<p>Oh, one thing that was kind of amusing…on the test where the class average was 61 that they were all “mentally ■■■■■■■■” for not passing? Last night, they all had to write essays, saying why they earned such a bad grade on the test, and then the parents had to sign them. I SO wanted her essay to consist of “Because I am mentally ■■■■■■■■.”</p>
<p>We also had to sign the tests. I certainly don’t remember how to do Geometry. But what I noticed is that on each problem, there were just markings like “-4” or “-2”. I guess the kid is supposed to take the initiative to go to him and ask what they did wrong to earn 2 or 4 points off. He also counts off for spelling.</p>
<p>An essay? That really sounds crazy. How is writing an essay going to help the students learn the geometry concepts they obviously don’t have a grasp of? If the teacher really wanted to help them out, he’d go over the exam with them (or offer an after school review session), then give them another test. If he really wanted to teach them, that is.</p>
<p>Sounds like the essay is to take the heat off him. My daughter also had to write (not an essay but for each incorrect answer) she did wrong with math problems but also had to redo the problem to show that she had learned from her error.</p>
<p>As for the mentally ■■■■■■■■ comment??? That is your ticket into the other class.</p>
<p>This is going from bad to worse. The essay is wholely inappropriate. What were the kids supposed to say: I’m stupid, maybe? Or how’s about, because I have an incompetent teacher and do not have the ability to teach myself Geometry without some instruction? </p>
<p>Missiepie, please check out alternatives and get your D out of Dodge. The teacher’s weird unpredictability and his apparent tendency to humiliate students could leave who knows what happening in the classroom. Now he’s going after the whole class – what happens if he starts honing in on individuals? If the kids were learning Geometry, there would be some slim argument for keeping your D in there. But no one is learning anything worth knowing in the class, and now your D is starting to think of herself as an incompetent math student.</p>
<p>The bottom line is, if you’re a teacher, do you actually want the students to learn the stuff, or do you want to make excuses or blame them? As a music teacher, it really disappoints me when a student doesn’t “get” something, and I spend a lot of personal time mulling over ways to help him. It truly bothers me when students are not successful, especially when they’re working hard. </p>
<p>Some of my kids’ teachers would let the students rework the problems they got wrong on tests and get partial credit added back to their score. That seemed like a logical compromise.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think the essay is an obvious play to get the heat off of him. If he can get a big enough stack of essays that say, “I made a careless error” then the 61 average isn’t his fault…right?</p>
<p>Doubleplay, I meant to comment on your last post. Why is a teacher a teacher if he or she doesn’t have a strong desire to teach the material in a way that the students grasp it? If I had a class where the average was 61, I’d feel like a failure. </p>
<p>I know that the teachers teaching AP classes are in a different situation, because they HAVE to teach a certain curriculum for which some of their high school students may not be ready. But Geometry? Yesterday, my Junior brought home his transcript…I noticed that he had received a 98 in Geometry 1st semester and a 96 second semester…he is NOT good at math…but he had a teacher who really wanted them all to get it.</p>
<p>Sheesh, give the poor teacher a break. I’m sure that he’ll not fail the whole class. With grades like that, in an AP class, he’ll have his hand forced: he’ll curve, giving everybody who tried an A, everybody who coasted a B, and everybody else a C. He’s just making sure it’s not too boring, that’s all.</p>
<p>quicksilver,
The thing is, the teacher is not TEACHING them the material. Obviously if the class average is failing, there is a problem. Whether or not he gives everyone an A doesn’t matter- what’s the point of going to school? To get grades, or to learn?</p>
<p>The idea of a curve is interesting with the districts new computer system. We can see the “gradebook” online. As far as I’ve seen, there are no curves…the numbers are the numbers. I think to curve the grades on the computer system that they have, they’d have to be entered higher (e.g. make the 61 a 70, etc.) in the first place. I don’t think the computer system lets them curve after the individual grades are entered.</p>
<p>That’s the thing, doubleplay. With the 100s they are all getting on homework, most will come out of the class with Bs or Cs. But they aren’t learning Geometry. Like someone said, math classes build on each other. If this was Latin Literature, for example, if wouldn’t matter all that much…it wouldn’t really hurt her later in school if she never really learned Latin Literature. But to miss a math building block is scary. </p>
<p>We’ll hire a tutor if need be so that she learns the material. But I really hate to have her even sitting in his class.</p>
<p>Our school offers math tutoring (free) to students from other students. The tutors, talented math students, earn service hours. The times are usually before and after school and at lunch and the services are offered at the school. Geometry should be an easy subject to be peer tutored.</p>
<p>In a similar middle school problem, I offered to be a volunteer teachers aide, and was immediately taken up on the offer. I don’t know if that would be as effective in high school. But just the offer might cut down on the negative comments/behavior in class.</p>
<p>Or a teacher who has learned that the way to keep parents off their backs is to give every kid a high grade. Believe me it happens. They teach their kids nothing but everyone thinks they’re a wonderful teacher because all the grades are so high.</p>
<p>I’m not accusing this teacher of doing so, just providing some food for thought.</p>
<p>I won’t give a blow by blow of what is going on (although one mom did buy her daughter a tiny tape recorder so she could covertly tape the class, after the guy went into such a rage that he threw their quiz papers and threw a stool out in the hallway.)</p>
<p>ANYWAY, as I predicted, the guy would be in real trouble with the district if he failed most of his students, so the class test average that used to be 61 is now 78. My daughter’s 6 weeks grade went from a 74 to an 88 in two days time. (The grading period ends on Friday.) Besides raising (curving?) the low test scores, he added in a bunch of 100s on homework. (I don’t think he grades it because the class average on all of the homewok is always 100.)</p>
<p>Still trying to figure out the next step. Will probably schedule a meeting with as high a level person as will met with me after Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>I’m glad it’s working out well for your D grade-wise. I’m sorry though, that she still has a bad teacher, isn’t learning, and is in a poor learning environment. </p>
<p>A poor teacher is a poor teacher, whether or not he gives out all As or all Fs. The bottom line is students don’t learn, and eventually it hurts them down the road.</p>
<p>We have some teachers at our school that basically give As for doing the work, regardless of the quality. The parents love these teachers. The sad thing is, from the perspective of a parent of two kids in college, I realize now that actually learning to write well requires high standards, and high demands. Getting an A for a C paper is nice in the short term, but will really be the student’s demise once he gets to college. If the school really feels it “has” to have the grade inflation to help the kids get into college, maybe the teacher should write the “real” grade in parantheses on the back of the paper. (Sort of like, “Here is your A. But this is what the paper is really worth in terms of college criteria. Just so you know…”) I guess they can’t do that either, because it would be admitting grade inflation.</p>
<p>As a teacher, I really struggle with what I should advice my kids (students) to do when they get a really poor teacher. The reality is that the wheels grind VERY slowly in terms of removing a poor teacher, and there is VERY little (in our district) that the administration can do while the teacher is still employed (teachers have autonomy in teaching and grading…)
I’ve been lucky - I teach at my boys’ school, plus they were all in the magnet that has pretty excellent faculty across the board.
For the other students who don’t have that opportunity, I tell them to have their parents call. Then write. Honestly, even when the party-line is “we never change students’ classes” the administrators will eventually take the easy route, just to get rid of you, and make the switch. </p>
<p>Don’t call the teacher - email. Email leaves a paper trail, and anything the teacher responds to you adds to that trail. If he claims to be doing such and such to help students, and you have the email, he pretty much will be stuck doing it, or look really bad when sitting in the conference.</p>
<p>If you get no satisfaction from the first conference, you should schedule another one and ask that an administrator be present. Take copious notes. If anyone promises anything, write it down, and then follow up the conference with an email, restating the important points. If you really think that you are getting nowhere, CC the area supervisor or the superintendent or whoever else is next up the food chain.</p>
<p>Bottom line - this is your kid, and it’s your job to get him or her the best education you can. Do what you have to do.</p>
<p>And hire a tutor. A good tutor can fill in a LOT of the gaps.</p>
<p>Just an update. The dreaded geometry announced his resignation yesterday. He’s going to teach at a charter school…I pity his future students, but at least we’re rid of him. The kids are all spreading the rumor that he was fired, but it is doubtful.</p>