Teacher situation (long) -- UPDATES #26, #56, #141 (mini), #151, #165

[Kestrels Nemesis]

Absolutely address it now!  Who knows what this teacher will cook up for the next study unit.  I would want to have my ducks in a row before the grades for this unit comes out, and she starts another one.  I have no idea how these things work these days, only having a 2 year old....and not being there yet.  But I would imagine that if things are this far off the rails (videos??? for several days in a row, while there are still assignments being done?  Are they even scientifically related to the unit they are studying?) that the principal and a few others may need to sit in on class to find out whats going on.

I would be on this by next wednesday at the latest.  I would want the weekend to write down a timeline, gather emails chronologically, assemble any syllabi and parent handouts and your son's current work, find out what in tarnation these videos are (are they taking notes or being asked questions about the videos?) get all my evidenciary ducks in a row, and perhaps talk to the Mother of your son's classmate and feel her out.  Then I would be requesting a meeting with the principal right after that.  OP is 6th grade in the elementary schools where you are, or is this a middle school (grades 6-8).  Do the teachers work in teams?

I don't mean necessarily to go in looking for the teachers blood (although I would be plenty ticked off) but I would want to give the principal the most thorough package to start with so this doesn't drag out for the next 3 months. 

[CakeBeret]

Yikes!  I'll have to run this by my ex, who is a very, very good middle school science teacher, but I can imagine that what she will say won't make it past the filter.

One thing that stands out to me is that this teacher is using videos a lot. While videos can be useful, they shouldn't be keeping the kids from getting actual work done. You can learn far more from a single experiment than a week of videos.

My feeling is that this teacher is both lazy and disorganized. At this point, I'd be camping in the principal's office demanding a conference with the principal, academic dean, head of the science department and the teacher. And I'd be finding other parents in the same boat to join me. I would *not* worry about retaliation -- start the process now before grades are out. If the teacher retaliates, then you've established a position and you can get her called on the carpet to justify her grading.

I would so appreciate your ex's thoughts on this situation. You make a good point about the use of videos. To my knowledge, this will be 5 class periods of videos within 18 days with the teacher present.

So the kids have spent nearly 1/3 of the class time with the teacher present watching videos? When they have outstanding labs that need to be completed? That is seriously wrong.

[Jones]

Perhaps you can make little invitations DS can hand out to his science classmates for a parent meeting and discuss the situation? Or just little cards with contact info so you can gather other parents' concerns and take them in with you, to show it's not just you. There's no way you're the only one worried here.

[Coley]

OP is 6th grade in the elementary schools where you are, or is this a middle school (grades 6-8).  Do the teachers work in teams?

6th grade is middle school. The teachers do work in teams. There are three teams with about 100 students on each team.

[Seraphia]

Yikes! This is most certainly not an organized teacher.

My DH and best friend are both teachers - DH teaches HS, BF teaches elementary. I cannot fathom either of them requiring that kind of outside-class work just to get a normal A. Extra credit, or make-up work? Sure. But there should be adequate time IN CLASS to complete work that requires school resources like microscopes. Your son is lucky to have you advocating for him, checking the deadlines, bringing him in early and making sure that the teacher lets him do his experiment. I'm guessing there are quite a few students whose parents just can't do that much, and their grades are going to suffer immensely.

So the kids have spent nearly 1/3 of the class time with the teacher present watching videos? When they have outstanding labs that need to be completed? That is seriously wrong.

Also, this tells me that something is very, very off with this teacher. I don't know if she's never taught this subject before, has some personal crisis interfering with her planning, isn't adjusting well to the layered curriculum or what. But video after video, particularly when they are being played instead of allowing the kids time to do the work she's assigned, sounds like a student-teacher with no idea, not an organized professional.

[GSNW]

The more I read in this topic, the more I see red!  This teacher is using videos as a crutch, absolutely.  Videos that are shown should correlate directly to a state standard, and should be used sparingly.  Ask your DS- are they doing a supplementary activity with the movie?  IME, movies are not useful at all - even really good ones - unless students are thinking critically about what they are seeing.

[PastryGoddess]

OP is 6th grade in the elementary schools where you are, or is this a middle school (grades 6-8).  Do the teachers work in teams?

6th grade is middle school. The teachers do work in teams. There are three teams with about 100 students on each team.

The teachers team lead needs to be there as well

[Otterpop]

No way should the kids be watching videos when they need to get labs and papers done!  My DD had a teacher like that once, who had a 3-tiered grading system.  She was awesome though, because she gave plenty of class-time to finish projects.  Plus, the work needed to get an A, B or C was clearly stated in the project packet and none of it required us to come to the school before or after hours.  Kids who got done early could read or work on other subjects during class but only after they were done with whatever level they wanted to complete. It sounds as though your teacher has grand ideas but no idea how to implement them.  Definitely speak to the principal about your concerns.

[DoubleTrouble]

I agree with everyone else that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed now. Out of curiosity, do you know what kind of videos are being shown? Are they videos related to what is supposed to be being taught right now? If not that's an even more serious problem.

[Coley]

The more I read in this topic, the more I see red!  This teacher is using videos as a crutch, absolutely.  Videos that are shown should correlate directly to a state standard, and should be used sparingly.  Ask your DS- are they doing a supplementary activity with the movie?  IME, movies are not useful at all - even really good ones - unless students are thinking critically about what they are seeing.

DS told me that the class did a worksheet while they watched the video. The video was "Osmosis Jones." I just looked it up. It's a Farrelly brothers movie from 2001 about a white blood cell that is trying to stop a virus from killing a human. They will spend Monday and Tuesday continuing to watch the movie.

DS also told me this evening that one of his friends is in his science class, so I may try to contact that boy's parents to see if they have any opinions about this curriculum. DS told me that his friend is still on the B-layer work. He also told me that he spent yesterday working with his friend to help him with his projects because he couldn't work on his experiment. He said he spent Wednesday's class time reviewing his plans for his experiment. He said he didn't really have anything of his own to work on either day.

I asked him if he's aware of how many other kids are in the A-layer work right now. To his knowledge there are three in his class, including him.

[artk2002]

The more I read in this topic, the more I see red!  This teacher is using videos as a crutch, absolutely.  Videos that are shown should correlate directly to a state standard, and should be used sparingly.  Ask your DS- are they doing a supplementary activity with the movie?  IME, movies are not useful at all - even really good ones - unless students are thinking critically about what they are seeing.

DS told me that the class did a worksheet while they watched the video. The video was "Osmosis Jones." I just looked it up. It's a Farrelly brothers movie from 2001 about a white blood cell that is trying to stop a virus from killing a human. They will spend Monday and Tuesday continuing to watch the movie.

What!!!?!?!?!??!!??!  That's an hour-and-a-half long movie. There's no way that there's 95 minutes of science content in there. The immune system for that grade level can be covered in a couple of lectures. Above and beyond the grading and time issues, this is a travesty.

[ettiquit]

Osmosis Jones???  I was giving the teacher at least some credit and assumed they were watching Nova episodes or something.

 This is insane.  I admire your calmness and restraint because I would be spitting nails right now.

[Coley]

The more I read in this topic, the more I see red!  This teacher is using videos as a crutch, absolutely.  Videos that are shown should correlate directly to a state standard, and should be used sparingly.  Ask your DS- are they doing a supplementary activity with the movie?  IME, movies are not useful at all - even really good ones - unless students are thinking critically about what they are seeing.

DS told me that the class did a worksheet while they watched the video. The video was "Osmosis Jones." I just looked it up. It's a Farrelly brothers movie from 2001 about a white blood cell that is trying to stop a virus from killing a human. They will spend Monday and Tuesday continuing to watch the movie.

What!!!?!?!?!??!!??!  That's an hour-and-a-half long movie. There's no way that there's 95 minutes of science content in there. The immune system for that grade level can be covered in a couple of lectures. Above and beyond the grading and time issues, this is a travesty.

That pretty much sums it up. I'm calling the principal on Monday.

[SPuck]

DS told me that the class did a worksheet while they watched the video. The video was "Osmosis Jones." I just looked it up. It's a Farrelly brothers movie from 2001 about a white blood cell that is trying to stop a virus from killing a human. They will spend Monday and Tuesday continuing to watch the movie.

I had a history teacher who let us watch a Simpsons episode one, but it was on the last day of school before Thanksgiving.  I can't imagine watching a movie trough several class periods.

[mmswm]

When I was in 10th grade we watched "Anne of 1000 Days" in my world history class.  As we'd been studying the Tudor Dynasty at the time, it was appropriate.  That's the only long  movie I can remember watching, and it tied in directly with what we were studying.