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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]"Teacher is the class of '25" says it all. When I started teaching, I didn't know my bottom from my elbow. I had no idea how kids should actually perform on my assignments, much less if my assignments were at the right level. Even if this is a good curriculum from a box, your kid's teacher needs a year at the very least to figure out what parts of it to augment so the kids will understand it. Plus, I'm betting that the teacher is figuring out their classroom management skills and is tested and frizzled and fried (this is 8th grade. Every day is 6-7 and 69.)

If it were me (and I'm not saying you should do this, but hear me out)--I'd ask the teacher in a friendly way if I could come in and talk. Say you know your kid's doing badly and you want to come in and see some of the materials so you can help explain it to them better. While you're there, say brightly, It's your first year! How are things going? You're so brave! etc etc.--and just see where you can gently influence things like you would with a younger colleague. Like, "Yeah, I heard that all the kids got a 65 on that quiz. Is it possible for me to see that? Wow, that's a good question.... Is this one that kids did poorly on? I feel like it might be confusing the way it's ...." Etc.

Don't expect to get anywhere per se. Just plant seeds of ideas that you, who knows how kids this age learn, can share with her. Ask if you can check back in a month and see how things are going. And then at home, find some way to appropriately share with your kid that all teachers are new at some point and this is his year for a new teacher and don't take the grades to heart so much. Hope that by December or Feb, she'll have some things sorted out and his grades will improve. If that, plus the 504 stuff, hasn't improved, then you can see if you can talk to the instructional coach or AP at the school. The bummer about science is that, unlike reading and math, they don't always get a special ed teacher in there, so the teacher is on their own for adapting materials and even knowing what kids need. But maybe with your input, this teacher could get some special ed support.

Sorry to write a novel here, but I hope this behind-the-scenes look was somewhat helpful. I feel for your son and you--just know that you're not alone and that everyone gets a new teacher sometimes who is figuring stuff out. [/quote]

This is good advice [/quote]

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