SKL Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 My kids' 3rd grade teacher is on maternity leave, I don't know how long. Before she went on leave, I was happy with how things were going. I liked that she would usually give a couple days to finish homework assignments and the amount was reasonable. And also that when the kids didn't seem to understand something on their classwork, she'd go back over it with them (or have a tutor do so) vs. just give them a lousy grade and move on. I hate the substitute's homework practices. One day she assigns little or nothing beyond the standing requirements (math facts, spelling practice, memory work, and AR reading). The next day they come home with 7 homework assignments, all due the next day (plus 1 due the following day). Come on. I didn't think much of it the first time, but it seems to be getting worse and worse. She also doesn't have the kids go over their mistakes on graded papers done in class. And I get the papers a couple weeks later, after they have moved on to a different concept. I have a few requests that I think are simple and reasonable. One, give two days for homework where possible, or spread it out. Two, send the graded papers home sooner so we can work on tough concepts in real time. I don't like to be confrontational. It never seems to end well when I make a request to a teacher. Should I just suck it up? What would you do? PS, they grade homework and they dock the grade if it's late. Doing the homework well has a positive impact on their overall grades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 I'll give an example of the graded paper issue. They were subtracting numbers like 4002 - 2569, or 4012-2569. Miss A was confused about borrowing/regrouping when the digit borrowed from is a 0 or 1. She got a bunch wrong on the work done in class. I saw it 2 weeks later. I asked her if the teacher had gone over her mistakes with her, and she said no. It turned out to be OK since I have parallel materials at home (when we have time to work on them), but if I hadn't, she would have bombed the test and not learned the concept. I do not have parallel materials for most of the work they do in school, so there is only so much I can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 I should also mention that parent-teacher conferences are being postponed until the regular teacher returns to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I replied to this and it got lost. I kind of already said my piece earlier when you mentioned this and you have my sympathy. I'd ask why not use the other teacher's pattern, since the kids had gotten used to it? Just gently to ask for consistency since you'd planned extracurriculars around that as well. It might be helpful with another parent. This is an area where the sandwich method of criticism could really help: "You have a very tough job and we appreciate your jumping in; it's a lot of homework and we'd like to go back how it was; however we do realize that's a lot of work, how can we help?" The load you're talking about is just silly especially as she's not getting back to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Since it is a substitute I would go to the next person up or the principal. I know maternity leave is different over there but someone must know when she is coming back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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