my daughter's English teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are going to use a freebie public school, then you have to deal with teachers you might not like.
Really you will find just as many awkward or odd teachers in private schools as well.
Consider homeschooling. It only takes about 2 hours of guided instruction a day, so even a 40hr/week working single parent can homeschool, especially the older kiddos.

Homeschooling is fine and all, but it's not the solution to the problem of one single teacher in an otherwise good school with plenty of good teachers. This is the route to go when the whole school or district sucks.

It is a solution if the state allows partial enrollment, which more should

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your daughter can spell and has terrible handwriting because she has been lazy (spell check and computer) so she is now used to getting an easy A. My kids (in private) have always had to do their drafts on paper then they can use their computer. Seems pretty normal.

I know I know-- it is about the trees! Please OP. Demand more from your child.

OP here. My kid was in a private school prior to this year. All of her essays were typed. She has beautiful handwriting, and her spelling is pretty good, but she is a perfectionist and likes being able to easily add or takeaway a sentence without the eraser marks.

This a great chance for her to find out that learning and doing well is sometimes messy, and even good writers need to re-do their work often.

This is also an excellent opportunity to help your daughter learn that extra studying outside of class (on spelling) will pay dividends in making her work easier. It’s no different than a kid memorizing formulas or facts to do better in math and science.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: DD has gotten straight As in English since Kindergarten. Last year she got an A+ in English 1. Her English 1 teacher said she was a great writer.

This year, the school got a new teacher who none of the kids like. She used to spray kids with water if they got a question wrong, but she stopped. She takes a long time to grade things and requires that unless the child has accommodations, all work must be handwritten and done in class. My daughter makes a lot of spelling mistakes which makes handwriting and editing an essay take forever. The teacher admitted that the best way to learn the material was to memorize the brand-new material and then gave them a pop quiz which the majority of kids failed. On top of that, she requires that before she grades anything the kid needs to bring her the paper copy and upload a picture of the assignment. If a child is absent but uploaded the work, she will not grade that.

My daughter has a B in a class she has always been good at. This is a small public school with only one teacher per subject for the grade. Since she can't request a teacher change, is there anything my daughter can do? How have your kids delt with difficult teachers?

Your child is finally being taught to write properly. I’m very jealous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All work for a grade should only be done in class. That way, there’s no cheating. Stop making excuses for your kid. If she can’t spell, she shouldn’t have been getting As all of these years. I’m glad one teacher is willing to let kids know where they really stand.

You don't believe in homework?

Sure. Students can read assigned chapters to prepare for a discussion in class. Any written work needs to be done in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This will force your DD to start spelling better.

She can spell but all the erasing makes marks and so she has to waste a ton of paper to make it legible. I don't like the amount of paper ending up in my recycling bin. DD asked her teacher if she could type her essay and then copy it down and she said no.

Handwriting is better for memory formation and retention, and for synthesis of ideas (see recent neuro research). I am a teacher who requires all assignments to be handwritten unless the child has accommodations. This teacher is doing your DD a favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most English teachers now require that work be handwritten in class; as another pp pointed out, it avoids cheating with AI.

Avoiding cheating is why. No sympathy from me for students if teacher is making them write by hand in class. I had to do that from 8th grade onwards. In the end, it will help DC learn to write better by having to do it by hand during class with time limits. And it is good prep for college; some college classes will even precisely specify which paper can be used and insist on blue ink, or maybe black ink, or maybe #2 pencil…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This will force your DD to start spelling better.

She can spell but all the erasing makes marks and so she has to waste a ton of paper to make it legible. I don't like the amount of paper ending up in my recycling bin. DD asked her teacher if she could type her essay and then copy it down and she said no.

Are you KIDDING me? Paper is meant to be USED. She's not wasting it - she's using it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: DD has gotten straight As in English since Kindergarten. Last year she got an A+ in English 1. Her English 1 teacher said she was a great writer.

This year, the school got a new teacher who none of the kids like. She used to spray kids with water if they got a question wrong, but she stopped. She takes a long time to grade things and requires that unless the child has accommodations, all work must be handwritten and done in class. My daughter makes a lot of spelling mistakes which makes handwriting and editing an essay take forever. The teacher admitted that the best way to learn the material was to memorize the brand-new material and then gave them a pop quiz which the majority of kids failed. On top of that, she requires that before she grades anything the kid needs to bring her the paper copy and upload a picture of the assignment. If a child is absent but uploaded the work, she will not grade that.

My daughter has a B in a class she has always been good at. This is a small public school with only one teacher per subject for the grade. Since she can't request a teacher change, is there anything my daughter can do? How have your kids delt with difficult teachers?

My DD got through her elementary years with straight A's but as I reflect, she could have come home with straight C's and it really would not have mattered. The grades do not count towards anything and the honor society was a nice moment but they get a certificate and a handshake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All work for a grade should only be done in class. That way, there’s no cheating. Stop making excuses for your kid. If she can’t spell, she shouldn’t have been getting As all of these years. I’m glad one teacher is willing to let kids know where they really stand.

This. Not being able to spell by the time you get to high school means you should not be getting As in English. That’s embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

I am a dyslexic who did very well in elementary and middle school English, who struggled at the high school level for issues you mention.

If your kid can't spell without a computer, and doesn't have an accommodation, she's not good at English. If she is not doing well, it is probably because she's not good at English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All work for a grade should only be done in class. That way, there’s no cheating. Stop making excuses for your kid. If she can’t spell, she shouldn’t have been getting As all of these years. I’m glad one teacher is willing to let kids know where they really stand.

This. Not being able to spell by the time you get to high school means you should not be getting As in English. That’s embarrassing.

Dyslexic here, agree with this. I spent a lot of time memorizing the spelling of works to keep up with my grade level. I got a B and was pretty freaking proud of it.

If your kid has no issues but can't spell in high school, you need to have her study more.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you kids are finally being held to standards. This is a blessing, OP. Tell your daughter to step it up and actually earn the as she used to get. She's been coasting on low expectations for too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your daughter can spell and has terrible handwriting because she has been lazy (spell check and computer) so she is now used to getting an easy A. My kids (in private) have always had to do their drafts on paper then they can use their computer. Seems pretty normal.

I know I know-- it is about the trees! Please OP. Demand more from your child.

OP here. My kid was in a private school prior to this year. All of her essays were typed. She has beautiful handwriting, and her spelling is pretty good, but she is a perfectionist and likes being able to easily add or takeaway a sentence without the eraser marks.

I’m a high school English teacher.

Most writing is done by hand now in our school because the use of AI is so widespread and impossible to stop. The years before AI, there was an explosion in cheating due to kids paying online paper mills to complete work. Things are very different in high school English these days, and there is no going back. It makes me sad, but there seems to be no solution. In addition, writing and reading/analysis abilities have plummeted even as grade inflation has soared: it is shocking to me to consider just how different an A today is from an A 10+ years ago, and also the parent pushback and pestering if a child is NOT given an A. I have given up and now give the easy As because that is what admin and parents demand, and I wish to remain employed. God help the kids who believe they are truly doing great, but are actually reading/writing years below the level at which an A student performed in the earlier part of my career (and their parents truly have no idea if the massive gaps caused by screen/tech related issues that didn’t exist a dozen years ago).

I am sure the teacher is not taking off points for “eraser marks.” I require my students to write in blue or black ink, and if there is a mistake, they are told to draw one one through it and keep writing. Why would your daughter waste time rubbing out a mistake with an eraser? Surely the teacher doesn’t expect this.

If the teacher were a young colleague at my own school, I would be telling her that parents are going to make her life a living hell if she doesn’t just give the kids the grades their parents demand. This is what school has become these days. Also, I would encourage her to leave the profession as soon as she can plan an escape route: teaching is not a job I can recommend for anyone anymore. I am sure that if you go in to complain, you can get the A you want for your child, and also get the teacher fired or put on the admin radar for harassment and abuse until she quits: it’s easy, so go for it! (But your daughter is most likely nowhere near what an A student was when you yourself were in school).