First I have to say that there are many teachers out there that are great. If you notice that your child might need a little support and guidance, they work with you and together, "problem solved!"
Then there are those teachers with the "my way or the highway," approach to everything. They can cause a negative snow-ball effect that causes problems in all of your child's classes. Meet one such teacher:
THIS IS FROM THE ACTUAL EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MY SON'S ENGLISH TEACHER AND MYSELF. TEACHER'S AND OTHER NAMES REMOVED TO RESPECT THEIR PRIVACY.
Teacher:
(Student) still has not turned in his next draft of the personal statement. He needs to do this with the original essay attached. Likewise, I gave him the information regarding the worksheet and I expected that today but did not receive it. He has to read Chapter 20 in The Scarlet Letter tonight and the next draft of his Description Paper is due this coming Monday.
Parent:
Thank you very much, this will help us work with him.
Teacher:
Did you read his rough draft of the personal statement?
Parent:
Yes we have. If you haven’t gotten to know (Student) yet, he’s an independent thinker. He not only thinks out of the box, he tries to live out of the box. We make great efforts to support him in his creative expressions, however, we also work even harder to instill upon him the great importance of basic fundamentals. This is often our challenge. At home we advocate for the traditional schools, traditional teaching methods, basic curriculums, etc. We know that he won’t be able to survive in a public school, or most any school setting if he can not conform to how things are done in that educational setting. What I don’t understand, as a proud parent, is how this ADHD can have such an effect on a person to the point that it literally makes them shut down, and break down in opposition to something that to many of us seems so simple, and then accept the fact that my son is struggling with this disorder. You are a high school teacher with a Phd. You are well liked by many of your students. That’s the reason why I came to you at the end of last semester to meet you and tell you that (Student) had heard of your reputation and that he specifically asked to be in your class. I didn’t know if he could handle it, so we asked you for your advice. You said that the AP class may be too demanding so maybe we might consider the Honors class that you teach. I agreed, but I still wasn’t sure if he could even handle the honors class. So I talked to (Student) about this and he insisted that he could do it. I sent an email out to all of the teachers at the beginning of the semester to introduce (Student) and give everyone a little heads up about his challenges. I went through the protocol of setting up a 504 meeting which over the past 5 years and somewhere from 15-20 meetings later, I still don’t enjoy. It comes down to this. I don’t know if you’re willing to attempt to reach (Student) and see if you can be the one to crack the code and help (Student) get passed whatever it is that causes him to shut down. There have been teachers in the past, in different states, that have taken on the challenge to reach (Student), and they were successful. It did take a lot of work on not only their part, but also the part of us the parents as well as those in after school tutoring programs, etc. In the end, (Student) did exceedingly well in those classes and those are the teachers that (Student) remembers and refers to as his favorites to this day. Dr. (Teacher), I don’t know what you’re willing to do, but I do know that you could make a difference in (Student)'s life.
Thank you for your time,
Teacher:
My concern remains and hence the question, “Is he in over his head in this class and would he be better served in a less demanding environment?”
Parent:
A less demanding class may be more doable, but will he learn anything? I don’t know the answer.
Teacher:
That makes two of us.
Parent:
I still believe that you can reach him, stimulate his desire to learn, and help us to help him overcome his challenges. Hence the question, “are you willing to step away from how you normally do things just enough to help my son?”
Teacher:
I will follow the parameters of the 504.
In conclusion: It appears that the teacher is saying that he will only do what he has to by law. What is sad is that it also appears that the teacher has no desire and is not willing to do anything beyond what he has to do, to educate our children.
Do you have or know someone with a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? (ADHD)
I know that their are many parents out there with ADHD children. For those of you who are not familiar with this, usually these kids appear to be perfectly normal and you almost can't detect it from just watching them or even talking to them. They may come across just a little hyper-active. They often are extremely intelligent and become bored easily. When learning they often look at things very differently. When asked to do things if they can't comprehend the reason why they are asked to do it, they usually won't. If demanded to do it, they become very oppositional or just shut down. They often read into things more than it really is making it difficult to do some simple tasks. They have difficulty focusing or remaining focused on things they are not interested in, but when they do focus they become over focused and somewhat obsessive. Their strengths are often extremely magnified. They are often very forgetful and come across as being irresponsible. The quick solution is to put them on medication that pretty much just sedates them and they have bad side-effects. Some parents have said that the medications helps because it does give them the ability to focus better.
(for those who don't know what a 504 plan is, it's a legal document that is drafted as a result of the parents requests. This may involve the parents meeting with administrators, teachers, counselors, etc. to put together a plan to provide necessary accommodations allowing the school to provide a free appropriate public education to qualified students with disabilities. Such an education consists of regular or special education and related aids and services designed to meet the individual educational needs of students with disabilities as adequately as the needs of students without disabilities are met.)
