Aloof teacher is heavy on app use and doesn't communicate well - would you take it to the principal?

[Anonymous]

DD is in 8th grade and taking an advanced math class. The class has a lot of demands and while my kid is doing well overall, I'm not seeing much evidence of instruction from the teacher and the apps and classroom management system she uses is quite punitive. My daughter will insist she completed certain assignments but the system, she claims, didn't record that she completed them and records the grade as a zero. I've emailed the teacher about this, and she responds with these very aloof, robotic answers that sound like they're written by AI. "If Larla followed the instructions correctly to turn in her work, then should would have received a grade above zero. Thank you." Another time, DD missed a quiz because of a doctor's appt. The quiz was recorded as a zero. I wrote to the teacher again about this. No reply. Earlier this fall, the kids were invited to sign up for a math competition at a local college. The teacher provided a bad link and never responded when parents asked for the correct link (a few of us who got in touch ended up having to track down the information ourselves).

It's been unnerving, to say the least. I think the teacher just DGAF. She seems to be resorting to more of a facilitator than an actual educator. I've had more human interactions while taking asynchronous online classes with instructors on the other side of the country than from this teacher my kid sees every day, in person.

The last straw? Last week she sent out an email saying the students could take a certain quiz one day after school. Well, several kids including DD showed up to the classroom, but no one was there. Turns out they were supposed to take it online. Now all these kids have zeros. I wrote to her and again, I received this rigid response. Nothing admitting that she did not bother telling the kids exactly how to take the test. Should I complain to the principal or is that just going to light fires and cause problems for my kid? I get it, they're all resorting to apps and online communication and we're stuck with it. But if you don't want to treat the kids as human beings and help correct things for them, then find another job.

[Anonymous]

Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

This is what I'm doing at this point, going through the system with her assignment by assignment. FWIW, she doesn't have this problem in the other classes that still use paper. And I see that she actually has the worksheet the night before, completed, and the next day, voila, she handed it in and the system shows the final grade. I can understand ok, the teachers are overwhelmed and are probably forced to use these apps, maybe there's a legal reason for them at this point to record all interactions. Who knows. I just don't like seeing the kids treated this way at only 12-years-old. As a parents I've come to realize how much more forgiving adults can be towards each other than they are towards kids. Should we really be teaching them to be so punitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

For something like middle school math? Yes. Unless you can supplement adequately yourself.

But yes also speak to the principal, share the emails, and to avoid retaliation against your kid group together with the other parents on the quiz (it seems suspicious she wasn’t going to monitor it even if it was online. Perfect cheating opportunity.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is in 8th grade and taking an advanced math class. The class has a lot of demands and while my kid is doing well overall, I'm not seeing much evidence of instruction from the teacher and the apps and classroom management system she uses is quite punitive. My daughter will insist she completed certain assignments but the system, she claims, didn't record that she completed them and records the grade as a zero. I've emailed the teacher about this, and she responds with these very aloof, robotic answers that sound like they're written by AI. "If Larla followed the instructions correctly to turn in her work, then should would have received a grade above zero. Thank you." Another time, DD missed a quiz because of a doctor's appt. The quiz was recorded as a zero. I wrote to the teacher again about this. No reply. Earlier this fall, the kids were invited to sign up for a math competition at a local college. The teacher provided a bad link and never responded when parents asked for the correct link (a few of us who got in touch ended up having to track down the information ourselves).

It's been unnerving, to say the least. I think the teacher just DGAF. She seems to be resorting to more of a facilitator than an actual educator. I've had more human interactions while taking asynchronous online classes with instructors on the other side of the country than from this teacher my kid sees every day, in person.

The last straw? Last week she sent out an email saying the students could take a certain quiz one day after school. Well, several kids including DD showed up to the classroom, but no one was there. Turns out they were supposed to take it online. Now all these kids have zeros. I wrote to her and again, I received this rigid response. Nothing admitting that she did not bother telling the kids exactly how to take the test. Should I complain to the principal or is that just going to light fires and cause problems for my kid? I get it, they're all resorting to apps and online communication and we're stuck with it. But if you don't want to treat the kids as human beings and help correct things for them, then find another job.

This sounds like a few MS teachers. This could have been DC’s science teacher this year. She doesn’t teach much at all, just refers them to do Gizmo, or a Kahoot, or an EdPuzzle, watch a video, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

I had crappy teachers but I also didn’t have a string of missed exams and zeros. I would keep track of my assignments and go to the teacher myself and ask to make up missed exams. My parents weren’t contacting my teachers over this. They wouldn’t even know how to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

This is what I'm doing at this point, going through the system with her assignment by assignment. FWIW, she doesn't have this problem in the other classes that still use paper. And I see that she actually has the worksheet the night before, completed, and the next day, voila, she handed it in and the system shows the final grade. I can understand ok, the teachers are overwhelmed and are probably forced to use these apps, maybe there's a legal reason for them at this point to record all interactions. Who knows. I just don't like seeing the kids treated this way at only 12-years-old. As a parents I've come to realize how much more forgiving adults can be towards each other than they are towards kids. Should we really be teaching them to be so punitive.

This is what we had to do and it's infuriating.
Sometimes the student turns in hard copy work and the app doesn't reflect until it is graded. Sometimes they submit something but you can't see the submission in the app (?!). Don't even get me started on teachers grading hard copy work and not returning it to review. It's like all work disappears into the ether. When it works, it's great. But when it doesn't work, yes, we are being punitive on children.

OP I think you need to snapshot everything and make a tracking document of the app. Show where it's failing.
I now have a high schooler and she has a terrible teacher who can't control the talkers in her classroom. DD has missed hearing about assignments or critical topics because of this. The teacher doesn't have any other organized way to convey this information- like a summary of assignments online, or topic slides online. DD is keeping her grades up but I have taught her how to document these instances. It makes her feel better and in more control.

Isn't it terrible that we have come to this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

My parents wouldn’t have paid tutors to raise my grade, nor would they have been contacting my teachers over it. They met my teachers on Back to School night and that was it. It was my responsibility to bring home good grades, and if my grades weren’t good, it was my responsibility to figure out what was wrong and go talk to the counselor, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

It may not be that that teacher is lousy. It might be your kid is a lousy student.

I am 54. My parents got me math tutors in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

My parents wouldn’t have paid tutors to raise my grade, nor would they have been contacting my teachers over it. They met my teachers on Back to School night and that was it. It was my responsibility to bring home good grades, and if my grades weren’t good, it was my responsibility to figure out what was wrong and go talk to the counselor, etc.

OP here. I agree with you but we are encouraged to engage. We get access to their grades and assignments and the teachers email us even about projects and tests. We get more communication from the teachers, way more than our parents ever did. We’re invited to join the insanity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

Honestly, yes. Public school instruction is so bad. Especially in middle school where it really matters and kids may not have the tools needed to take charge of self-learning the material at home on their own.

[Anonymous]

Set up a parent conference to discuss your concerns face to face. You can include school counselor or AP to be in the meeting too. I think a lot gets lost over email..the short emails may because the teacher has several and is just trying to respond the best she can in order to get through them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, or start with the guidance counselor. Get a tutor and make sure your kid is turning in their work (micromanage them).

OP here. Is this what everyone's doing this days-- getting tutors to make up for lousy teachers? How many of us GenXers had crappy teachers but no way did our parents spend hundreds of dollars a month on tutors. I got a C+ in earth science in 7th grade and yeah, mom and dad were disappointed but weren't going to end up in debt to raise my grade to a B+.

In general, in the ‘90s, people didn’t think a C+ tanked their kid’s chances of getting into the flagship for their state college. Now that is an anxiety.