how to address a teacher who cannot teach?

[Anonymous]

OP - Can you daughter identify what she is having trouble comprehending? You mentioned using the AP Resources and getting a tutor, has the tutor been able to identify what concepts you daughter is not understanding or grasping?

Calculus is an abstract math, so sometimes a shift in thinking/processing is required on the part of the student. Its the same reason why some students do better in Algebra than Geometry and vise versa.

[Anonymous]

Other than the lack of practice problems/homework, this is how college level math is taught. (In fact, I took some classes where homework was optional.) Instructors in many colleges are not hired for their teaching ability.
I would have your daughter get some practice problems and treat them as homework.

[Anonymous]

Have you or your daughter tried speaking with the HS Math Lead? Have them review the test quizzes and provide an outside/inside viewpoint on what may be needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - Can you daughter identify what she is having trouble comprehending? You mentioned using the AP Resources and getting a tutor, has the tutor been able to identify what concepts you daughter is not understanding or grasping?

Calculus is an abstract math, so sometimes a shift in thinking/processing is required on the part of the student. Its the same reason why some students do better in Algebra than Geometry and vise versa.

This,

Some math teachers are not as good as others.

The only subject I oversee for my kids is math. I know from personal experience how critical good teaching is. Bad teaching will leave you thinking that "math is not for me."
We have never accelerated just to move to higher levels, but will start them using Khan or something like that before the class starts for familiarity. Then supplement outside of school to correspond with the teaching in class. This isn't fun, but very necessary in some classes. I'm very ready to pull in a tutor if I need to.

[Anonymous]

We have the same problem, OP. There is only ONE teacher for AP Calc BC in my son's high school, so he can't even request a change! First semester he clawed his way to a C. This is usually a straight A student. The problem is, he's a burned out senior and refuses tutoring this year (it worked well in past years). If your daughter is willing to be tutored, please do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have the same problem, OP. There is only ONE teacher for AP Calc BC in my son's high school, so he can't even request a change! First semester he clawed his way to a C. This is usually a straight A student. The problem is, he's a burned out senior and refuses tutoring this year (it worked well in past years). If your daughter is willing to be tutored, please do so.

LOL all these parents like these teachers stink; my kid is having a hard time in AP CALC BC one of the hardest classes offerered in HS. Oh also my son is burned out and doesn't care but it's the teachers fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have the same problem, OP. There is only ONE teacher for AP Calc BC in my son's high school, so he can't even request a change! First semester he clawed his way to a C. This is usually a straight A student. The problem is, he's a burned out senior and refuses tutoring this year (it worked well in past years). If your daughter is willing to be tutored, please do so.

LOL all these parents like these teachers stink; my kid is having a hard time in AP CALC BC one of the hardest classes offerered in HS. Oh also my son is burned out and doesn't care but it's the teachers fault.

Exactly. Your kid is taking a very advanced math class. I’d be surprised if they were getting an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Your child is going to have to deal with incompetence their whole life, whether it's a coworker, a boss, or one of their own employees. Getting used to working with a wide variety of people is a good thing. You not bashing the teacher in front of your child will go a long way. Her communication style is just different. Truly it will benefit your child learning to work with this teacher. And in the meantime you're doing the right thing as far as tutors and extra help for your child.

Yes, she will have to deal with incompetence. At the same time, I'm looking for some strategies here that I haven't already pursued to address the poor instruction she seems to be getting. I support teachers so I certainly have not and will not 'bash' the teacher. This is why I am coming to an anonymous place to discuss this and haven't mentioned the school.

These people carping on how kids need to deal with incompetence is typical of DCUM. No! Teachers are paid to teach and should know how to do it. We found math instruction in our “ W” school to be miserable. My kid went in daily for help. I also hired a tutor for $120,00 for 45 minutes. It was necessary. Just to be shown because the teacher was so lousy. It’s common. Really bad math instruction.

[Anonymous]

Have her do the videos on AP classroom. My DC basically thought himself this way for one or two AP classes where the teacher was bad.

[Anonymous]

For what it is worth, my daughter was online during the pandemic and trying to learn math. The teacher had a bunch of kids running around and a baby on her lap trying to teach. It was really awful. Daughter couldn't learn or concentrate because teacher's computer kept giving out and baby was crying. It was a mess. She has since suffered. The teachers have not relayed basics. Very bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter's AP Calculus teacher is new to the profession and doesn't seem to do many of the basic things that a teacher should be doing. For example, she spends very little time teaching each new concept and generally teaches them once before testing. She doesn't give practice assignments/homework on the concepts, expecting students to learn them largely from her in-class instruction. When my daughter asks her to re-explain a concept because she didn't understand, the teacher tells her to look at her notes. My daughter feels that the teacher knows calculus as a subject but just cannot communicate it well. As a result, my daughter is not doing well in the class, despite having always earned A's in her math classes along the way and spending a LOT of time on her own trying to study. We've also got her a tutor and that seems to be helping.

I've reached out to the teacher to ask for ideas to help my daughter and she basically says, "have her come in during lunch and work with me." This is something that my daughter already does and it doesn't help. What else can I do at the school level to improve this? Do we just suck it up and accept the fact that she got crappy instruction and will probably end up with a C in the class? (Others are also struggling in th class - I've spoken personally with another parent and also seen many messages on the parent listserv about this class - there is only one teacher who teaches this particular class.)

Your daughter is in AP calculus and you are still the one speaking for her?

Your daughter and others are struggling in AP calculus, one of the hardest hs courses offered, and you think it is the fault of the teacher?

My daughter has spoken to the teacher a million times about this, gone in to her lunch tutoring sessions, etc. My reaching out at the end of the third quarter of the year--after my daughter has been attempting to get help since September--doesn't seem particularly inappropriate to me.

In addition, since my daughter is studying regularly, getting lunchtime help from the teacher, has an outside tutor - yes, I do think that the teacher and her approach to teaching is contributing to this problem. I support teacher autonomy but teachers are not perfect. Obviously we believe my daughter is mainly responsible for her learning, which is why we've addressed this first by getting her outside help. You'll notice that YOU said "it is the fault of the teacher" and I did not.

Oh, and by the way, thanks for the constructive feedback. Glad you spent your time this morning being snarky to someone asking for some help.

If all of those things are happening maybe AP calculus is the issue - it might not be the right class for her. She should be getting better than Cs with a tutor if she’s capable of better grades.

[Anonymous]

Make the salaries for math and STEM teachers higher and hire more of them. Salaries are not high enough and teaching cannot attract those with excellent credentials who may flee for higher paid positions. It's a crises.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure you can do much at this point as the AP exam is only 6 weeks away. Encourage your daughter to use khan Academy for extra support.
There are also a ton of resources on YouTube - high quality videos where teachers go over concepts and do practice problems.
My son had a weak AP Physics teacher and used a lot of online resources to teach himself physics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ds has a dud teacher for algebra. I’m paying for him to go to the Russian School of Math for supplemental instruction. For us, it’s less about grades and more about making sure he understands everything, because algebra is so fundamental.

I don’t think there’s much you can do beyond getting outside instruction for your daughter. Is there a textbook for the class?

Yes, there is a textbook for the class, which she uses to study.

Then what is the problem? I know people from grad school who would buy the book, read it, read online notes and then show up for the exam and get an A. Between a textbook and online resources, you can teach yourself

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not sure you can do much at this point as the AP exam is only 6 weeks away. Encourage your daughter to use khan Academy for extra support.
There are also a ton of resources on YouTube - high quality videos where teachers go over concepts and do practice problems.
My son had a weak AP Physics teacher and used a lot of online resources to teach himself physics.

+1
I've told my DCs that it's not a given that they will have a teacher in an AP class who can teach the material. They should try to get a read on how the class us going within the first month to see if it is working for them. If not, time to do independent study so they can do their best in the class/AP exam.

I figure this will be useful in college too.