Parent Teacher Conference

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't it be worth discussing what are appropriate expectations with the principal? Also how those are communicated to a parent? If a teacher is less than stellar principals will appreciate a clear email detailing issues within the class so that they can be addressed directly. If it is adversely affecting your child's sense of self ect it would be worth noting that also.

[Anonymous]

I am the pp asking about more interaction. I work and have a DCPS Pre-k4er but definitely have more interaction with the teacher. I didn't attend back to school night because I had to work but I talk to the teacher in the morning and have e-mailed with her on a regular basis. I have found that the mornings to be the best time and always make a point of talking to the teacher directly. She never pushes me off and if I have something important to ask about (sharing stuff usually) I just head in early and talk to her.

I have 3 kids so we have definitely had varied teachers. Some are good, some are ok but like the other pp I have never hated one like poison.

[Anonymous]

OP, was the teacher's feedback about your child concerning? Or is this a more general aversion to her manner?

[Anonymous]

OP, FWIW, at our school I've felt like having the most involved parents in my kid's class has been a good sign. Maybe the teacher just made a really bad impression on you but is good with the kids? I know that making eye contact is something that sometimes needs to be taught, and if someone hasn't been taught that skill s/he may not make the best impression. Perhaps this is a comment that you could make the principal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, was the teacher's feedback about your child concerning? Or is this a more general aversion to her manner?

OP here. I think what concerned me the most wasn't that she had difficulty relating to adults: that's to be expected. DD's teacher last year was a little odd to talk to, but she spent 80% of her waking hours teaching three year olds. That aside, she had a great insight into the kids' personalities, and the way they related to one another.

My three main issues are that, first, she seemed dead wrong about every kid in the class we talked about. Obviously, this could just be a matter of a parent unable to see any negatives in their child, but leaving our DD aside, there's a girl in the class who is incredibly outgoing, funny, and mature for her age--at least outside of class. She's basically a four-year-old version of Laura Croft. When I mentioned that my DD got along with her pretty well, the teacher kind of shook her head and said, "Yes, she's a very quiet girl." Every kid was either "quiet" or a "troublemaker."

Not only that, but she seemed to honestly not *like* any kid in her class, who she had no problem slagging off to me. Our neighbors DS was "a lot of trouble, but he's quieting down". There wasn't a single kid who she had anything positive to say about. Every critique or observation revolved around whether or not the kids as a group were "quiet" or not.

Finally, when my parents brought her home later on that day, my mother asked how the PT conference went, and since DD was right there, I lied and said, "It was great. She said that she's really enjoyed having DD in her class, and that she shows a lot of promise." To that my 4 year old kind of chuckled incredulously and said, "No, she doesn't really like me. She was just joking with you."

[Anonymous]

Ok, I really don't understand what was going on in your p/t conference.

Why were you talking about other children? Even if the teacher brought it up then you should have immediately gone to talking about your own child. This is your time to talk to the teacher about your own child not your neighbor's child. Then you talked about "every" over kid?

I have a almost 5 year old pre-ker and she would never say something like that. Are you sure what you are saying about the teacher isn't being overheard? Have there been other clues that this teacher is bad with the kids? How long as the teacher been there? I have had multiple pre-kers and while I haven't found some teachers to be that great all my kids have loved their pre-k teachers. They are just of that age where they love people regardless. You need to figure that one out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, I really don't understand what was going on in your p/t conference.

Why were you talking about other children? Even if the teacher brought it up then you should have immediately gone to talking about your own child. This is your time to talk to the teacher about your own child not your neighbor's child. Then you talked about "every" over kid?

I have a almost 5 year old pre-ker and she would never say something like that. Are you sure what you are saying about the teacher isn't being overheard? Have there been other clues that this teacher is bad with the kids? How long as the teacher been there? I have had multiple pre-kers and while I haven't found some teachers to be that great all my kids have loved their pre-k teachers. They are just of that age where they love people regardless. You need to figure that one out.

You are completely and entirely wrong. Parents should be quite free to discuss who their children are friends with outside of school. The onus for confidentiality here is clearly on the teacher and the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, I really don't understand what was going on in your p/t conference.

Why were you talking about other children? Even if the teacher brought it up then you should have immediately gone to talking about your own child. This is your time to talk to the teacher about your own child not your neighbor's child. Then you talked about "every" over kid?

I have a almost 5 year old pre-ker and she would never say something like that. Are you sure what you are saying about the teacher isn't being overheard? Have there been other clues that this teacher is bad with the kids? How long as the teacher been there? I have had multiple pre-kers and while I haven't found some teachers to be that great all my kids have loved their pre-k teachers. They are just of that age where they love people regardless. You need to figure that one out.

OP here: DD is our oldest, so I may not have the vast experience that you do. But just to get things straight: You never mention how your child interacts with other children in your parent-teacher conferences? Seriously? I assumed that PK was about 10% learning the ABCs, and about 90% learning to interact socially. Why on Earth would you *not* talk about the social dynamics in the class, and how well your child is negotiating them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, I really don't understand what was going on in your p/t conference.

Why were you talking about other children? Even if the teacher brought it up then you should have immediately gone to talking about your own child. This is your time to talk to the teacher about your own child not your neighbor's child. Then you talked about "every" over kid?

I have a almost 5 year old pre-ker and she would never say something like that. Are you sure what you are saying about the teacher isn't being overheard? Have there been other clues that this teacher is bad with the kids? How long as the teacher been there? I have had multiple pre-kers and while I haven't found some teachers to be that great all my kids have loved their pre-k teachers. They are just of that age where they love people regardless. You need to figure that one out.

No, OP said that her daughter believed that the teacher didn't like her. Kids can tell if someone likes them or not at an early age. At our p/t conference this year, my PK son's teacher told us that she was having trouble with a group of boys that included my son during nap time. This was the first time I heard this and that evening before bed time, I asked my son about nap time and his behavior and he told me that his teacher "sometimes gets frustrated at me for talking during nap". I further asked him to elaborate and he definitely understood that his teacher didn't like and was annoyed by his behavior. Either she said to the kids directly that she "was frustrated" or they figured it out by her actions. Maybe OP's child understands by her teacher's behavior or hears negative remarks about her during class from the the teacher.

[Anonymous]

OP,

I'm pretty sure I know what school you are at and what teacher your DC has. Do you live on the Hill?

That teacher needs to go!

[Anonymous]

i'm a parent of a PK4 DCPS kid, so our 2nd year in the system. a couple of thoughts here:

1) not sure why so much attention on what the teacher thought of other kids in the class. as a PP noted: this is YOUR time to talk about YOUR kid. the only time other kids come into play is when you discuss your kid's friendships.
2) please don't judge this teacher without spending a few hours volunteering IN the classroom. i did that last year, thinking our PS3 teacher was some kind of pushover and not real bright. it was eye-opening to see how she ran her classroom....tough, but fair. the kids liked her!
3) if you are talking about a certain teacher at a hill school, i believe the principal is aware of her shortcomings and is just waiting for her to retire (very, very soon!)

hang in there!

[Anonymous]

Of course I ask about my child's social interactions. But we don't go into specifics about each child. Does she have friends? Does she play with the others at recess? But never discuss who is a troublemaker or if they are quiet. Kids in the neighborhood can be completely different than at school.

For the record we ARE on the Hill and have been in three different schools for pre-k. Not a clue who the teacher is who you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course I ask about my child's social interactions. But we don't go into specifics about each child. Does she have friends? Does she play with the others at recess?

She has lots of friends; actually several of her friends on the block go to the same school, and they play together during recess, aftercare, and after aftercare...and on the weekends.

But never discuss who is a troublemaker or if they are quiet.

Just to reiterate, it was the teacher who brought up who was "quiet" in the parent-teacher conference, not us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP,

I'm pretty sure I know what school you are at and what teacher your DC has. Do you live on the Hill?

Yes.

That teacher needs to go!

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Last year, my neice had "that teacher." My sister was told she could not volunteer in the classroom or visit the classroom during the school day. She could only chaperone field trips.