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Friday, February 29, 2008

The way they do things here is annoying....

WARNING: Rant enclosed

Some days, a girl just has to complain...

I know we're the new kids in town. I understand this. We've been down this road before. However, some things just are NOT acceptable...or wierd....or just plain illogical.

We're in the middle of trying to get our oldest son tested to see if we can get him some help in school. He's always had problems with reading, and in fifth grade, it is causing issues with Social Studies and Science...in other words, he's failing those two subjects. I met with the teacher, the school counselor, the vice-principal, and about 5 other people whose positions I have forgotten. Throughout that meeting, it was repeatedly stated that every help would be given to him, to give him the chance to succeed. Now, almost a month later, first, none of the testing has happened yet. Second, his grades have gotten worse. Third, this child came home with a 70 on a test....2 days later, I got an email from the teacher saying that he was given a chance to bring the grade up, and didn't do it. When I question said child, he was unaware of that...it seems that the teacher made that offer when my son was out of the room, and when my son said something to the teacher about it, the teacher told him, "Tough. You're too late now." HUH?!? THIS is giving my child EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED?!? Another instance of issues with this teacher...my son accidentally did some homework early, handed it in to the teacher's assistant, yet the teacher gave my son a ZERO on that piece of homework...even though the teaching assistant reminded the teacher that the work WAS done. Every contact I have had with this teacher has resulted in my feeling like this teacher thinks that WE are not doing pushing our son hard enough...I have come away feeling like the teacher thinks that if only WE did more, our son would be doing better. SOOOOO.....I called the school last night, and talked with the vice-principal. I let her know that I am NOT happy with how things are going. I am NOT happy with the way the teacher treats my son, nor how he treats me...and I am SERIOUSLY not happy with the fact that he was not given the same opportunity to bring his grade up that the rest of the class was given. I was civil. I was even understanding of the delays, but I did let her know that I want to see SOMETHING change. She promised to go talk to the teacher immediately, and also to call me back, and let me know what the plan will be. Now, we wait again.

This is killing me. I KNOW my son has problems. He has had problems since he started school. His father has always had reading difficulties, and at least 3 people in my family have learning issues, so I DO understand how it works...I also have a background in working with people with learning difficulties. I know there are compensations that CAN and SHOULD be made to help my son. I am NOT seeing any of that happening yet. He has been going steadily downhill since getting into this class....since starting in this new school. He was keeping his head above water...actually making B's and C's in the school in Montana. I do NOT believe that the work is here THAT much more difficult. However, I don't know what else we can do to help him. We do NOT have extra money for Sylvan or whatever other tutoring programs are available here. We keep him in after school every day....he gets to go out to play on the weekends, but school days are dedicated to school work. I go over EVERYTHING with him. He does GREAT it math...he's making A's in math....B's in WRITING, and D- and F in Social Studies and Science.

Okay, so we DO have 4 other children in school. Kindergarten, 2nd grade, 4th grade, and 8th grade. Everyone else is doing GREAT. The 8th grader is in band, and the band festival is this week...tonight they have their performance and sight-reading. She looks SO good in her "penguin suit!" So (sniff, sniff) grown up.... next year is HIGH SCHOOL....SO not ready for THAT! So, the band festival...tonight, at a different middle school. At 6:00 pm. I don't know how to get there, we always have something else on Friday night, and I am going to have to bring the rest of my kids along....which means that I won't be able to go into the sight-reading, because non-adults are not welcomed to that part...WHAT THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!?

This is symptomatic of the attitude of the schools here, in a HUGE military community, toward military families. They SHOULD understand that military families won't always have the cash to get a babysitter, or even have the spouse along, and that schools in other parts of the country do not necessarily do things the "bass-ackwards" way that things are done here. I am seriously contemplating taking at least one of my children out of these schools. If some changes are not made SOON, I will be discussing this with my husband, because nothing matters more than giving my son the chance to succeed....and it looks to me like the school is NOT doing that for him.

Alright...need to drop this for now....I have work to do....I DO have a job...nevermind what that *)&^% teacher thinks of me.

6 comments:

Shoshana said...

I have the same problem with my son's teacher. He gets easily bored. From the notes and marks I have received.I thought my son was failing and beating his classmates up.

I sent my husband, and he went away with an impression that the teacher is a bitter old bat who hates teaching.

I went to talk to the teacher...my sons grades were A-. The teacher was throwing all kinds of fit because sometimes, my son would only do part of the work to get to his desired grade and wouldn't do anymore. He didn't bother anybody, he just also wouldn't go A+ like the teacher thinks he could.

My son felt terrorized by this teacher, he asked to quit school. Quit! So, I moved him to a different school, and he's doing much better. Some teachers are just asses.

And if you talk to the school principal, no matter if the teacher is horned, the principal will always say the teacher is Excellent and Wonderful.

I feel for you. I have met teachers like this...and too bad smacking them is never a solution because I think it would certainly relieve my stress a little.

Thanks for visiting Just Say These Words. I seem to start lots of blogs on my teeny tiny free time. I give away books at This Book For Free.

Shoshana said...

I'm sorry to hi-jack your blog with long comments. I guess I'm not over my frustration from that teacher.

Alicia said...

I'm so sorry. I think you mentioned once that you used to homeschool. Is it possible to just take out this one child and homeschool him the rest of this year? Do you have a good library systen? We can get scads of fun science and history stuff through ours, and you could get reading books there too, maybe. I know this may not work for you, but I'm just tossing some encouragement your way, if you're already thinking about it. He would enjoy it and maybe next year you'll get a great teacher.

Keri said...

How frustrating! My boys are only little still, so I've never had to deal with this sort of thing myself yet. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to know what the "right" thing is to do! I hope the teachers will be willing to work with you now that you've put a call in to the principal! It's not fair that your son is being short changed that way :(

Melanie said...

Is homeschooling him an option..for the rest of the year? My daughter is REALLY smart little thing but if it does not interest her she will literally not see the need in doing it. i.e. math and spelling She is doing well now but for awhile she was failing these subjects. Only because they bored her.

Gunnz said...

Laura,

Thanks for stopping by the new blog and not chewing my butt too bad for dumping all of the info.

The reason I posted to this on is that we had the same problem with Caleb. He is autistic. Although 2 different schools promised the moon in fulfilling his IEP (individual education plan), we were tired of teachers calling the "stay at home mom" for her help. They wanted her to be an aide and take care of him instead of doing their jobs AND SPENDING THE MONEY THEY GET FROM THE GOVERNMENT FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS on what it was meant for instead of other things. We sere also tired of finding him curled up inside boxes hiding from the sensory overload of dealing with his classmates.

Hang in there and keep us posted.