questions to ask teacher

[luvbug00]

I'm going in for a meeting with myas teacher on wed. As you may have read there is alot of emotions going on here from myself.
I have several things to address.
I'm going to give a few points that need to be addressed and concerns. I'm just not very good with getting beyond my emotions and wording these things in a non-emotional fashion. (I'm very "passionate" when it comes to mya, more so then i should be at times)

background and random info. on the situation

*22 year old teacher hired on to replace myas original teacher in nov. VERY different personality and teaching methods.

*mya did very well under her old teacher with all A and B's
Her last interim that i got Friday was all "f"'s ..There is something seriously wrong here because mya has struggled with some subjects but never had an "F".

* Mya does not like this new teacher ms.B. Not typical for mya because she loves everyone and has an aim to please personality which is being effected by this dislike.

*Ms.B is new to teaching (which she has made her immaturity very obvious) and when trying to establish authority she is turning the kids off. (mya is not the only child having trouble adjusting to her according to other parents.)

* Her teacher accuses her of not reading enough but she does. In fact IMO she reads too much ( doesnt get out and play as much as most kids do)

*her teacher sticks her nose where it is not necessary. I dont plan to make a big stink over this but i feel she needs to know she offended.

*We sit and do homework every night. But 98% of the time under this teacher we have been totally confused. She doesnt send home any books or instructional paperwork. It's only been maybe a year since she has done mathematical equations, but it's been over 10 years since I have. I end up teaching mya the way i was taught but when she tests at school the way i was taught is wrong. she then gets answers wrong when they are really right.

like teaching division. I was taught the house method. the house being the division signal.
how many groups of 5 people enter a house that can hold 125?

mya is taught some other bizzare method to do this.
she did it my way and got the right answer but because she wrote out the house method and not the one her class was taught she got it wrong..

KWIM..

Bottom line. we are no longer informed. this teacher isnt equipped to handle these kids or us parents IMO and her methods arent working. How should i word all this?

[grapfruit]

Yikes and *hugs*

I agree, any child that can go from A's and B's the first 1/2 of the year to all F's in a quarter. Well there should be some concern. And some simple "division" is what's changed? Not the child. So the obvious answer is the teacher.

I guess I wouldn't go in all guns ablazin' bc you want this person on YOUR side. Explain that when you're helping Mya at home you need examples of how she wants the problems solved otherwise you'll have to resort to the way you know how to solve them. I would argue that even if it's not the process she's teaching, if Mya is getting right answers using a different method she shouldn't be counted wrong. Not only is that not fair it's both discouraging and frustrating to the two of you trying to sort through it. I wish I knew how she wanted her to do it. Bc your method is how I'd do it too.

Have you talked to other patents? Maybe going in as a united front is an option?

[MommyToAshley]

I would basically tell her what you told us (minus the part about her being immature). I would say that you are concerned because Mya has gone from getting "A's" and "B's" to "F's" in such a short time.

I would explain that you try to help Mya with her homework, but there are no examples to go by and that you both need clearer direction on the homework. Homework should be an extension of what is being taught in class. If Mya is not getting what the teacher is demonstrating in class, then there's more wrong than just the homework. The teacher needs to find a way to reach Mya. Maybe you can ask for Mya to have some extra help in the classroom. By having someone else there to help that is trained, this person might pick up on some ways to help Mya process the information differently and be able to give the teacher feedback on what Mya needs.

I know you don't want to alienate the teacher, but I think it is important for you to stand up for Mya. Will the principal be there too or just the teacher?

[luvbug00]

Just the teacher. I've had way too many issues with this school and the higher faculty. I really think the principal is more a hindrance to getting anything done then a help. This school is crud imo and I'm really just sucking this up till middle school.

[MommyToAshley]

So, how did the meeting go?