Requesting specific teacher - does it ever work?

[Anonymous]

DS has a pretty laid back teacher, who isn't very firm with keeping the class engaged and listening. In short, my child had a better grasp of math, reading, spelling, and overall interest in school, a year ago. Trying to help with homework is quite the task as I end up re-teaching what was taught in class (which is very frustrating for a household where both parents work FT). In speaking with others, I have gathered that the teacher is generally not very firm or strict with the kids, hence the instruction does not seem to be sinking in for DS.

Anyway, I have no interest in causing the teacher any distress or issues, as I'm sure this style suits many kids just fine. However, DS really needs a teacher (starting in Sept/2015) who is more strict and disciplined, provides good/clear instructions and lessons, etc. DS was at the top of his class last June, so I know he has great potential with the right teacher.. does it ever work to request a specific teacher or teaching style?

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can request a specific teaching style--firm, strong disciplinarian, highly structured classroom organization, etc. Do no request a specific teacher. There are often staffing changes and no principal can guarantee a specific teacher.

[Anonymous]

When would you make a request like this? We are new to the district and don't know any staff. My son is a handful, but responds very well to strict discipline and not at all to soft spoken multiple chances. Should I try to request a style or take our chances? We are not high maintenance parents and have worked with every teacher in the past. This year was ok at best with the FCPS large classes. It could have been a lot worse with a more laid back teacher.

[Anonymous]

What makes you say your son was at "the top of his class" last year?

[Anonymous]

You can write a note to the principal saying your son learns best with an authoritative teacher. Be careful what you wish for, my friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When would you make a request like this? We are new to the district and don't know any staff. My son is a handful, but responds very well to strict discipline and not at all to soft spoken multiple chances. Should I try to request a style or take our chances? We are not high maintenance parents and have worked with every teacher in the past. This year was ok at best with the FCPS large classes. It could have been a lot worse with a more laid back teacher.

Write the letter now. They will form classes before school ends in June.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can write a note to the principal saying your son learns best with an authoritative teacher. Be careful what you wish for, my friend.

I'm not OP and that is my concern. Has anyone written a letter then regretted the outcome? I'm the other poster that was thinking about it.

[Anonymous]

Well, I think it's in the best interest of both student and the school for our kids to have a good match in a teacher, agree? I was so disappointed this year, I've considered sending my kid to private.. which is ridiculous given the cost of living here.

DS will have much better scores with a better matched teacher who he actually learns from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can write a note to the principal saying your son learns best with an authoritative teacher. Be careful what you wish for, my friend.

I'm not OP and that is my concern. Has anyone written a letter then regretted the outcome? I'm the other poster that was thinking about it.

My DS can be a handful and misbehaved quite a few times with a laid back teacher. So I asked for a strict teacher for the following year and got one. The good was that he definitely behaved better (not perfect). The not so good was that he always seemed downcast and quiet pretty much the whole year and didn't talk much in class (which could be considered good and bad). Also personally, the teacher just wasn't as friendly or communicative with me, unlike the laid back teacher who was super nice - I didn't want to be a helicopter parent and so didn't hound her. Anyway, my lesson was that there is no perfect teacher and you can't have it all. Just gotta decide what's more important and go for that. Keeping my fingers crossed for next year. Good luck everyone!

[Anonymous]

Write a letter with a brief description of your child's strengths and weaknesses. You can state that your child responds best to a highly structured environment. If there was a previous teacher who you felt provided the right environment for your child to thrive, you could mention her as an example.

When we are making our class lists, an administrator brings all the letters and summarizes any special requests. We do not take specific requests for teachers, but certain buzz words (creative, flexible, firm, high-structure, etc.) lead us to get a pretty good idea of which teache(s) would or wouldn't be a good match.

[Anonymous]

The principal typically sends out a letter to the parents in May regarding placement requests for the following year. It always states to NOT request a teacher by name but learning style, etc is ok. You can also request any classmates you do not want with your child. I was told at one school that these requests are almost always granted, though the learning style request may or may not be...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I think it's in the best interest of both student and the school for our kids to have a good match in a teacher, agree? I was so disappointed this year, I've considered sending my kid to private.. which is ridiculous given the cost of living here.

DS will have much better scores with a better matched teacher who he actually learns from.

I think you have to be realistic. Public OR private, your child is going to have had over 50 teachers by the time they graduate high school. There's just no way that you are going to get a slam dunk every year. As PPs have noted, you can try to request teaching styles. You can also really try to communicate with the teacher in a collaborative (not critical) way about what strategies work well with your student.

Having said all this, there is always the exception to every rule. There was one notorious teacher at my kids' elementary. For whatever reason they couldn't/wouldn't get rid of her. She taught 5th grade. I never made a single teacher request for either of my kids throughout elementary school. However, I told myself that if one of my kids ever got assigned to this teacher--I'd ask for the transfer. Any other teacher in the 5th grade, but not that one. I purposefully didn't make a whole lot of other requests/demands while we were there, because I knew that I wanted to be able to make that request when the time came, and I would have built up good will in the meantime, by not being a super finicky high-maintenance parent.

Turns out, my kids didn't get that teacher (whew!) but I advise everyone to keep their complaints in perspective. Save these kinds of requests for when you'll really want/need them, and don't use up all your good will with the administration before then.

[Anonymous]

I team taught with a "laid back" teacher who was insanely nice but had no organization skills, no classroom management, and no idea in general what the hell was going on. Her SOL pass rate was shockingly low (like... 30% when everyone else who taught the subject at that school was around 85/90%.) It was sad to watch the kids who really wanted to learn desperately try to understand the material.

That was middle school. If my kids were ever in a class like that, I'd put in a formal request to have them moved out.

A "laid back" approach is fine if the kids are learning. But it sounds like they're not. So I'd for sure email the school early in the summer and make a request for the following year.