Was a line crossed by admin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all, appreciate the feedback (and understand that my feelings were not realistic). We are at that point where we feel like there is nothing productive that can come from DS being with this teacher for the remainder of the year; it's that serious. In any other subject we would just shrug and move on but the foundational nature of math makes it hard to take that approach. Tutoring 1-2x a week doesn't seem good enough. We didn't want the meeting with the AP, but it was suggested by the counselor.

If tutoring twice a week isn’t helping, this problem seems bigger than just a single teacher.

It's mainly been 1x a week, took awhile to find a good tutor with availability. The problem is the teacher literally is not teaching/providing zero instruction most days.

That is a very odd claim about a teacher and does not ring true at all.

OP here; I'd likely feel the same way if I read this but this is what has been reported by my DC (and others)...kids who in other subjects will clearly say we worked on xyz lab, teacher taught this.

I believe you. Quick question. Is this teacher a follower of the Modern Classroom approach? My DS had a teacher that sounds very similar to this one for Pre-Calc. She literally never got up in front of the class and taught anything. She used pre-recorded videos, sometimes of her, sometimes not, doing a few examples. Then she would record herself filling out a notes packet while remaining seated the entire time. They would do knowledge checks on the computer and could move on to the next set of videos in the Unit when they passed the Knowledge Check. If you hadn't made it through them by the test, oh well. He never scored above a C- on any of the tests. It was such BS. To retake the test, you had to complete the original test perfectly, do a remediation packet perfectly, then retake the test. It was such an insane amount of work that if you did it, you were forever behind in a cycle of failure and remediation packets. So most kids just took the Cs. Complete BS.

DP yes we are dealing with this in algebra right now. It is AWFUL and yes it takes the parents a minute to understand that the teachers are literally not teaching and sometimes not even ensuring that kids understand what they need to be doing to get through the syllabus.

OP is not wrong to want to address this separately with the administration but will probably have to also deal directly with the teacher too. Also OP should get together with other parents - this affects all kids not just SN kids. a lot of parents at our school are freaking about it and have made some headway in improving it a little but you need to get together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying the teacher has never responded to you? Did you request to meet with the teacher?

It seems you are basing a lot on your child's interpretation of events and that the teacher doesn't even teach according to them. Pretty much every parent would be complaining to the school if there was a class where the teacher didn't teach and so all the kids just sat there with nothing to do all period.

The teacher probably didn’t respond because they are being bombarded by parents freaking out as they figure out that the plan is to literally not teach math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all, appreciate the feedback (and understand that my feelings were not realistic). We are at that point where we feel like there is nothing productive that can come from DS being with this teacher for the remainder of the year; it's that serious. In any other subject we would just shrug and move on but the foundational nature of math makes it hard to take that approach. Tutoring 1-2x a week doesn't seem good enough. We didn't want the meeting with the AP, but it was suggested by the counselor.

If tutoring twice a week isn’t helping, this problem seems bigger than just a single teacher.

It's mainly been 1x a week, took awhile to find a good tutor with availability. The problem is the teacher literally is not teaching/providing zero instruction most days.

That is a very odd claim about a teacher and does not ring true at all.

OP here; I'd likely feel the same way if I read this but this is what has been reported by my DC (and others)...kids who in other subjects will clearly say we worked on xyz lab, teacher taught this.

I believe you. Quick question. Is this teacher a follower of the Modern Classroom approach? My DS had a teacher that sounds very similar to this one for Pre-Calc. She literally never got up in front of the class and taught anything. She used pre-recorded videos, sometimes of her, sometimes not, doing a few examples. Then she would record herself filling out a notes packet while remaining seated the entire time. They would do knowledge checks on the computer and could move on to the next set of videos in the Unit when they passed the Knowledge Check. If you hadn't made it through them by the test, oh well. He never scored above a C- on any of the tests. It was such BS. To retake the test, you had to complete the original test perfectly, do a remediation packet perfectly, then retake the test. It was such an insane amount of work that if you did it, you were forever behind in a cycle of failure and remediation packets. So most kids just took the Cs. Complete BS.

DP yes we are dealing with this in algebra right now. It is AWFUL and yes it takes the parents a minute to understand that the teachers are literally not teaching and sometimes not even ensuring that kids understand what they need to be doing to get through the syllabus.

OP is not wrong to want to address this separately with the administration but will probably have to also deal directly with the teacher too. Also OP should get together with other parents - this affects all kids not just SN kids. a lot of parents at our school are freaking about it and have made some headway in improving it a little but you need to get together.

Also … we have exactly the same issue with the pacing or “self pacing” that means that kids seem to not be getting through the material. I can’t wrap my head around it - it is as if the school doesn’t have any concept of a fixed syllabus with concepts that have to be learned for a class. Just whatever the kid manages to struggle through on their own. Another issue is that they don’t want to give homework so the amount of study time is probably too short to get through what should be in an algebra curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all, appreciate the feedback (and understand that my feelings were not realistic). We are at that point where we feel like there is nothing productive that can come from DS being with this teacher for the remainder of the year; it's that serious. In any other subject we would just shrug and move on but the foundational nature of math makes it hard to take that approach. Tutoring 1-2x a week doesn't seem good enough. We didn't want the meeting with the AP, but it was suggested by the counselor.

If tutoring twice a week isn’t helping, this problem seems bigger than just a single teacher.

It's mainly been 1x a week, took awhile to find a good tutor with availability. The problem is the teacher literally is not teaching/providing zero instruction most days.

That is a very odd claim about a teacher and does not ring true at all.

OP here; I'd likely feel the same way if I read this but this is what has been reported by my DC (and others)...kids who in other subjects will clearly say we worked on xyz lab, teacher taught this.

I believe you. Quick question. Is this teacher a follower of the Modern Classroom approach? My DS had a teacher that sounds very similar to this one for Pre-Calc. She literally never got up in front of the class and taught anything. She used pre-recorded videos, sometimes of her, sometimes not, doing a few examples. Then she would record herself filling out a notes packet while remaining seated the entire time. They would do knowledge checks on the computer and could move on to the next set of videos in the Unit when they passed the Knowledge Check. If you hadn't made it through them by the test, oh well. He never scored above a C- on any of the tests. It was such BS. To retake the test, you had to complete the original test perfectly, do a remediation packet perfectly, then retake the test. It was such an insane amount of work that if you did it, you were forever behind in a cycle of failure and remediation packets. So most kids just took the Cs. Complete BS.

Teacher here with 25 years of experience. I regularly attend professional development opportunities and I take continuing ed courses at night. I also mentor new teachers.

I have no clue what the “Modern Classroom” approach to teaching is and your description above simply sounds like a teacher who is checked out.

Are you suggesting this is some big educational movement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all, appreciate the feedback (and understand that my feelings were not realistic). We are at that point where we feel like there is nothing productive that can come from DS being with this teacher for the remainder of the year; it's that serious. In any other subject we would just shrug and move on but the foundational nature of math makes it hard to take that approach. Tutoring 1-2x a week doesn't seem good enough. We didn't want the meeting with the AP, but it was suggested by the counselor.

If tutoring twice a week isn’t helping, this problem seems bigger than just a single teacher.

It's mainly been 1x a week, took awhile to find a good tutor with availability. The problem is the teacher literally is not teaching/providing zero instruction most days.

That is a very odd claim about a teacher and does not ring true at all.

OP here; I'd likely feel the same way if I read this but this is what has been reported by my DC (and others)...kids who in other subjects will clearly say we worked on xyz lab, teacher taught this.

I believe you. Quick question. Is this teacher a follower of the Modern Classroom approach? My DS had a teacher that sounds very similar to this one for Pre-Calc. She literally never got up in front of the class and taught anything. She used pre-recorded videos, sometimes of her, sometimes not, doing a few examples. Then she would record herself filling out a notes packet while remaining seated the entire time. They would do knowledge checks on the computer and could move on to the next set of videos in the Unit when they passed the Knowledge Check. If you hadn't made it through them by the test, oh well. He never scored above a C- on any of the tests. It was such BS. To retake the test, you had to complete the original test perfectly, do a remediation packet perfectly, then retake the test. It was such an insane amount of work that if you did it, you were forever behind in a cycle of failure and remediation packets. So most kids just took the Cs. Complete BS.

Teacher here with 25 years of experience. I regularly attend professional development opportunities and I take continuing ed courses at night. I also mentor new teachers.

I have no clue what the “Modern Classroom” approach to teaching is and your description above simply sounds like a teacher who is checked out.

Are you suggesting this is some big educational movement?

I am sorry to say it is an educational movement and not a checked out teacher … as far as I can tell it is being adopted by schools with a naive belief in ed tech and who feel like it allows kids to “move at their own pace” in a classroom with mixed abilities. It also connects to an unwillingness to track kids at all, even in MS/HS math.

An example: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/mastery-based-self-paced-modern-classrooms/

It is purportedly “mastery based” and “self-paced”. It does not work at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all, appreciate the feedback (and understand that my feelings were not realistic). We are at that point where we feel like there is nothing productive that can come from DS being with this teacher for the remainder of the year; it's that serious. In any other subject we would just shrug and move on but the foundational nature of math makes it hard to take that approach. Tutoring 1-2x a week doesn't seem good enough. We didn't want the meeting with the AP, but it was suggested by the counselor.

If tutoring twice a week isn’t helping, this problem seems bigger than just a single teacher.

It's mainly been 1x a week, took awhile to find a good tutor with availability. The problem is the teacher literally is not teaching/providing zero instruction most days.

That is a very odd claim about a teacher and does not ring true at all.

OP here; I'd likely feel the same way if I read this but this is what has been reported by my DC (and others)...kids who in other subjects will clearly say we worked on xyz lab, teacher taught this.

I believe you. Quick question. Is this teacher a follower of the Modern Classroom approach? My DS had a teacher that sounds very similar to this one for Pre-Calc. She literally never got up in front of the class and taught anything. She used pre-recorded videos, sometimes of her, sometimes not, doing a few examples. Then she would record herself filling out a notes packet while remaining seated the entire time. They would do knowledge checks on the computer and could move on to the next set of videos in the Unit when they passed the Knowledge Check. If you hadn't made it through them by the test, oh well. He never scored above a C- on any of the tests. It was such BS. To retake the test, you had to complete the original test perfectly, do a remediation packet perfectly, then retake the test. It was such an insane amount of work that if you did it, you were forever behind in a cycle of failure and remediation packets. So most kids just took the Cs. Complete BS.

Teacher here with 25 years of experience. I regularly attend professional development opportunities and I take continuing ed courses at night. I also mentor new teachers.

I have no clue what the “Modern Classroom” approach to teaching is and your description above simply sounds like a teacher who is checked out.

Are you suggesting this is some big educational movement?

I am sorry to say it is an educational movement and not a checked out teacher … as far as I can tell it is being adopted by schools with a naive belief in ed tech and who feel like it allows kids to “move at their own pace” in a classroom with mixed abilities. It also connects to an unwillingness to track kids at all, even in MS/HS math.

An example: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/mastery-based-self-paced-modern-classrooms/

It is purportedly “mastery based” and “self-paced”. It does not work at all.

Yeah, I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it. Our district is all about it. It’s dumb.

But back to the original point, the teacher should be included in the meeting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all, appreciate the feedback (and understand that my feelings were not realistic). We are at that point where we feel like there is nothing productive that can come from DS being with this teacher for the remainder of the year; it's that serious. In any other subject we would just shrug and move on but the foundational nature of math makes it hard to take that approach. Tutoring 1-2x a week doesn't seem good enough. We didn't want the meeting with the AP, but it was suggested by the counselor.

If tutoring twice a week isn’t helping, this problem seems bigger than just a single teacher.

It's mainly been 1x a week, took awhile to find a good tutor with availability. The problem is the teacher literally is not teaching/providing zero instruction most days.

That is a very odd claim about a teacher and does not ring true at all.

OP here; I'd likely feel the same way if I read this but this is what has been reported by my DC (and others)...kids who in other subjects will clearly say we worked on xyz lab, teacher taught this.

I believe you. Quick question. Is this teacher a follower of the Modern Classroom approach? My DS had a teacher that sounds very similar to this one for Pre-Calc. She literally never got up in front of the class and taught anything. She used pre-recorded videos, sometimes of her, sometimes not, doing a few examples. Then she would record herself filling out a notes packet while remaining seated the entire time. They would do knowledge checks on the computer and could move on to the next set of videos in the Unit when they passed the Knowledge Check. If you hadn't made it through them by the test, oh well. He never scored above a C- on any of the tests. It was such BS. To retake the test, you had to complete the original test perfectly, do a remediation packet perfectly, then retake the test. It was such an insane amount of work that if you did it, you were forever behind in a cycle of failure and remediation packets. So most kids just took the Cs. Complete BS.

Teacher here with 25 years of experience. I regularly attend professional development opportunities and I take continuing ed courses at night. I also mentor new teachers.

I have no clue what the “Modern Classroom” approach to teaching is and your description above simply sounds like a teacher who is checked out.

Are you suggesting this is some big educational movement?

I am sorry to say it is an educational movement and not a checked out teacher … as far as I can tell it is being adopted by schools with a naive belief in ed tech and who feel like it allows kids to “move at their own pace” in a classroom with mixed abilities. It also connects to an unwillingness to track kids at all, even in MS/HS math.

An example: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/mastery-based-self-paced-modern-classrooms/

It is purportedly “mastery based” and “self-paced”. It does not work at all.

Yeah, I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it. Our district is all about it. It’s dumb.

But back to the original point, the teacher should be included in the meeting.

I agree that the teacher should be included if they are trying to address supports that need to be added to the classroom but there is also a place for meeting directly with the admins do express unhappiness with the curriculum and format. The teacher may not even have any choice. But parents should get together to do it.

[Anonymous]

Honestly I am confused why you wouldn’t want to actually talk to the teacher.

[Anonymous]

The problem is experience math teachers ignore it when they get a math curriculum they know is awful. If you are a new teacher you are expected to follow the exact approach the district uses.

Many schools are using a discovery/ constructivist approach to math where the teacher intentionally never teaches anything and there are no worked examples in a textbook explaining the steps. Instead the students are supposed to work together in groups to discover how to solve math problems while the teacher merely guides them.

So your issue isn't actually with the teacher, your issue is with the math department for the district. Ask what the adopted curriculum is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is experience math teachers ignore it when they get a math curriculum they know is awful. If you are a new teacher you are expected to follow the exact approach the district uses.

Many schools are using a discovery/ constructivist approach to math where the teacher intentionally never teaches anything and there are no worked examples in a textbook explaining the steps. Instead the students are supposed to work together in groups to discover how to solve math problems while the teacher merely guides them.

So your issue isn't actually with the teacher, your issue is with the math department for the district. Ask what the adopted curriculum is.

As a tutor, I see the effect of this discovery/constructivist approach on my students - terrible! We’re treating kids like they all have to reinvent the wheel every time they work, and we give them teachers as leaders who don’t know themselves how the wheel was invented.

Add to it that this approach leaves students with virtually no written materials - neither to process on their own, nor to process in review - and that kids are given a very low volume of problems to work which are very simplistic and which they are not encouraged to write down anything as scratch work or notes for themselves.