Employment Question. What Would You Do?

[bolt.]

Interesting. I’ll be fascinated to see how that develops. (Our schools seem pretty traditional. There’s a topic, a few concepts taught to the whole class, practice with individual or small group help, then a test.)

[QueenCat]

On 10/30/2018 at 1:59 PM, TCB said:

The students say that he is difficult to understand, doesn't test on material the class covers ( I don't really understand that) etc. I really don't see the point of giving tests that virtually no-one passes and then curving hugely so most end up with a C. I think that is really demoralising for the students, and to what end? I definitely don't think they shouldn't have to work hard, but what is the point of an entry level course, taken by freshman, that is so crazy? Some of them are also worried about taking higher level courses in the subject with such poor teaching on the entry level section.

5

 

Do you mean that the things weren't covered in class but assigned as required reading? Or it also wasn't covered in required reading. Anything that is mentioned in required reading is fine for the test, even if it's not mentioned in class. There isn't enough time in class to go over everything. The other issues are issues that might drive me mad... but I've also learned from having a professor with a language barrier as it later helped me when I had a boss with a heavy accent.

[QueenCat]

On 10/30/2018 at 8:28 PM, Murphy101 said:

 

What about where they drop or withdrawal? Because I kinda consider that a fail too.  And many students who start to see the writing on the wall will decide to do that, which they should.  But it can obscure teaching problems.

Dh just dropped a class because the teacher mandated a study session at 3pm on Thursdays.  Dh is at work.  Teacher wouldn't budge and students had no way to know about that requirement prior to the second day of class when he announced it.  Suddenly a class of 38 is a class of 14. 

 

That's worth going to the dean about...

[Reefgazer]

12 hours ago, bolt. said:

A ‘pacing guideline’ to proceed though something (presumably a textbook) based on ‘a certain page on a certain day’ — that hardly seems like the same problem as the distribution of random internet worksheets in a way that doesn’t suggest any particular sequence. It actually sounds like this teacher (not all teachers) could benefit from a reasonable textbook (written by someone who understands math), an answer key, and even maybe a pacing guide.

I mentioned the pacing guidelines because Scarlett mentioned that the teacher said "She said she goes to a website and prints off work sheets but it is usually over their heads."  This exact thing happened in my DD's classroom; the kids were lost, and the teacher couldn't stop and take a day and re-teach a concept that most of the kids missed.  DD's teacher apologized to the class one day and told them she was required to move on.  This could be one explanation for the kids being lost and not getting the math.  No textbooks in sight, just worksheets from the district website, by the way; as Heigh Ho said, textbooks went the way of the Dodo when NCLB appeared on the scene.

Edited November 4, 2018 by Reefgazer

[Murphy101]

15 hours ago, QueenCat said:

 

That's worth going to the dean about...

 

Sure, but he only has so much time, so regardless of telling the dean, the class was dropped pronto bc he had a hard time getting in that class and then had to replace it at the last minute to avoid losing financial aid.  It's no small thing finding classes that meet degree requirement and can be taken around work schedules.

 

[LucyStoner]

On 11/2/2018 at 1:19 PM, jdahlquist said:

I am surprise that your mother was able to get a principal and two teachers to talk about so many specifics about a child who is not her child.  Looking in the grade book and telling your mother specifics about the child's performance and talking about the child's behavior in the classroom would seem to cross confidentiality lines.  I would be concerned about the level of math instruction, but my concerns would go beyond that. 

 

RIght!  FERPA anyone?  

My SIL has to sign a form each year so I can take point with my niece's and nephew's school.  I suppose it's possible the parent emailed the school to authorize them to talk to the tutor.  

 

[Bootsie]

On 11/3/2018 at 9:12 AM, HeighHo said:

 

Textbooks left when full inclusion arrived....it isnt effective to expect the students who can't read or can't read on grade level to have learning tasks that require reading on grade level.  Also, the direction to the staff is to teach the state objectives, using whatever resources and methods the team leader assigns..that can appear random to a parent not familiar with the full inclusion teaching methodologies and not understanding that part of the class is receiving instruction that another part of the class is not.

 There is no "random". The professionals that have been hired are not pulling worksheets and activities out for no reason..they are required to make, get approved and use lesson plans that show what objectives are being met via the activity or wksht. Yes, there are schools where some staff isn't doing the job...and that is where citizens need to take personal responsibility. In the meantime, competency based education is displacing full inclusion, whole class methods and the math teacher is not going to have to do much more than direct the student to the right resource and manage disengagement. Personalized learning is the future -- think Aleks in the districts that are so resourced starved that project based learning can't be done.

It is great in districts where there is a rhyme and reason to worksheets and activities.  However, I know of situations where experienced teachers complain about the "random" order they are required to teach math.  A good friend has 40 years of experience teaching late-elementary math.  She is going crazy with the state mandated sequence, saying that it has been designed by "professionals" that are not as experienced with students in the classroom.  She says that there is a reason why a fifth grade math book has items presented in a particular order (these were professionals who sequenced the book).  

I know from experience with my own child's teacher, that the teacher who was a first-year teacher was pulling things she found off of the internet--and telling me she searched the internet and found places where it did say that 1 squared equalled 1.  One of the problems was that a lesson might, at least on paper, meet some objective--a game on the internet about fractions meets objectives about "adding fractions" and "using technology".  But, there is no overarching, unifying structure to what students are learning. There may be a lot of pieces but students were missing out on how those pieces fit together.  

[LaughingCat]

On 10/30/2018 at 8:16 AM, Bluegoat said:

 You might as well have the teacher reading the text aloud in class, like my dd13's middle school English teacher does.

 

 

I actually had a college professor do this (big university considered top 10 in my field in a course in that same field ).  Worst class I ever took.  This is not exactly what I would call  a more 'hand holding' technique -- more like a lazy, not bothering to teach ' teacher'

[Scarlett]

7 hours ago, LucyStoner said:

 

RIght!  FERPA anyone?  

My SIL has to sign a form each year so I can take point with my niece's and nephew's school.  I suppose it's possible the parent emailed the school to authorize them to talk to the tutor.  

 

No, I know that didn’t happen.  And how backwards that they wouldn’t tell a tutor the general information of what math curriculum 5th grade is using, but once the got a name out of my mom they were willing to tell her anything including details about the girl.  

[Bluegoat]

5 hours ago, LaughingCat said:

 

I actually had a college professor do this (big university considered top 10 in my field in a course in that same field ).  Worst class I ever took.  This is not exactly what I would call  a more 'hand holding' technique -- more like a lazy, not bothering to teach ' teacher'

 

I did too.  I had the same teacher for another class which I really enjoyed, but in this class, I did feel like he had given up.  It was a huge class, one of those popular first year courses that everyone and his dog takes as an elective.

The professor I'm doing a reading group with now says the current crop of students won't read - you pretty much need to go through the text with them in class.  Not reading them out, but close.