Students Scared of Lower School Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember the days when if you got in trouble at school you got in twice as much trouble at home. Many kids are intolerable in classrooms. It makes it difficult for all.

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The misbehaving children are targeted, and my child, fortunately, is not one of them. But he/she is nervous about the way the discipline is carried out.

NP. Does the teacher’s approach work on the misbehaving children? I’m guessing not or the children wouldn’t be misbehaving. I would argue it’s a matter of ineffective discipline, not the teacher being loud or mean. (If kids won’t behave and sending them to the AP or calling their parents isn’t an option, send them to the back of the classroom where they can read/draw/play games and teach the students who are willing to sit at their desks and learn.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child has a specialist teacher (foreign language) at a Virginia independent school. He/she has told us several times that he/she is scared of the teacher because of her loud and unusual classroom management techniques -- stamping her heels very loudly so that it sounds like someone being slapped, saying rude things to the children. Other parents have told me that she has blown whistles at the children in the classroom in the past. Our child has not had any complaints about their other teachers and enjoys and does well in school. But he/she is becoming very nervous about being in this teacher's classroom. Other parents with older siblings have said that this has been a longterm issue at the school, but that any complaints to the administration are glossed over and that the teacher "retaliates" against the complaining parents' child. We are hesitant to bring up the issue directly with the teacher based upon this feedback, but we can't think of an alternative way to handle this that won't make things worse for our child. The administration apparently shares the name of the parents with the teacher, so going to the administration does not seem to be an option either.

If you share the name of the school and the language being taught, rest assured that the school administrators will get the message.

[Anonymous]

Good tor the teacher maintaining order. You should thank her, not complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The misbehaving children are targeted, and my child, fortunately, is not one of them. But he/she is nervous about the way the discipline is carried out.

NP. Does the teacher’s approach work on the misbehaving children? I’m guessing not or the children wouldn’t be misbehaving. I would argue it’s a matter of ineffective discipline, not the teacher being loud or mean. (If kids won’t behave and sending them to the AP or calling their parents isn’t an option, send them to the back of the classroom where they can read/draw/play games and teach the students who are willing to sit at their desks and learn.)

You would rather your child is exposed to that, than to a teacher tapping the floor with her foot to get the class's attention, when she's in a situation where she's not using a language the children speak yet?

[Anonymous]

It is not a tapping of the foot. It is a very loud stomp in high heels against a hard floor. The children say that it sounds like someone has been slapped.

[Anonymous]

Maybe kids just need to learn how to behave. If they did, teacher wouldn’t have to resort to this behavior

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not a tapping of the foot. It is a very loud stomp in high heels against a hard floor. The children say that it sounds like someone has been slapped.

OP, this seems like something you either have to live with or switch schools over. It really doesn’t matter if the behavior is inappropriate or not if the approach is a bad fit for your kid, because you e indicates that the school is unwilling to do anything g about it and in fact even passes on the names of anyone who complains to the teacher, and children are then subject to retaliation. That sounds like a very negative environment and you should probably look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

I think you may be right. The even bigger issue is the school’s response to the situation.

[Anonymous]

Outside of this teacher's old school methods- is this teacher a good teacher? I mean slamming heels and blowing a whistle isn't abusive. Is the teacher verbally assaulting kids or physically abusing them? I had chalk thrown at me and a ruler slapped on my hands when acting up. Screamed at and told we were bad. I'd take a whistle and high heels clomping. We all survived way stricter teachers. It sucks to have a meanie. But it'll be okay.

[Anonymous]

She took her fingers and flicked a child in the forehead, asking “How do you not know that?” when the child could not answer a question. Getting flicked in the forehead is not particularly painful but it is humiliating. These are very young children. A previous poster may be correct that these actions may reflect different cultural standards but I believe it is not acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Is it Spanish? Mine came home saying his elementary Spanish teacher screams and yells a lot... But I think really she is just using a loud voice and big gestures versus the other (old, predominately white American) teachers at school. Different cultural norms.

[Anonymous]

It is Spanish. Her voice is not particularly loud nor are her gestures particularly expansive. It is the foot stomping that sounds like a slap, the loud claps that also sound like a slap, and the mean comments if a child does not know the answer. Other parents are talking about this issue but the school does nothing other than let the teacher know who is complaining so it is in the parents’ interest to stay quiet so their child is not targeted.

[Anonymous]

There is yelling as well but my child (and other students) say that it is done when the teacher says the kids are misbehaving. My child is in a class that is known for being well-behaved so I am not sure why the teacher needs to resort to what I and other parents view as intimidation tactics. Plus, these kids are really young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teach your child to respect his elders and you won’t have a problem. If you’re raising a hoodlum though it’s going to be an issue.

Ewwww... what a disgusting response! Did you not watch Matilda as a child?! A teacher disciplining kids in a way that scares the kids is bad for every kid in the class not just the one getting trouble.