Comments on: Ask the teacher

By: guineapigmum

guineapigmum — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:27:51 +0000

It seemed to settle down. The new term starts on Monday and there may well be some shuffling of classes as some students will have left, so we’ll see what happens.

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By: Iota

Iota — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:14:18 +0000

Did the problem sort itself out? Or did the trouble continue? Or did the end of term come before you could really tell, I wonder?

By: guineapigmum

guineapigmum — Thu, 01 May 2008 23:50:28 +0000

An update - I was in the school to see someone else the other day so took the opportunity to track down and speak to the teacher. Poor teacher! He/she was, I think, a little taken aback to be collared by a parent on this issue. Anyhow it doesn’t seem to be a major problem and the class composition may well change next year. So we’ll leave things be and see.

Definitely best to have had the dialogue with the teacher concerned so thank to those of you who gave me that advice. My initial inclination would have been to have spoken to the guidance teacher first.

By: guineapigmum

guineapigmum — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:51:27 +0000

Well that’s brought you all out of the cupboard, hasn’t it?

Hello EPM & Jackie - it’s good to get more points of view. I haven’t yet spoken to the teacher but will do so this week, either phone or email. I have asked my son whether he minds me speaking to anyone about it and he’s quite happy about that. I think it’s a good idea of Jackie’s to see if he can do something about it himself as well. If he’s not the only one in the class who’s fed up about it, perhaps they can all tell the boys who are creating trouble that it’s not clever. I don’t know, but I’ll have a chat with him about it.

By: Jackie Cameron

Jackie Cameron — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:41:06 +0000

AS the mother of a son who - when he was 15 sounded just like yours -I am really interested that your son was willing - and able - to express his frustration with this situation. That he brought it to your attention - and you listened ! - and was capable of articulating how this felt to him and the impact that it had on his relationship with that teacher and class. Does he want you to do something about it? I appreciate from a teacher’s point of view ( and instinctively from a parent’s point of view) it might be preferable to deal with this adult to adult but is there any scope for him doing it himself - in addition or instead?

By: Expatmum

Expatmum — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:22:06 +0000

Hi there - With a 15 year old girl, there’s nothing I don’t hear about school from the moment she comes in, and this has also happened. Her problem was that she was worried that the teacher was mad at her as well as the dusruptive kids, since everyone was effectively punished.
I think I e-mailed the teacher asking her what had gone on in the classroom, as my daughter has a tendancy to over-dramatize. This gave the teacher the opportunity to both assure my daughter (through me) that she was not in trouble, and to explain her side of things.
Unless it’s a really bad situation, where the teacher has been verbally abusive perhaps, it’s usually a good idea to go to him/her first.

By: guineapigmum

guineapigmum — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:48:52 +0000

Anon - thank you for your input and I’ll follow your advice. I have no desire to dump anyone in it, particularly not when they seemed so on top of the job at the parents’ evening. And although I’m told this happens regularly, there may in fact be nothing in it. My angel could even be one of the perpetrators.

PM - emoticons can be particularly handy when I’m feeling too lazy to write properly, I find!

Random Mum - It seems like guidance should be step no. 2 in this case, assuming I can get hold of the teacher in the first place. I can be entirely confident that GP1 will NOT want me to speak to anyone at the school, but he needn’t necessarily know. Although on second thoughts he sometimes reads the blog. Mmm - that’s got me. He never likes me speaking to the school about anything, but sometimes it has to be done. There was some minor bullying in Primary School; we respected his wishes first time around and didn’t speak to the school but when it continued we had to. And it all got sorted out.

By: Random Mum

Random Mum — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:32:49 +0000

Hi GPM,
Had I not read the teacher’s reply above, I would have immediately said to speak to the guidance teacher. In my daughter’s school, that would be the easiest way to deal with the situation you’ve outlined: I’m not sure that there is a way to approach individual teachers other than at parents night.

I can see where the teacher above is coming from but I would still be inclined to speak to the guidance teacher first. A good guidance teacher will know how to tackle this situation (and it does need attention) and may also be aware of other classes being disrupted, and possibly of other parents’ concerns.

Last of all, is GP1 happy for you to talk to someone at school?

Good luck!

By: Potty Mummy

Potty Mummy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:49:23 +0000

I’m inclined to agree with the teacher above GPM - and love the use of the emoticons, by the way!

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:59:21 +0000

As a teacher myself, I can understand how a disruptive class can result in this sort of activity being set. And to be honest, as a one off response to quite widespread disruption in a class it can be an effective measure (in a time when these are few and far between).

Clearly if this was required on a very regular basis then other strategies could be attempted to deal with the situation.

If you feel you need to do something about it, my advice would be to speak to the teacher in question informally. As in any workplace which involves human interaction, the majority of situations can be resolved through a chat. At the very least, I feel that the teacher should be given the opportunity to discuss/explain the matter BEFORE guidance/management get involved.

If it was me, that’s the approach I would appreciate.

Good luck!