Even sharing the other teachers notes would be helpful.

You said that “every parent” wants to move their child from this class, but what, specifically, has this teacher done right now that has adversely affected YOUR child? Expecting the administration to “do something” about a teacher is not helpful unless you can explain what exactly this teacher has done wrong.

This teacher doesn’t spend enough time “actually teaching” the subject. There are notes online (not detailed enough), not enough examples, the teacher reads the notes once and then has the students spend the rest of their time working in their own.

In math you can’t expect students to learn something by hearing it one time. It isn’t the same as History where students can read on their own and memorize facts. Math takes understanding and repetition. This isn’t just a problem for my child, it is an overall problem. Even the best math students are having problems with this teacher because they are confused and don’t understand what he is teaching.

I never said that I want other teachers to solve the problem this teacher creates. I asked specifically about Cooper MS because I know some students in the past have been able to switch to a different advisory teacher for QST or could have recommendations for local tutors near Cooper.

I really don’t understand why people are going off on the good teachers and saying it is their problem. This is 100% on the admin or head of the math department to figure out. The method that this teacher has been using for years is not successful and it’s time for someone to step in and work with this teacher to change their method of teaching.

Parents should not be expected to spend thousands of dollars a year, teach their child the subject, or expect 12 year olds to learn the subject on their own through Khan Academy. I personally have already begun to do those things with my child because I have the ability and desire to do so, but it shouldn’t be expected that parents have the time/finances/or mathematical abilities to educate their children outside of school. The teacher of the class should be expected to ensure that their students are receiving an appropriate level of instruction in order to master the subject.

This isn’t a one year problem and I don’t only care about my child. This is a problem every year. Algebra I is not a one and done class, it is a very important foundational class that is built upon year after year.

There is a reason that some teachers only read the notes from slides. They themselves don't understand the content very well. They can't explain the concept, logic reasoning to the students. I know a student who corrected his Algebra 1 teacher at class. The teacher then treated that student badly at his class. And yes, the teacher is still teaching at Cooper. Perhaps, the OP's child is now in his class.

Everything that you shared in the story about the student is completely subjective. I’ve been a math teacher for over 25 years. Every year I make a few quick mistakes and students correct me. That’s a couple of mistakes a year in 6 hours a day times 180 days. Some teachers may find that embarrassing. I just chuck it up to being tired or distracted. There are probably students out there in this world that think they “corrected” me. Whatever.

Any small thing that happens after that with the student? Parents and students think they’re being targeted because of that mistake? It’s probably just because the teacher never liked the student to start with. In 25 years, there’s definitely a few students that I didn’t like, it has nothing to do with whether or not they corrected me on a math problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents have disagreements about teachers.

When DD was in third grade, other parents complained to me about the teacher "yelling" so much. I asked DD about it and she said, "Yes, sometimes she yells, but only at the kids who deserve it."
Maybe, this says something about our household......but it didn't bother her. She is an excellent student.

I’ve worked with plenty of teachers that the parents don’t want their kids in their class. Personally, I find them to be excellent, knowledgeable teachers. Parents just don’t want their kids in their class because they’re not very personable and it’s not a “fun” class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask to be switched. Every schools know who the problematic teachers are and what they teach. No school is going to pro-actively move your kid so ask to have the kid moved and give examples of why.

why is your kid special that s/he should be moved -- can all the kids in that class be moved?

Every parent wants their child to be removed from this class, it is the same year after year and parents try to get their kids switched and complain a lot. Nothing has been done by admin to change the situation. I’m not saying that this teacher needs to be fired, I believe that the administration should work with this teacher to be a more effective teacher and actually “teach” the students. There are some really great math teachers at Cooper that this teacher could learn from. Even sharing the other teachers notes would be helpful.

You said that “every parent” wants to move their child from this class, but what, specifically, has this teacher done right now that has adversely affected YOUR child? Expecting the administration to “do something” about a teacher is not helpful unless you can explain what exactly this teacher has done wrong.

This teacher doesn’t spend enough time “actually teaching” the subject. There are notes online (not detailed enough), not enough examples, the teacher reads the notes once and then has the students spend the rest of their time working in their own.

In math you can’t expect students to learn something by hearing it one time. It isn’t the same as History where students can read on their own and memorize facts. Math takes understanding and repetition. This isn’t just a problem for my child, it is an overall problem. Even the best math students are having problems with this teacher because they are confused and don’t understand what he is teaching.

I never said that I want other teachers to solve the problem this teacher creates. I asked specifically about Cooper MS because I know some students in the past have been able to switch to a different advisory teacher for QST or could have recommendations for local tutors near Cooper.

I really don’t understand why people are going off on the good teachers and saying it is their problem. This is 100% on the admin or head of the math department to figure out. The method that this teacher has been using for years is not successful and it’s time for someone to step in and work with this teacher to change their method of teaching.

Parents should not be expected to spend thousands of dollars a year, teach their child the subject, or expect 12 year olds to learn the subject on their own through Khan Academy. I personally have already begun to do those things with my child because I have the ability and desire to do so, but it shouldn’t be expected that parents have the time/finances/or mathematical abilities to educate their children outside of school. The teacher of the class should be expected to ensure that their students are receiving an appropriate level of instruction in order to master the subject.

This isn’t a one year problem and I don’t only care about my child. This is a problem every year. Algebra I is not a one and done class, it is a very important foundational class that is built upon year after year.

Do you know of another district in the United States that has employed teachers, and every single one of them is good/excellent? I know this is your expectation, but it’s not realistic. So now it’s time to get realistic and do what needs to be done on your end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask to be switched. Every schools know who the problematic teachers are and what they teach. No school is going to pro-actively move your kid so ask to have the kid moved and give examples of why.

why is your kid special that s/he should be moved -- can all the kids in that class be moved?

Every parent wants their child to be removed from this class, it is the same year after year and parents try to get their kids switched and complain a lot. Nothing has been done by admin to change the situation. I’m not saying that this teacher needs to be fired, I believe that the administration should work with this teacher to be a more effective teacher and actually “teach” the students. There are some really great math teachers at Cooper that this teacher could learn from. Even sharing the other teachers notes would be helpful.

You said that “every parent” wants to move their child from this class, but what, specifically, has this teacher done right now that has adversely affected YOUR child? Expecting the administration to “do something” about a teacher is not helpful unless you can explain what exactly this teacher has done wrong.

This teacher doesn’t spend enough time “actually teaching” the subject. There are notes online (not detailed enough), not enough examples, the teacher reads the notes once and then has the students spend the rest of their time working in their own.

In math you can’t expect students to learn something by hearing it one time. It isn’t the same as History where students can read on their own and memorize facts. Math takes understanding and repetition. This isn’t just a problem for my child, it is an overall problem. Even the best math students are having problems with this teacher because they are confused and don’t understand what he is teaching.

I never said that I want other teachers to solve the problem this teacher creates. I asked specifically about Cooper MS because I know some students in the past have been able to switch to a different advisory teacher for QST or could have recommendations for local tutors near Cooper.

I really don’t understand why people are going off on the good teachers and saying it is their problem. This is 100% on the admin or head of the math department to figure out. The method that this teacher has been using for years is not successful and it’s time for someone to step in and work with this teacher to change their method of teaching.

Parents should not be expected to spend thousands of dollars a year, teach their child the subject, or expect 12 year olds to learn the subject on their own through Khan Academy. I personally have already begun to do those things with my child because I have the ability and desire to do so, but it shouldn’t be expected that parents have the time/finances/or mathematical abilities to educate their children outside of school. The teacher of the class should be expected to ensure that their students are receiving an appropriate level of instruction in order to master the subject.

This isn’t a one year problem and I don’t only care about my child. This is a problem every year. Algebra I is not a one and done class, it is a very important foundational class that is built upon year after year.

There is a reason that some teachers only read the notes from slides. They themselves don't understand the content very well. They can't explain the concept, logic reasoning to the students. I know a student who corrected his Algebra 1 teacher at class. The teacher then treated that student badly at his class. And yes, the teacher is still teaching at Cooper. Perhaps, the OP's child is now in his class.

Everything that you shared in the story about the student is completely subjective. I’ve been a math teacher for over 25 years. Every year I make a few quick mistakes and students correct me. That’s a couple of mistakes a year in 6 hours a day times 180 days. Some teachers may find that embarrassing. I just chuck it up to being tired or distracted. There are probably students out there in this world that think they “corrected” me. Whatever.

Any small thing that happens after that with the student? Parents and students think they’re being targeted because of that mistake? It’s probably just because the teacher never liked the student to start with. In 25 years, there’s definitely a few students that I didn’t like, it has nothing to do with whether or not they corrected me on a math problem.

Are you retired or still teaching?
What does a teacher supposed to do at 10:05 am? It is at block 3 or 4 at Cooper.
If you are actually a teacher, please focus on your teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask to be switched. Every schools know who the problematic teachers are and what they teach. No school is going to pro-actively move your kid so ask to have the kid moved and give examples of why.

why is your kid special that s/he should be moved -- can all the kids in that class be moved?

Every parent wants their child to be removed from this class, it is the same year after year and parents try to get their kids switched and complain a lot. Nothing has been done by admin to change the situation. I’m not saying that this teacher needs to be fired, I believe that the administration should work with this teacher to be a more effective teacher and actually “teach” the students. There are some really great math teachers at Cooper that this teacher could learn from. Even sharing the other teachers notes would be helpful.

You said that “every parent” wants to move their child from this class, but what, specifically, has this teacher done right now that has adversely affected YOUR child? Expecting the administration to “do something” about a teacher is not helpful unless you can explain what exactly this teacher has done wrong.

This teacher doesn’t spend enough time “actually teaching” the subject. There are notes online (not detailed enough), not enough examples, the teacher reads the notes once and then has the students spend the rest of their time working in their own.

In math you can’t expect students to learn something by hearing it one time. It isn’t the same as History where students can read on their own and memorize facts. Math takes understanding and repetition. This isn’t just a problem for my child, it is an overall problem. Even the best math students are having problems with this teacher because they are confused and don’t understand what he is teaching.

I never said that I want other teachers to solve the problem this teacher creates. I asked specifically about Cooper MS because I know some students in the past have been able to switch to a different advisory teacher for QST or could have recommendations for local tutors near Cooper.

I really don’t understand why people are going off on the good teachers and saying it is their problem. This is 100% on the admin or head of the math department to figure out. The method that this teacher has been using for years is not successful and it’s time for someone to step in and work with this teacher to change their method of teaching.

Parents should not be expected to spend thousands of dollars a year, teach their child the subject, or expect 12 year olds to learn the subject on their own through Khan Academy. I personally have already begun to do those things with my child because I have the ability and desire to do so, but it shouldn’t be expected that parents have the time/finances/or mathematical abilities to educate their children outside of school. The teacher of the class should be expected to ensure that their students are receiving an appropriate level of instruction in order to master the subject.

This isn’t a one year problem and I don’t only care about my child. This is a problem every year. Algebra I is not a one and done class, it is a very important foundational class that is built upon year after year.

There is a reason that some teachers only read the notes from slides. They themselves don't understand the content very well. They can't explain the concept, logic reasoning to the students. I know a student who corrected his Algebra 1 teacher at class. The teacher then treated that student badly at his class. And yes, the teacher is still teaching at Cooper. Perhaps, the OP's child is now in his class.

Everything that you shared in the story about the student is completely subjective. I’ve been a math teacher for over 25 years. Every year I make a few quick mistakes and students correct me. That’s a couple of mistakes a year in 6 hours a day times 180 days. Some teachers may find that embarrassing. I just chuck it up to being tired or distracted. There are probably students out there in this world that think they “corrected” me. Whatever.

Any small thing that happens after that with the student? Parents and students think they’re being targeted because of that mistake? It’s probably just because the teacher never liked the student to start with. In 25 years, there’s definitely a few students that I didn’t like, it has nothing to do with whether or not they corrected me on a math problem.

Are you retired or still teaching?
What does a teacher supposed to do at 10:05 am? It is at block 3 or 4 at Cooper.
If you are actually a teacher, please focus on your teaching.

LOL, cute. Still a teacher, at the airport, traveling out of state.