Requesting a different teacher in FCPS

[Anonymous]

Last year, DC (elementary school) was in a class where the teacher took a leave of absence for more than half the school year, and the class had an substitute. The substitute was ok, did the best they could. Teacher came back and it was like night and day and things went very smoothly after that but it was almost the end of the school year.

This year, DC is in a class with a brand new teacher and is struggling. DC reports that if one child misbehaves in class, everyone gets a consequence. For example, the teacher stepped out of the class and the children went wild, so when she got back to the class, everyone had to put their head on the desk. If a child misbehaves, they run laps at recess. I'm not troubled about the consequences. I could never manage a class full of children. The teacher seems to be doing the best she can under the circumstances. Sounds like there's a few behaviorally challenging children in the room. However, DC struggles with anxiety and the anxiety this year is sky high, doesn't want to go to school, DC often looks sad in the evening, etc. DC also struggles academically although there are no learning disabilities (we had the testing) but is receiving extra help with pull out services, etc. The academic challenges in addition to the anxiety and a teacher she doesn't feel comfortable has been very tough.

Does FCPS take parent requests into consideration about changing teachers? I don't want to go in complaining about the teacher to the principal but more of a situation where it's not the right environment for DC.

[Anonymous]

How do you know that the other class(es) would be different? This is what happens when schools are overcrowded and teachers have too many disruptive students. I would consider writing a letter at the end of the year explaining about your child's anxiety and what type of teacher/classroom would fit her needs. You can talk to the principal now but I highly doubt they would switch her.

[Anonymous]

You get what you get and you don’t get upset.

[Anonymous]

Act now before it get worse. Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Act now before it get worse. Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with the principal.

Talk to the teacher then the principal about the full class consequences and how it’s causing anxiety. Not a class change. That won’t hapoen and there’s no guarantee the other classes will be better.

[Anonymous]

We are only on day 17 of school and you have already written off the teacher and the class. Your kid isn't the only one in the family with anxiety issues.

[Anonymous]

Talk to the principal about it, and the only way to get it done is to make a BIG DEAL out of it, complain complain complain. At our elementary, we had two children switch out of one kindergarten teacher's room the first week because the parents made a big stink about it.

[Anonymous]

Full class consequence is NOT "best practice" and there is no research supporting it. I could have written your post a few years ago.

You can't switch classes, but you can ask if there is a research-based classroom management program that can be used.

[Anonymous]

Full class consequence is NOT "best practice" and there is no research supporting it.

Agree. And, sometimes, teachers make mistakes. I was a teacher. Here's my take:

The "head on the desk" thing is okay. If the class was out of control, she needed to calm things down and get control (I am assuming this was a short minute--not an extended period of time.) This is not so much a punishment as a calming tactic--unless it went on for a very long time. I frequently used this when things would noisy and out of hand--I'd just say "heads down" and then when things got quiet, say "okay, back to work." It was a way to get attention--not a punishment.

The "walking laps" is really not okay, but I'd give her a pass if it is a one-off. And, if she is a new teacher, she may still be working through this. That said, my DD had a fifth grade teacher who had the kids do this every day after lunch--but, it was not their recess--it was more of a "health break." It was definitely now punishment (although some may have seen it that way.!) That teacher was really into teaching good health habits.

[Anonymous]

You won't get a class change, but the principal my spend more time with that teacher.

[Anonymous]

This year all grades at our school do laps prior to first recess time.

In the past sometimes if the class was rowdy, they would head out early for a recess, and do a few laps to use up some more energy. Hopefully allowing for more focus later.

Talk to the teacher about her classroom management, and how your child perceives it.

[Anonymous]

OP—the laps at recess as punishment for misbehavior is unacceptable. Please take your concern to the teacher and the principal. Bring along this quote taken directly from the FCPS website:

“FCPS Regulation 3218 will be updated to reflect the updated 30 minute per day minimum, doubling the amount of supervised recess for all elementary students that may be provided in two segments. The regulation already included the direction that “recess should provide for student-selected structured and unstructured play through a variety of activities.” FCPS Policy 2100 also currently states that “recess should not be withheld to manage behavior or used for instructional activities such as completing classwork, homework, or remediation activities.”

[Anonymous]

I would have a huge problem with the teacher making them run laps at recess. I would be emailing the teacher ASAP and escalate to the principal if it did not stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I would have a huge problem with the teacher making them run laps at recess. I would be emailing the teacher ASAP and escalate to the principal if it did not stop.

All of our school's K teachers use laps as a punishment. They don't make them run, they have to walk around the perimeter of the playground 2 times before they can play. It's a small playground.

[Anonymous]

If you bring the issues to the principal’s attention in a respectful way you might get more support for the teacher and that can help the whole class. Ask for the counselor to do a formal observation in the class. The teacher may have some difficult kids and nobody will do anything about them unless enough noise is made about it. If she doesn’t complain they will figure everything is okay. I would ask for a conference with teacher, principal, and counselor. Have kid tell you positive things about school so you can start with those, then move into what you are seeing and ask for a plan to be developed.