Thursday, September 29, 2011

What is an ex teacher to do?

Todd has always done well in school. Part of that is he is very smart and part of that is because teaching was my profession and I know various ways to help him overcome things. Unfortunately, he has a touch of test anxiety, which he gets from me. I hated tests and still the thought of them makes me a little nervous. He copes well and always listen to my advice. Hmm, how long will that last?

Anyway, Todd's lowest grade even on his report card has been a 93 and that was only a 9 week grades. His lowest yearly grade has been a 95. Like I said, the boy is smart. Well, this year when his progress report grade came home (at 2 weeks and again at 6 weeks), I was shocked to see he had a B in Social Studies and almost a B in reading. At 2 weeks, I blew it off thinking it was adjustment to changing classes and having multiple teaching styles to adjust to. He was also getting pulled for speech in Social Studies and we took care of that by dropping speech. But at the 6 week report, he had dropped to a B in Reading and pulled his Social Studies to an A but just by a point. He was also sent home with a test they take to see how much of the 4th grade material they know before it is taught. He was in the 96th percentile in the state in math and 88th percentile in Reading. He had almost mastered everything before it was taught. This raised a red flag to me. Why, if he knows the material is he making a B?

All of that to say this... It is hard for an ex-teacher to not get very frustrated at this. When I analyzed his progress report here were his grade.. Math 105, Science 100, English 100, Reading 89 and Social Studies 94. Here is the kicker the same teacher teaches both Reading and SS b/c that is his homeroom teacher. My first question to Todd was where was his desk and did he sit by someone he was talking to instead of listening. Long story short, something was not right so I set up a conference. In my opinion, she should have realized something was not right b/c he did so well on his test and his grades are so drastic, but she didn't. When I spoke with her she was not concerned and even commented on his good behavior and his intelligence. I had a hard time in that meeting. I found her to be a little cold and unconcerned about things. She had an attitude of he is doing better than most.

Anyway, she knew I was a little hot on her trail. I commented on the lack of study information for reading and skewed grades. She seems to have revamped some but it is not all done. I still have to basically re-teach everything from her class. I guess I am unofficially homeschooling in those 2 subjects. Report cards come out soon. If he makes a B in one of those classes, he will be crushed. I hope we have resolved it.
Being an ex-teacher can be a curse....

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