incompetent teacher -- what can parents do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha! I would guess it's world history....

Here is the seventh grade curriculum.

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/socialstudies/middle/grade7/

This isn't the curriculum. It's the public consumption overview of the curriculum. MCPS isn't going to put its intellectual property where the public can easily access it. The only way to see the actual curriculum is to look at the physical binders that teachers use or get an MCPS employee to log you into the password protected curriculum archive. You could also get a teacher who really trusts you to send you a pdf of the curriculum binder (I did that once as a favor to a former coworker whose child was in MCPS).

However, even if you get all four of the curriculum binder for World Studies 7, you'd still need to look at the secured unit tests to know what to emphasize. The old unit tests in the back of the binders have been revised.

OK, it's not the actual curriculum. It's the overview of the curriculum. It's still enough to know what the class covers, in general.

[Anonymous]

I think we are now getting somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think we are now getting somewhere.

Not really.

OP has vanished. So we still don't know if it's this course. Or even if it's social studies or science.

[Anonymous]

Is OP also the poster on another thread who was upset that a Science teacher had told her class that vaccinations don't cause autism?

(sorry, haven't taken the time to find the other thread for a close reading, but it made me do a double take)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is OP also the poster on another thread who was upset that a Science teacher had told her class that vaccinations don't cause autism?

(sorry, haven't taken the time to find the other thread for a close reading, but it made me do a double take)

I don't think so. This OP is more articulate than that one.

[Anonymous]

Also, this one is treading carefully.

[Anonymous]

I can understand not naming the teacher or even the school, but why be so coy about which subject and grade level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can understand not naming the teacher or even the school, but why be so coy about which subject and grade level?

OP here and yes, I reiterate my apology for being coy. I am not the anti vax OP from the other thread. I appreciate the resources and suggestions all of you have shared. It reaffirms my conviction that most people on these boards really want to help and will try their best, even when they don't have full information.

[Anonymous]

For those of us in the same boat, op, can you share what you did and how effective it was?

[Anonymous]

I don't think op is coming back, but I will say that it must be hard to help an incompetent teacher who is stuck at a school. Especially if they are resistant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha! I would guess it's world history....

7th Grade World Studies in MCPS is a tough course. It's not taught sequentially the way that we parents learned history. In fact, it's not even meant to be a history course, but rather a mish mash of history, economics, political science, and geography. It's also much harder than the 6th grade course which has kid friendly topics like Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It's doubly hard if your DC is taking the advanced course rather than the on-level one.

If OP is willing to come clean, I'm happy to recommend some resources to her for this course. We had to supplement heavily when my DC's teacher went on maternity leave mid year and the long term sub knew nothing.

But if it's science, I can't help you. We were lucky to have excellent science teachers all the way k through 12.

Sounds like a couple of people could use this, PP, if you are willing to respond. See this other thread.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/501938.page

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but NP of other thread. Sounds like our kids are in the same class or at least have the same teacher. Yes it's Social Studies, and trust me, folks, this teacher is not OK. Something is wrong with her, and while I have enormous sympathy for her -- whatever the underlying cause of her difficulties -- she is not competent to be teaching. I doubt she's a danger, but it's clear her judgment and reasoning are not within the range of normal. School says it's offering supports for the kids, but my kid is reporting nothing of the kind - to the extent teachers are showing up in the classroom, it's mainly to observe the problematic teacher.

Only comfort here is that this is only 7th grade and it's not math.

Any suggestions beyond talking to the principal would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

IF the teacher is drunk, the new MCPS Code of Conduct for Employees should kick in pretty swiftly.

If she has a health issue, that is thornier. She may have a disability.

If she's just incompetent and the organizational wheels are turning slowly, but they are turning, pony up for a tutor or send your DDs to the other 7th grade social studies teacher.

If the wheels aren't turning at all, find out why. Maybe there is some reason the school deems her essential and doesn't want to let her go. I remember a thread elsewhere on DCUM about a nasty teacher who ran the school wide science fair. No one else wanted to do it.

[Anonymous]

Are they moving kids to another teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but NP of other thread. Sounds like our kids are in the same class or at least have the same teacher. Yes it's Social Studies, and trust me, folks, this teacher is not OK. Something is wrong with her, and while I have enormous sympathy for her -- whatever the underlying cause of her difficulties -- she is not competent to be teaching. I doubt she's a danger, but it's clear her judgment and reasoning are not within the range of normal. School says it's offering supports for the kids, but my kid is reporting nothing of the kind - to the extent teachers are showing up in the classroom, it's mainly to observe the problematic teacher.

Only comfort here is that this is only 7th grade and it's not math.

Any suggestions beyond talking to the principal would be appreciated.

If she is being observed by multiple teachers, it sounds like some plan to remove her in underway and they are gathering anecdotal data.