Frustrated with math teacher

M

ML

Guest
It's so hard for manster to ask for help. But he tried. He went in to the school early to look for the math teacher (Ms. C) who has given an open invitation for kids to come in early for help. I imagine not many take her up on it. She doesn't like kids much. I think she has worked wtih MS kids too long. Incidentally she was also his math teacher last year. It's the only class manster has with her and I don't even think she knows he has a 504. She probably just thinks he's a strange boy lol.

So yesterday he was found "wandering in the halls" by an aid and Ms. C told me "it was very strange". Of course manster was probably not as forthcoming as he could have been, likely feeling uncomfortable and not explaining himself quickly enough. He said he had been to the classroom, she wasn't there (probably just ducked out for a moment) and he was on his way to the lab where he thought he was supposed to be. She wasn't very nice to him and now he will never ask her for help again. He is so stubborn.

I may just let this one go. This teacher has a reputation and very few parents or kids think much of her. Manster will be upset if I bring more attention to the matter, he just wants to let it go. The only bad thing is that math is the one suject he really does need help with.
 
T

TeDo

Guest
Does manster have any friends that are fairly good at math. Peer mentoship is sometimes better than teacher help. Since that teacher bridge has been burned as far as he's concerned, maybe talk to the SpEd teacher and try to find an alternative so manster can still learn the math but without having to rely on her for the extra help. Kids usually love "being the teacher" even if it is only for one "student". I can send my difficult child your way. Math is the one subject he excels at. LOL
 

Marguerite

Active Member
ML, another possibility for Manster is to do his own study online. We just got the sign-in details for difficult child 3 from his school, for the online Maths website we use here. It is available internationally and is cheap (compared to stuff I have seen advertised for thousands of dollars) but there may be something similar for you over there. This new school year, difficult child 3 will be logged in via the school; in past years, we've paid for this ourselves because the school dropped out of the program for a while. When the school was not using it, difficult child 3's Maths work was presented as thick pages of workbooks. He waded through it, took a lot of time to get through. But they're back online, and I watched difficult child 3 yesterday work really hard on the computer to do his revision.

I was not looking forward to yet another year of difficult child 3 wading through pages and pages of bookwork, so I asked SpEd if we could organise the website Maths instead, if some part of it could be used for his assessments. They agreed readily, which is how we're back here. And already it is paying off (and the school year has not officially started!). The teacher will be able to log on to view difficult child 3's progress, but the website itself does the coaching, answers any questions, explains things well with diagrams and even pits kids of equal ability around the world against one another in fun tests. It's great for teaching a kid to actively seek out explanations for the things they don't fully understand.

A student can join as part of a school-based program, or as a home study student. A lot of students are using it just to boost their understanding outside school.

Marg
 
M

ML

Guest
Marg,
Thank you so much for this information. It sounds awesome and I will look into it for us. :)
 
Hi ML,

Since Mrs. C said "It was very strange" I am wondering if she doesn't have any social skills, or the ability to put herself in another's shoes, or think creatively about a situation. This could explain her poor reputation.

You could let her know when manster will be coming, and tell her exactly what he needs. She may be more useful to you and manster if she has more specific guidance.

I have found on my journey that people who seem to be completely out of the loop, often have poor social skills and are surprisingly willing to help when the situation is clarified for them.

This may or may not be the case with Mrs. C, but it may be worth a shot if she can help manster, and save you one more thing to worry about.

I think the fact that she said "It was very strange" is very strange, and the more I think about it, it's a big clue towards Mrs. C.

Good luck with her - she might be useful to manster with just a little prompting.

I realize I could be all wet about this -- just brainstorming.

Jo xx
 

Marguerite

Active Member
I was thinking that too, Jo. The trouble is, Manster may have been totally put off ever asking her for help again.

One thought - with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids, I have stepped in more than other people (parents/teachers) would think is age-appropriate. In other words, especially for a first encounter in an unusual situation (such as turning up extra early to seek out an opportunity) I've been known to go along with the child to make sure it's all above board and there are no glitches. As soon as I see everything falling into place, I wave, smile and leave.

ML, the website is called Mathletics. I hope it can help - a lot of schools here use it as an adjunct, or in some cases the entire Maths curriculum. It's A$99 a year.

Marg
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
Our local PBS station has a call-in program every weekday afternoon for kids to get help with math homework, and it's staffed by teachers. Do they have anything like that in your area? They actually go through the problems with the kids who call in, just as if they were in the classroom with them.

It's called "Math On Call" or something similar to that.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
We have another one in Australia, set up by McDonalds. It's called Mathosonline. Might be Australia only, though. But if they do it in Australia, they should have something in the US. Here, it is free. It is also recommended by out state schools as a study tool.

I also bought a CD ROM called "High School Maths" which has some really useful summary of curriculum. It doesn't teach in depth; it covers a topic and then has ten questions on each part of it. It was not expensive; about A$50. That was about six years ago, however. It was a Mac plus easy child disk.

Marg
 

shellyd67

Active Member
FunBrain is a great Math website too ! It has really fun arcade games and a game called math baseball.... See if Manster wants to give it a try and he can even play the games with a friend or with you or husband.... I really dislike when teachers say things that sound as if your child is the only child in their history of teaching that has ever done such and such .... It really annoys me !
 

Marguerite

Active Member
It does sound to me, though, that this teacher is a bit socially clueless. If you find something tat works for Manster, maybe he could share the info with the teachers? I know most teachers, no matter how difficult they may be, really value a student who is wanting to learn.

Marg
 
M

ML

Guest
Thanks everyone. I am excited about some of this stuff. I think the game sounds particularly interesting being as he's such an avid gamer. I plan to print out this thread!

This teacher is very aggressive with the kids. She accuses them of lying or stealing at the drop of a hat. Apparently that same day manster came in at recess for help and she told him something to the effect that she thought the only reason he came to her at that time was because he didn't want to go out for recess. It was cold and I'm sure he didn't relish the idea but that truly wasn't his motivation. If it was just how she treated manster I'd be more upset, but manster assures me she is that way with all the kids. Still, he will never ask her for help again so all these ideas are great. Especially as he enters MS next year.

I know that Ms C has had complaints from a couple of parents. I'm not going to make this an issue. This is the first time in 7 years (including K) that manster has had a teacher that was anything but wonderful. He is going to have to learn to handle adversity and difficult people and I guess this is good practice.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Always makes me so sad to think of teachers like this turning off kids from asking for help. Hope things improve!
 
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