Problems with elementary school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we have a "special snowflake" Op here. You know her son can
Do no wrong...etc.

One behavior incidence makes it okay for staff to misbehave themselves. Yeah, that's a school I want my child going to. Why are you concentrating on the one behavior incident from the student and not the FOUR incidents of the staff. The child is a student who is still learning, while the staff certainly know better. You're the snowflake!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any first grader who takes his socks off in the library and throws them in the air is a behavior problem who is disrupting the learning of his peers and making it difficult for the teacher / media specialist to teach. OP, you don't seem to understand that this behavior is really uncommon. I used to teach first grade and no student ever did that. Your child is high maintenance and I am sure your kid was transferred classes to a more experienced teacher or his first teacher had too many students and in order to balance classes got to pick one to send to another class. It was always the parents of the biggest behavior problems who claimed their kid never lied. The only first graders who never lied were students who were on the autism spectrum. Kids lie for lots of reasons including to not hurt someone's feelings which isn't a bad thing, to be creative, or to gain an advantage.

Perhaps the sub really did pull his ears. Obviously it isn't acceptable. You should have a conversation with your son that if you behave more people will believe and if you don't you won't have as much credibility.

Your comment is absolutely ridiculous and I sincerely hope you are no longer teaching. God help the students who had you!

[Anonymous]

I want to second the poster who says that kids lie for a lot of reasons. I have dealt with dozens of cases of kids who made up ridiculous stories for a variety of reasons, none of them malicious. I would certainly talk to the principal about the ear pulling, but you are doing yourself a disservice if you refuse to go in with an open mind.

Bathroom breaks (either a set schedule or a policy ie you can only go once per day during instructional time) at the elementary level are very common. Can you imagine if all 20-something students got to leave the room to go to the bathroom whenever they wanted a break, felt antsy, or kinda sorta had to go to the bathroom? It would be chaos.

[Anonymous]

OP before you talk to the superintendent or principal or whomever you plan to talk to I would tone it down. You come across as very defensive to rational comments on your posts. It doesn't seem like you actually want any other opinions so you need to be prepared that in your meetings they may not agree with you 100% either. How will you respond? What are you hoping to accomplish? Do you want your child moved to another school? Another class? A new pair of socks? Just think you need to think it through before you go charging in.

[Anonymous]

I wish people would drop the "snowflake" trope. It gets used so frequently on these boards with no regard to context (and yes, I suspect there is a snowflake troll responsible for some of the non-sequitur snowflake uses) that it has lost its power when it is actually appropriate, like in this case. OP wanted advice but is just going to feel attacked now.

OP has a list of things that are concerns for her/him. A teacher pulling an ear is a big problem. It warrants communication with the school, but again, go in with an open mind - not sure how something innocuous could be interpreted as a painful ear pull, but it's possible.

OP also has a kid really acting out (for whatever reason) and that should be a concern but it is getting obscured by the weird socks in the trash reaction, which maybe wasn't a great way for the teacher to deal with it, but is still of less concern than the kid throwing his clothes around in school.

[Anonymous]

Wake up, dear OP. It sounds like your kid is getting a lot into trouble. Also remember that kids make up stuff. The term liar is not appropriate for a 6 years old. The sooner you accept that there may be issues, the sooner you will be able to identify and work on them. Or you may choose to be in denial as many other parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any first grader who takes his socks off in the library and throws them in the air is a behavior problem who is disrupting the learning of his peers and making it difficult for the teacher / media specialist to teach. OP, you don't seem to understand that this behavior is really uncommon. I used to teach first grade and no student ever did that. Your child is high maintenance and I am sure your kid was transferred classes to a more experienced teacher or his first teacher had too many students and in order to balance classes got to pick one to send to another class. It was always the parents of the biggest behavior problems who claimed their kid never lied. The only first graders who never lied were students who were on the autism spectrum. Kids lie for lots of reasons including to not hurt someone's feelings which isn't a bad thing, to be creative, or to gain an advantage.

Perhaps the sub really did pull his ears. Obviously it isn't acceptable. You should have a conversation with your son that if you behave more people will believe and if you don't you won't have as much credibility.

Your comment is absolutely ridiculous and I sincerely hope you are no longer teaching. God help the students who had you![/quote]

ho hum
a line about as effective as the use of "special snowflake"

Throwing socks in the air at that age is very immature, but more importantly, it's disruptive. Have you seen the cuts to the media centers in the area?

In our clusters, we have media specialists at the elementary level who are half-timers (cut from FT) in charge of instructing the entire student body. So while throwing socks in the air may seem silly, it’s enough to distract the other 20-some kids in the session.

Furthermore, schedules change. Who knew what happened to his first teacher. Perhaps she was placed in a specialist position. Or maybe she took unexpected leave. Or maybe the school knew that Teacher X would be a matter match for this child.

And while I agree that rough touching of any student is inappropriate (unless restraint is necessary – yes, it happens), is OP’s son the one who cries wolf perhaps? Maybe that’s why the PE teacher didn’t believe him. And if this teacher has a huge class load, how much time do you think s/he has with each student?

[Anonymous]

Why was the OP's child so bored in library that he decided he needed to entertain himself by taking off his socks and playing with them?

Further, a capable adult who is responsible for children should not need to resort to threats of "I am going to throw it away..." to actually keep an orderly class.

Sending a kid home in wet clothes is gross. They did it to shame the kid. I would follow up with the principal and document the situation.

[Anonymous]

Sending a kid home in wet clothes is gross. They did it to shame the kid. I would follow up with the principal and document the situation.

I agree with this and I'm shocked that someone who works with children would do this. The kid said he wanted to go to the bathroom and the teacher said no. The poor kid had an accident. Kids are taught to do what the teacher says so I don't know how any rationale person thinks the accident is the kid's fault. The kid had extra clothes but the teachers made him sit through school, in front of his friends, with wet clothes. This is cruel. OP I would be raising hell, and contacting the school board as well as the principal.

[Anonymous]

What school has first graders with multiple teachers during the day? You referenced his morning teacher and then his math teacher. Wow. That is a lot for 6-year old kids.

[Anonymous]

Where were his shoes during the media center incident??

I do not agree that the aide should have thrown the socks away, but I'm sure your child was warned at least once that there were consequences to his behaviour. Throwing socks, shoes, or any other item around is not appropriate behaviour for a classroom. Your child should have been moved to yellow. With subsequent movement to red.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On everything on that list, all of which if a problem, a teacher putting their hands on a child is my biggest concern. My understanding is that a teacher should never use physical discipline and this, for me, would warrant a call, right away, to the community superintendent. I would want that teacher investigated.

agree with this.
physical punishment should never be tolerated by a teacher. never.


I would be very concerned, OP, if I were you about all you have mentioned, especially about the ear pull.
First speak with the principal, address your concerns. be very polite, bring a pad of paper and pen to the meeting-tell them you want to make sure you remember what you both have said--take notes. if you feel you are not being taken seriously-especially about the ear pull and throwing a child's clothes away as punishments for misbehaving-go up to the next in charge.
This school sounds very poorly run/staffed.
I'm so sorry you and your son have to deal with these issues.

[Anonymous]

^ In addition to taking notes, follow-up by email with the principal with a summary of what you discusses, any points of action, etc.

[Anonymous]

OP..you said you were meeting with the principal this morning. How did it go?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Sending a kid home in wet clothes is gross. They did it to shame the kid. I would follow up with the principal and document the situation.

I agree with this and I'm shocked that someone who works with children would do this. The kid said he wanted to go to the bathroom and the teacher said no. The poor kid had an accident. Kids are taught to do what the teacher says so I don't know how any rationale person thinks the accident is the kid's fault. The kid had extra clothes but the teachers made him sit through school, in front of his friends, with wet clothes. This is cruel. OP I would be raising hell, and contacting the school board as well as the principal.

Yeah - I agree with this.

I also think, OP, that as a fellow mother of an energetic 6 yo, that you probably should try to keep as open a mind as possible when speaking with the principal. I'd be pretty horrified with the school by some of the things you are posting, but also think your child may be acting out quite a bit at school. Really, I sympathize as my son has his moments.

But try to keep an open mind and be calm. It won't help your son to be argumentative or confrontational with the principal.