Great teachers

[Imakcerka]

I am so impressed with the teachers DD1 and DD2 got this year. Both are absolutely fun and both DD's are enjoying their classes. I get positive responses from them every day after school and for once I feel at peace with them being in school.

Hows it going for everyone else?

[Linda on the move]

Fabulous. Amazing.

One of my DD's got her first pick for a homeroom teacher this year. Fridays are "Fruity Fridays" complete with fresh fruit and the reading of Dr. Seuss. (my DD is 13, she'd forgotten how much fun Seuss is)

My other DD is 14 and I'm not sure what it would take for her to have a full conversation with me -- but she's smiling when she leaves the house and smiling when she gets back, so all is well, even though she spends 90% of the time with her nose in a book.

[karne]

So far, so good. I have two very different ages-elem aged and middle school aged.  Middle school teaching seems to me to be a true art form.  My dd is very fortunate to have many good teachers in her world, but my goodness, there's a lot going with adolescents in school!

[K1329]

The school environment seems to depend so heavily on who is leading the class. The teacher definitely sets the tone for the kids. My 2 have great teachers this year & we're loving it! Last year we weren't so fortunate. Dd had an "okay" teacher & it made for a more difficult year.

[Imakcerka]

Yes, last year we pulled our kids out in February. When you notice your bright shining little star dimming, you know something is not right. Her teacher actually put her desk against the wall in the front of the room and told her to stare at the wall... all day. I didn't find out until I stopped in to drop off her lunch and we had to move our discussion (ha ha it wasn't a nice one) to the principles office. Who told him to move her back to her pod. This was in January. By February I got a new job and I only worked 12 hr shift 15 days a month. Most of them on the weekends. DH had already bought the homeschooling curriculum and said told me if I got the job kids are coming out of school. What a blessing!

Some people said I wasn't doing the right thing by pulling her out. However the thank yous I got from her and the shining little face made it worth it. She knew I had her back. The desk situation was when I found out that she hadn't had recess all year and she didn't get to sit with friends at lunch. His response was "she's too popular in class and everyone wants to talk to her". Of course he's still teaching but word has spread and he has 10 kids in his class all others were moved out by parents threats to leave the school. He has a way of teaching that lacks patience and doesn't do much to help. He refused her former teachers proposal to put her back in Advanced reading and she called me at home to tell me she was concerned DD1 wasn't getting the what she needed in that class, that was December over the holidays.

So this year, I'm all smiles. I let them go back and both girls are seriously beaming. I get so many stories of all the fun things their teachers do and how everything seems like one big game when they're getting so much done.

So nice to hear others are having good experiences too.

[whatsnextmom]

My DD has 7 teachers and my DS has 6. It's always a mixed bag with multiple teachers. At this point, there are some repeats we know are great. No repeats of the not-so-great. Some new that seem "fine" but it's only been a few days in for us.

[Emmeline II]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imakcerka 

Some people said I wasn't doing the right thing by pulling her out. However the thank yous I got from her and the shining little face made it worth it. She knew I had her back. The desk situation was when I found out that she hadn't had recess all year and she didn't get to sit with friends at lunch. His response was "she's too popular in class and everyone wants to talk to her". Of course he's still teaching but word has spread and he has 10 kids in his class all others were moved out by parents threats to leave the school.

Sounds like it was the right thing to me.

Ds had such a great teacher last year that I was a bit worried about this year, though I hadn't yet met a staff member at this school I haven't had a good feeling about; then he ended up with a teacher new to the school (both my children did). Ds has some special needs that his teacher seems to be handling fine--one issue this year (since 2nd grade and up don't have classroom toilets) has been ds misbehaving in the restroom (emptying the soap, locking the stall doors, water on the floor--relatively minor issue considering his past). She figured out that when his is in there alone with a perceived time limit (teacher outside the door) he is ok--but going outside the designated class restroom visits was still an issue, so she arranged with his 1st grade teacher that he could use the one in her class--and no more problem .

I think dd would prefer a more "warm fuzzie" teacher like K teachers often are, but I think the teacher she ended up with is the one she needs--to much "warm fuzzies" and she gets very silly/distracted/disruptive. On the other hand, when ds was in K at another school he had the least "warm fuzzie" K teacher (my SIL knew all the K teachers and didn't think this teacher should be in K), but he actually needed a lot of coddling at that point.

[ollyoxenfree]

DD is in high school on a full rotary schedule, so she has several teachers. Only one teacher also taught her big brother, so she's happy about that. She has the drama teacher everyone wanted, so that's good. He seems terrific - on the first or second day of classes, he informed them that they would be missing a week of school later this month to participate in a theatre competition. They have to write an original script and produce a play and then perform it at one of the theatres in the city. They are all very excited about it. 

So far, so good. I don't think she has any duds, at least she hasn't complained about any of her teachers. Hopefully it lasts. 

[LynnS6]

Ds (10, 5th grade) has a great teacher, and was the teacher who was his first choice. He goes to a different (great) teacher for reading.

Dd (7, 2nd grade) has an unknown. He's been out of the classroom for a couple years doing more administrative stuff. Ds had him for writing in 3rd grade and liked him. But dd is a very different personality. She's also bored because it's still week 2, and they're still assessing where the 2nd graders are. Her reading skills are at about 6th grade, and her math probably 3rd. Back to school night is tomorrow and I'm going to back her teacher into a corner and find out what the plan for differentiation is for her (or set up another appointment to do so) because she loves learning, and I will not let them kill her with boredom.

[melissa17s]

This year ds is in 5th grade and dd is in 2nd.  The kids have been in school for about a month, and they are really enjoying their teachers.   For ds, this has been a better start to the year than last.  He still has the same reading teacher, who he really likes.  Before school started he was not interested in going, but now that it started, he really likes it. Dd totally loves school and although she did not get the teacher she wanted, she really likes her current teacher.  One of the things that has made the year start special this year is that they began a community garden last spring.  Each of the grades has plots, and they have classes in the garden.  Ds's grade is having a farmer's market.  Dd got to present lettuce (her class's vegetable) to all the school kids during a whole school tour.  I really hope they continue gardening each year.