Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want teachers making “observations” of my child’s mental health.

They will do this regardless (and for most teachers that’s a good thing). They just won’t put it in your children’s file.

No they don’t. They don’t sit down at recess and write notes on your child. They don’t communicate to parents about their students’ mental health. Ask me how I know.

+1 they are not allowed to suggest or diagnose anything to parents.

I'm the teacher who originally wrote about making notes at recess. I don't know about others, but my notes were for me. They enabled me to be sure I was paying attention to each child. (The children who "act out" obviously get attention. The ones who are quiet sometimes can go under the radar.)
These were not notes that went anywhere but to my own keeping. The notes were for me. They were not observations on "mental health" --they were observations on participation. Some kids need time alone and that is okay. But, if that child is always alone and seems afraid to interact, that is a problem and the teacher should pay attention.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want teachers making “observations” of my child’s mental health.

They will do this regardless (and for most teachers that’s a good thing). They just won’t put it in your children’s file.

No they don’t. They don’t sit down at recess and write notes on your child. They don’t communicate to parents about their students’ mental health. Ask me how I know.

+1 they are not allowed to suggest or diagnose anything to parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want teachers making “observations” of my child’s mental health.

They will do this regardless (and for most teachers that’s a good thing). They just won’t put it in your children’s file.

No they don’t. They don’t sit down at recess and write notes on your child. They don’t communicate to parents about their students’ mental health. Ask me how I know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want teachers making “observations” of my child’s mental health.

They will do this regardless (and for most teachers that’s a good thing). They just won’t put it in your children’s file.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want teachers making “observations” of my child’s mental health.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t want teachers making “observations” of my child’s mental health.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sent in opt out request forms in my kids' folders several days in a row and it looks like nobody was checking, because the forms kept coming back. Grrr.

Email your principal

Show your kid the survey and tell them thelat they are not to answer a single question if given this survey.

Anonymous wrote:I sent in opt out request forms in my kids' folders several days in a row and it looks like nobody was checking, because the forms kept coming back. Grrr.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's what they could have done--although, I am not sure about privacy issues, etc.

I taught young children. A tip that someone gave me: during recess--pick two or three kids every day to observe and make notes. It only takes a very short time to see if they are interacting appropriately with other kids--or not interacting at all. And, of course, during recess, if you note something troublesome, make a note of that, too. This ensures that even those kids who "fly under the radar" get observed.

As one of my colleagues said one time, "I don't worry about the kids who run in an hug me--I worry about the ones who hang next to me at recess." Some kids will practically rub up against a teacher. Those are usually the needy ones.

What I am saying, is that a survey like this is not helpful. Observation is. I cannot speak for older kids, but for elementary, teachers taking notes would be much more useful. And, of course, this does not mean you don't observe in the classroom, but a teacher can learn a lot about a child at recess.

Is this how they will be doing it with the K-2 kids? My kid is in 1st, and I actually sent the teacher an email last week asking her to do exactly this at recess. My son is shy and tells us no one will play with him at recess. even if he asks and that he has no friends, but 6 year olds are pretty unreliable. So I brought it to the teacher's attention and she said she'll do some extra observation this week and get back to us.

Anonymous wrote:Here's what they could have done--although, I am not sure about privacy issues, etc.

I taught young children. A tip that someone gave me: during recess--pick two or three kids every day to observe and make notes. It only takes a very short time to see if they are interacting appropriately with other kids--or not interacting at all. And, of course, during recess, if you note something troublesome, make a note of that, too. This ensures that even those kids who "fly under the radar" get observed.

As one of my colleagues said one time, "I don't worry about the kids who run in an hug me--I worry about the ones who hang next to me at recess." Some kids will practically rub up against a teacher. Those are usually the needy ones.

What I am saying, is that a survey like this is not helpful. Observation is. I cannot speak for older kids, but for elementary, teachers taking notes would be much more useful. And, of course, this does not mean you don't observe in the classroom, but a teacher can learn a lot about a child at recess.