<p>My seventh grade daughter is having terrible difficulty with her social studies teacher. He is an intense guy who believes in kids “advocating for their own learning.” She has an anxiety disorder and avoids him as much as possible, although he wants her to come in for extra help. In addition, he emphasizes tremendous amounts of memorization which is quite difficult for her. I had her tested last year; because she was in the “average” range on all measures the school denied her an IEP or 504 accommodation. I had a meeting with the teacher to address my concerns and got nowhere. My daughter has failed all the quizzes and tests so far and I really don’t believe she can learn from this man. I have asked the principal to switch her to a new teacher; the principal said he would consider it but implied that this would be “controversial politically.” I am now awaiting a definite response. I know the usual shtick is “it will be good practice for her…there will be other situations in life that will be difficult and she needs to learn to adjust” but it’s not just a question of getting along with the teacher - it’s a question of learning. Any suggestions as to what I can do?</p>
<p>Some schools are very firm on not letting kids switch classes “just” because they don’t like the teacher or his/her teaching style. Can you ask him if you can have a copy of the curriculum for the entire year, and find a way to teach her at home, perhaps with a tutor? Unfortunately, she would still have to suffer silently through the class, but at least she would have the opportunity to master the material in a way that works for her.</p>
<p>“I got nowhere with him”…what did he say? What type of quizzes/tests does he give? short answer, fill in blank, multiple choice? What is the subject material?</p>
<p>Why, exactly was your child denied an IEP and 504?</p>
<p>That is where I would start. Is this school going to insist that she actually fail a course before she is given any accommodations? Set up a meeting with the classroom teacher, the head of special ed, and the principal, and force some action. You may find that a formal IEP/504 is not necessary to get help for your daughter’s situation. Or you might finally get the IEP/504 she needs.</p>
<p>All I can say is good luck. I went through roughly the same situation with my daughter last year in 8th grade. She was assigned a teacher she had 2 years earlier, and I knew she wouldn’t do well with that teacher, but was told classes were balanced carefully, and she needed to stay at least one marking period before they would consider a move. After one marking period it was her own fault for not doing well, and they would not move her.</p>
<p>When I brought up the possibility of a learning disability, I was told is wasn’t possible, because she performed at the top level on every section of out state tests - so like your daughter, she wouldn’t qualify for IEP or 504. The principal actually stated that it wasn’t possible for her to have a learning disability, because if she was a struggling reader, it would have shown up much earlier.</p>
<p>This year I brought the issue up with her new HS guidance counselor. He was a bit more receptive, particularly since she told him the work load was just too much in English and History - both require a great deal of reading. The middle school sends out copies of the state test reports in Sept - I never got my daughter’s. The HS was able to provide it, and we discovered something nobody had bothered to look at before. Indeed, she was still in the top level on the reading test, but the state provides a “latteral” score where you can compare different years. Turns out she made very little progress (went from sore of 518/700 to 582/700) between 3rd grade and 8th grade, and if the trend continues, she might FAIL the ever-important test in 10th grade!</p>
<p>If she has an official diagnosis with the anxienty disorder, you might in fact qualify for accomodations under 504. I would revisit that with the school, and insist that she be moved. Under the ADA, she is entitled to a free and APPROPRIATE education. It is not your problem if moving her is controversial.</p>
<p>How does she do in her other classes? Is this the only class where she has trouble?
The teacher wants her to come in for extra help. Is he too intimidating? What’s your impression of him after meeting him? Maybe if she went to see him, he’d make some accommodation for her.</p>
<p>I agree with another poster here that, if she has an offical diagnosis for the anxiety disorder (or ADD or other medical condition that can affect learning) then she may be able to get the 504 with that.<br>
I would just be sure to know a bit about the other teachers she might be moved to, and if you think one of them would be better for her, push for it. Kids are moved from one class to another for a variety of reasons all the time. The only real reason I can think of for not moving her is if it would put the other class over a set number of students they may have to adhere to, but since it sounds like the principal’s reasons were more political concerns, I doubt that is the case.<br>
I disagree with the people who say kids should just stick it out and learn to deal with teachers who aren’t a good fit…as training for later in their careers. I don’t really want kids to learn to put up with intolerable situations. I think it is important for them to learn that there are often solutions to that situation, and one solution is to remove yourself from it…find a different class, or later… a different job.<br>
The trick, of course, is to determine whether the situation is truly that bad, and not just challenging…a teacher who is demanding the students’ best, etc. that they may just not be used to. It doesn’t seem to be the situtation here. I just wanted to note that there is a difference. We certainly don’t want kids switching classes every time the going gets tough. ;-)</p>
<p>Would this subject require the same amount of memorization regardless of who taught it? I’m trying to understand whether the problem is a mismatch with the teacher (he is intense, she has an anxiety disorder) or the subject matter. If her anxiety disorder has been diagnosed by a medical professional, is there room for seeking accommodations on medical grounds?</p>
<p>If all else fails, can you see a way you and she might be able to enlist this teacher as an ally? He really doesn’t look like a success story if a student who has tested in the average range, or by some measures in the top range, can’t pass his tests or quizzes. Would she be able to perform well if she went to him for extra help, even though she dislikes him? Another option: a paid tutor might be able to introduce strategies for memorization and test-taking.</p>
<p>Best of luck! This is a tough situation.</p>
<p>Have you considered using a private educational psychologist? She could be tested privately and, if necessary, the IEP/504 would then have to be written and used. This is done fairly often in our area so children can qualify for the accommodations deemed necessary by families. Different psychologists can get different results. Be aware that a plan, if written, will follow her for the rest of time. This is a tough one–good luck to you and DD.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your quick replies!!! Her are some details that may help clarify the situation.</p>
<p>Neuropsychology testing last year (done privately) indicated that while my daughter has an average IQ her working memory is only in the 21% percentile. She does much better on tests of memory when the material is learned in a context. Her current teacher wants her to memorize terms and ideas (subject is world geography) that he does not discuss in class, with the idea that this vocabulary will be used later throughout the year. I understand his reasoning but for my daughter this is like being asked to memorize “juzikler: a fish from the Paleolithic era with the appearance of a sturgeon.” The tests often involve matching vocabulary words with their definitions, so if she gets one wrong she automatically gets another wrong.</p>
<p>In regard to the teacher, he seemed very surprised to learn that my daughter is afraid of him and insists that he can work with “all kinds of kids.” He struck me as rather narcissitic and lacking in empathy, in contrast to the principal with whom I felt a better connection. The principal concedes that the teacher is “intense” with a “gruff” exterior but says he is “sensitive” on the inside.</p>
<p>I do believe that my daughter could master this material with a different teacher. In fact, she has a tutor who has helped her, but even on the most recent test (another matching test) she only got 60% correct. The teacher insists that he is the only one who can help her and that if she refuses to come to him then there is very little that can be done. I do think it would help her to meet with him outside of class but she absolutely refuses (even when I try to bribe her!) as she insists he is a “bad explainer…he justs keeps saying the same thing and I still don’t get it.”</p>
<p>In regard to her other subjects, she is also failing math even though she did well on the state proficiency test last spring. Unfortunately, the school will not provide her with a 504 as they feel that they “already do” the accomodations that the neuropsychologist recommended last year.</p>
<p>I plan to meet again with the neurpsychologist to see if she has any other ideas but I am very concerned. My daughter says she “hates her life” and has started calling herself “stupid.” I can’t afford private school and frankly given her difficulties I’m not sure a private school would accept her at this point. I think there may be more options at the high school level but that’s two years away.</p>
<p>I don’t believe in labeling kids with “learning disorders” unless there is real evidence of it. Just because you don’t do well with a teacher/subject does not mean you have a physical cause for it. Labels will follow you even when you don’t want them anymore. I’m surprised that people jump to that as a first course to follow. What does that label do for you? If extra tutoring, you can get that without the label. I’m not discounting that some kids have learning disabilities at all. But unless you truly feel that label fits your D, I would not follow that course. She’ll still be in the class until all is resolved.
Your immediate problem is her failing in a class that you attribute to the teacher.
Options:
- Stick it out. Your D needs to take up the teacher’s offer of help. What’s stopping her? You need to do this even if you want to change teachers. Be there with her if necessary.
- Change teachers. Still need D to see teacher to give the “we tried and it’s not going to work” argument. Until that happens you don’t know if it’s going to work or not. And choose the teacher whose class you want her to attend. The principal has a different agenda–let him worry about “political stuff”.
- Get a label for her through private testing. Only others can say what this will do for her. But it probably won’t help her immediate problem (but I don’t know).</p>
<p>Man, I feel for you. Sometimes it just doesn’t click. Sorry we cross posted.
But your D NEEDS to meet with him if she wants to change classes/teachers. The school will be VERY reluctant to let her change classes if she isn’t able to accept the extra help offered by the existing teacher. Go with her–wait out in the hall/back of class/the car if it makes her feel better. And since she hasn’t seen him, she doesn’t know his reaction. My feeling is that a narcissitic “bad explainer” will take extra pains to try to reach a student if only to feed his own ego. (I know how bad that sounds. So don’t flame me.)</p>
<p>I’d pay more attention to your D “hating her life” and calling herself stupid-taking her out and enrolling her in online school if you can’t get anywhere with more accommodations, since private school (though you may get even less by way of help there). That was our next stop if we hadn’t found an amazing public school for our D.</p>
<p>She didn’t have learning difficulties-quite the opposite, but she had a teacher who sounds exactly like your D’s and he refused to let her learn at her own pace in his reading class (Catholic school). He had her doing these SRA reading comprehension passages for 5th graders in 7th grade-when she’d already tested on state tests as an adult-level reader. Nothing we said could change his mind-his ego refused to allow him to admit he was wrong. The principal was no help. She’d smile and nod and take our documentation and nothing would change. </p>
<p>D took to laying on the couch moaning how she hated her life and could we please homeschool. Your situation sounds so similar. I would see what more your psych can come up with and fight with everything you have to get your D the accommodations she is due. Everyone I know anywhere with a child who needs them has to fight and sometimes threaten lawsuits to get the help they are owed by law.</p>
<p>But if none of this works, please consider some version of homeschooling. The online schools allow kids to work at their own pace to a point and you can choose classes that suit the student’s learning style. There are a lot of options, including in some states, free public ones. You could also craft your own curriculum. Like I said, that was my next step if we’d not found the school our 8th grader is now in. Good luck!</p>
<p>What part of “working memory in the 21% percentile” does this teacher (and the math teacher and the principal) not get? This is serious. The student can learn, but flat-out memorization is NOT going to work. You need a meeting with the teacher about this. Very few students your daughter’s age are going to be able to explain their needs to an adult.</p>
<p>I expect that the teacher is naturally good at memorization, and has never considered what life is like for people who don’t have that ability. I also am fully confident that many if his students would be more successful if he would adapt his teaching to include more solid context. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, here are two strategies for your daughter: Make up songs or other memnoic devices that will help recall this random information. If she can come up with some story or narrative on her own that is good, if not there may already be one out there. For example: Every Good Boy Does Fine (music) or King Phillip Came Over From Germany Stoned (biology).
The other piece of advice is to stop assuming a the one-to-one correspondence for a matching quiz. Go ahead and use the same word or letter more than once.</p>
<p>My daughter has working memory issues. She was tested privately before the 4th grade because of problems in math. Fortunately, all of her teachers were wonderful about it but it still required a lot of one on one work. She had a tutor who understood what coping skills are necessary for a working memory problem. She did lots of work with mnemonic devices and putting seemingly random items in a context. It became a game with her. Singing and rhyming helped when she was younger. For example, I thought she would never learn her multiplication tables. Just because she knew 2x6 didn’t mean she knew 6x2 because she couldn’t hold the numbers in her head and manipulate them - that is working memory. </p>
<p>She still remembers that the only way she learned 7x7=49 is because a touchdown is 7 points and one of the only football teams she had heard of was the 49ers. She never forgot after that. </p>
<p>You need a tutor who understands these issues and can come up with compensation techniques. It’s not easy, but with a lot of work, she will learn her own coping mechanisms that she can take from middle school through college.</p>
<p>My daughter hard real problems with social studies and the way it was taught. We tried various methods and one was having her read the material into a tape recorded and play it back taking note. We also did flashcards, and me reading her the text. She also brought a recorder to class and hid it, wrong sure, but it helped her.</p>
<p>Memorization is a skill, and people need to find strategies. </p>
<p>Is there anything she is good at memorizing?</p>
<p>D tests at 3-5% for working memory, so I empathize with you. If you want her identified, can you push harder for that? They can’t legally say she doesn’t qualify just because “she’s passing state tests”.</p>
<p>As others posted, learning in context and mnemonics are what have really helped my daughter. If listening to the material would help, a Lifescribe pen (recorder tied to the notes she is taking) may be very helpful.<br>
Good luck!</p>