Parents: What to do about a terrible teacher?

[ELVIS]

sorry you are going through that. i might handle it differently. i would most likely use it as a way to teach my kid that some people are assholes, some people have power, some abuse it and for everything this wonderful life is, FAIR is not one of them. or i might kidnap them from their home one evening when they are putting their trash can on their curb. you can never tell with me. best of luck.

god bless.

[John -- '02 HAWK]

My daughter is in 6th grade and her math teacher is an unholy turbo-bitch. The kids know it, the parents know it, hell the staff including counselors, vice principals and other administration know it.

6th Grade can be hard for kids to adapt to a new routine and lifestyle.

I'll assume your daughter isn't the best in math so the problem is amplifying itself. Maybe an afterschool tutor might provide some assistance. you can also look online for teaching aids and workbooks

If its really an issue you can always discuss issues with the school board, the principal, and the PTA. Remember the flip side of her being removed will be a chain of substitutes that don't know the subject or even how to teach.

[scootro]

bake her some ex-lax cookies!

[Sean88gt]

Do you have any 15 year old male family members that would be willing to bang her?

hahahaha!

[Broncojohnny]

The answer to me is simple, stop being nice about it.

There are two kinds of total assholes in the world. There are ones where if you show them some kindness and respect they see it and they ease up with their bullshit.

Then there are the others who take your kindness as a show of weakness. And that is when you have to get nasty. Just do your best to out do them. People like that get off on the power trip they feel when they are shitty and people try to be nice in return. They feed on it. Turn that shit right around on her and go right up in her face with it.

When she goes slack jawed and just stares, you will know you have her.

[akfodysvn]

Maybe let your kid realize that shitty people exist and you cant go having your daddy solve all your problems in life. Teach her to suck it up and be the bigger person... It's a good lesson. I'm not defending an A hole teacher but your kid is going to need to learn to navigate shitty people who have authority over them.

Put your fucking head down and do the work... this will cause less drama for your kid. You've done what you can it sounds like. Maybe I'm way off but you are so vague that it sounds like it's getting blown out of proportion.

[JV106]

This lady may be a real piece of work and you may be justified in wanting her job. There are a ton of horrible teachers out there. But I’ll throw this out there...

My mom just retired after 30 years of middle school English teaching service. She’s been bit, kicked, punched, spit on, cussed out, dodged staplers thrown at her head.. School board members kids were always fun. I can’t tell you how many times she’s called me crying after school b/c of something horrible that happened to one of her students - she had a student show up pregnant after the uncle raped them, a kid come to school after his whole family died in a car wreck, houses burned down, autistic kids, handicapped kids, all sorts of domestic problems. All for $30k/yr. Public schools take a toll on these teachers.

[1carcrazyguy]

When I was a student of a horrible teacher, my Dad told me in the nicest way possible, "sounds like you need to work harder to make that teacher know you are not the problem in class". I will say, it worked. A couple of weeks later someone else was taking the wrath of whatever was her issues.

[32vfromhell]

I will say its going to be a challenge because of the way Teachers are protected by the massive Teacher's union.

[AnthonyS]

You are going about this all wrong to help your daughter. Try reverse psychology. 6th graders are tough. Imagine having 30 of them and trying to teach them math.... not a lot of fun and a pretty rough living.

So meet with the teacher. Ask her about her issues and concerns. Ask her what you can do to help your daughter succeed in her class.

Also use this is an important teaching moment for your daughter. She isn't going to like every boss or coworker she ever has. If she does, she isn't human. Learning to work through these situations is very important and pays off in the end.

I have a coworker that is annoying as hell. He is in the office very close to mine. I have to interact with him more than just about anyone. I've learned to deal with it. When I get pissed I take a break or look at my 401k / profit sharing acct balances, and then remember why I'm doing it. The big picture is I'm about to buy the family a beach house and it's damn well worth it. I will retire and live a pretty easy life compared to many other jobs I've had.

[AnthonyS]

Or you could just be a little bitch about it all and teach your kid how to be a bitch too.

[BLAKE]

Apologies in advance for the multi-multi-multiquote. I'll try to be efficient.
Disclaimer for those that don't know my kid, but conscientious does not begin to describe her. Every kid is an asshole sometimes, and she's no exception, but her goal is to keep her head down and make it through school every day, just like we all did at that age. Well, those of us that weren't full-time assholes.

sorry you are going through that. i might handle it differently. i would most likely use it as a way to teach my kid that some people are assholes, some people have power, some abuse it and for everything this wonderful life is, FAIR is not one of them....

...god bless.

That lesson has been learned many times over. At this point it's just coping with over-the-top hostility.

6th Grade can be hard for kids to adapt to a new routine and lifestyle.

I'll assume your daughter isn't the best in math so the problem is amplifying itself. Maybe an afterschool tutor might provide some assistance. you can also look online for teaching aids and workbooks

If its really an issue you can always discuss issues with the school board, the principal, and the PTA. Remember the flip side of her being removed will be a chain of substitutes that don't know the subject or even how to teach.

You're absolutely right about routine and such. Certainly a factor. That said, while she isn't the best in math, technically, she's pretty good at it and has shown that it's not a problem with a decent teacher.

Excellent point on the chain of substitutes. That has it's own brand of F'd up to go with it.

bake her some ex-lax cookies!

LOL, funny, but I'm not sure it would help.

The answer to me is simple, stop being nice about it.

There are two kinds of total assholes in the world. There are ones where if you show them some kindness and respect they see it and they ease up with their bullshit.

Then there are the others who take your kindness as a show of weakness. And that is when you have to get nasty. Just do your best to out do them. People like that get off on the power trip they feel when they are shitty and people try to be nice in return. They feed on it. Turn that shit right around on her and go right up in her face with it.

When she goes slack jawed and just stares, you will know you have her.

Al, it's like you were in the room, man. That's who we're dealing with, the second kind.

Maybe let your kid realize that shitty people exist and you cant go having your daddy solve all your problems in life. Teach her to suck it up and be the bigger person... It's a good lesson.

Put your fucking head down and do the work... this will cause less drama for your kid. You've done what you can it sounds like. Maybe I'm way off but you are so vague that it sounds like it's getting blown out of proportion.

Once again, the shitty people in the world lesson has been learned. She's proven she CAN navigate assholes, now how long should she HAVE TO put up with it? Maybe my fuze is shorter than yours. And yes, you're way off.

This lady may be a real piece of work and you may be justified in wanting her job. There are a ton of horrible teachers out there. But I’ll throw this out there...

My mom just retired after 30 years of middle school English teaching service...

Man I get that. My wife has taught for over a decade in high school/middle, and her mother was a career english teacher. It's a jungle out there.

When I was a student of a horrible teacher, my Dad told me in the nicest way possible, "sounds like you need to work harder to make that teacher know you are not the problem in class". I will say, it worked. A couple of weeks later someone else was taking the wrath of whatever was her issues.

That's the thing, my daughter doesn't necessarily take the wrath. The real problem is that the teacher takes it out on the kids that deserve it, aggressively, and then the rest have to deal with a constant state of furious that carries over to them. It's a bitch.

You are going about this all wrong to help your daughter. Try reverse psychology. 6th graders are tough. Imagine having 30 of them and trying to teach them math.... not a lot of fun and a pretty rough living.

I understand the situation, and I understand sympathy for a tough job, but this is the only class that she's having any other trouble with. All of her other teachers are finding a way to be stern and educate these knuckleheads at the same time without the anger. This one is a whole other thing.

Also use this is an important teaching moment for your daughter. She isn't going to like every boss or coworker she ever has. If she does, she isn't human. Learning to work through these situations is very important and pays off in the end.

With all due respect: duh. Thanks for the basic parenting advice.

I have a coworker that is annoying as hell. He is in the office very close to mine. I have to interact with him more than just about anyone. I've learned to deal with it. When I get pissed I take a break or look at my 401k / profit sharing acct balances, and then remember why I'm doing it. The big picture is I'm about to buy the family a beach house and it's damn well worth it. I will retire and live a pretty easy life compared to many other jobs I've had.

Way to sieze the opportunity to be a pompous ass for taking it in the shorts over time. That's something to be proud of, I guess.

[BLAKE]

Or you could just be a little bitch about it all and teach your kid how to be a bitch too.

You sir, can go fuck yourself. It takes a certain kind of douche to come back for the hilariously ill-informed stinger after that diatribe.

Hope to never have a beer with you, kiss my ass.

[1carcrazyguy]

Well, that sure escalated quickly!

[Gasser64]

Have you tried hitting her?

Jokes aside she's probably one of those people that would benefit from a good ass whooping. This applies to men and women both. Adults aren't above a good attitude adjustment, and I regret that the cops don't much do it anymore to criminals.

Rolling audio on this bitch.

That would probably work. Put some kind of recorder in the kid's backpack and make sure it can run all day. Make sure the kid can't find it somehow though. Then do some editing on your computer to edit out all the non-turbo bitch parts for your presentation to ALL of her superiors. Not just one. And all the school board members. Tell them you want this stopped or you're going to turn it into a "big deal".

I think most of you guys know this but there are elements in the government that are trying like hell to turn the public school system into something the parents can't get out of. Where you have to send your kids there, so they kids will have to listen to what they have to say. Also consider private school.

Both of these are only in regards to it all being true, and your kid isn't... exaggerating somewhat.