I Am Starting To Have Contempt for This Woman

As you may or may not have noticed, I have added a count down to the last day of school on the sidebar of my blog.  The fact that they number of days is still so high is quite depressing, because I CAN NOT WAIT for this year to be over and to not have to deal with Rachel's incompetent teacher ever again. 

After we finished our homework last night (yes I call in our, because I have to oversee it as much as Rachel has to do it and it took just over an hour and a half), I told my husband that I am starting to have contempt (noun, lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike) for the teacher.

Yesterday we received a note telling us that the science worksheets that were sent home last Wednesday are to be used this week to study for the test on Thursday.  Well, that would have been very helpful information last week before I threw the papers away.  I guess that we are supposed to save the almost ream's worth of paper that these kids bring home each week just in case we might need it later.

So I had to send in a note asking for an additional copy of the worksheets.  Perhaps I would have known that we should save the worksheets if this weren't the first science test of the year.  Yes folks, they are doing Chapter 1 of their science book...and it is March...and over half way through the year.  I guess this is why the teacher told me that they won't be doing anymore addition or subtraction this year.  How can they?  They need to cram 9 months worth of science in to the last three months of school.

Like many of you suggested, I went to see the principal about the teacher a couple of weeks ago.  Well, the very next day I start getting notes sent home on Rachel's work like "Not Paying Attention in Class" and "I Reviewed This In Class, Rachel Didn't Pay Attention."  While Rachel does have a tendency to space out at times, it is the teacher's job to get her attention and isn't it convenient that all of these notes start coming home only after the principal has been informed about what is going on.  Sounds more like a teacher practicing CYOA versus being a concerned educator.

I am totally at a loss right now.  I was so frustrated last night thinking about this situation that I almost cried.  I cannot wait until the end of the year so that we can be done with this school forever.  I would pull her out now, but I know Rachel and there are two things that she just doesn't deal well with 1) unexpected change and 2)feeling that someone else is doing something that she is not, which she would feel if she knew her friends were at school and she was not.

So I try to fill in the wholes in her 1st grade education at home and I wait for summer.  Then she will know that everyone is out of school.  She will be able to come to our homeschool park days and make some additional friends.  We will be able to take dance class and swimming lessons and play outside.  All of the things she doesn't have time for now because we are doing 1 to 2 hours of homework a night.

Comments

[Mayhem]

Crazy! Are you serious?! (Of course you are...) Oh man, I'm so sorry for how horrible this teacher is. What happened at the meeting with the principal? Have you heard from any other parents regarding their experience with this teacher or with the principal?

[Mayhem]

Crazy! Are you serious?! (Of course you are...) Oh man, I'm so sorry for how horrible this teacher is. What happened at the meeting with the principal? Have you heard from any other parents regarding their experience with this teacher or with the principal?

[Carrie R]

You sound like my mother. When I was a first grader back in 1986 my teacher told my parents that they should put me in a hospital for the mentally handicap. She use to make me stand up infront of class and read. I couldn't read and she'd tell the class this is what happens to kids who don't do their homework. Which wasn't true because my mom and I would sit for hours reading.

My parents refused to hold me back. The second grade teacher was a saint, she suggested my parents take me to an eye specialist. We found out I had a tracking problem. (One eye moved along the page faster than the other) After six weeks of wearing glasses my grades went from D's & F's to A's & B's.

In college I made the National Dean's list. I wanted to send that old bag of a teacher a copy of the certificate I received and tell her, "if I'm so mentally handicapped then how'd I accomplish this?"

When Rachel is doctor or (her choice) a princess be sure to think of Miss Teacher of the Year and how going through her class made Rachel a better person.

[barb meserve]

Please tell me they will have some sort of math during the remainder of the year! Hopefully, since they've finally gotten to science, there will be weights and measures or something. 97 days? Dang, we only have 74.

[Laundry & Children]

When I went to see the principal she was very kind and took many notes, but didn't promise anything. In the end, I found it to be rather fruitless.

As far as the Math goes, when we went to see the teacher she told us not to worry about the fact that Rachel was struggling with addition and subtraction because she didn't think they would be doing any more of it this year. Then she flipped the book over a couple of chapters and guess what, they were scheduled to start adding and subtracting double digit numbers. Glad to know she is on top of what is going on with her class.

In case you were wondering, I refer to the teacher as "the teacher" so that I can be very frank and honest here. I don't want to google her own name and come across all this. Not that I am not at the point in which I care what she thinks, but I don't want to make Rachel's experience any worse.

97 days counts the weekends not just the school days.

Also, just this month, the class has won a free dress day (they usually wear uniforms) and a pizza party. The teacher knew that those were coming up, but not was the math lessons were.

[patois]

How pathetic that your daughter (and you) are stuck with this woman.

[Suzanne]

Hmmm, I don't know what I am talking about I'm sure. But can you just blow off the teacher? I mean, send Rachel to school for the social life and spend that hour-and-a-half at home teaching her whatever it is that YOU and SHE think she needs to spend time on. Disregard the homework, the worksheets, and the tests, and of course the grades. Maybe even have her go to school half days.

I'm a bit of a rebel I guess, but I am not going to let some incompetent state employee set the tone of our family life.

Anyway, my two bits: easier to dispense than enact, I'm sure.

[Suzanne at :: Adventures In Daily Living ::]

I just noticed the Huckabee badge in your sidebar. As he has stepped out of the race, I invite you to look into Ron Paul. He is a man of honor and peace.

Best,

Suzanne

[susiej]

I so wish you could pull her out right now!! How awful for you and her. Does Patios' plan sound like an option? Who needs that kind of stress?

[Laundry & Children]

I don't know that I could completely blow off the teacher and not make Rachel's life more difficult. I don't want her to get fussed at during school because I decided to let her blow off homework. I have stopped trying to interpret vague directions. I just do what I think they mean and I move on.

Rachel will not be going to school tomorrow. Jack and I spent the evening at the emergancy room, so we didnt' get to study for all the tests that the teacher scheduled for tomorrow. That is another thing she does, stack up all the tests on the same day instead of spacing them out. The way it is, we end up studying all week and then having marathon review sessions.

BTW, Jack is fine and I will have more on him tomorrow, but now Mama is tired. So I am off to have a glass of wine and a semi-good night's rest.

[diane]

My son had a teacher like this in the third grade. We put up with it until she called him stupid in front of the whole class. My son has an IQ of 130!! Needless to say, we were in the principals office before school the next morning demanding to see him. Things improved a little after that but that year was clearly the worst. Good luck, believe me they arent all that bad. In the end he had some wonderful teachers.