I was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from the County School Board two weeks ago granting Little E's variance for the 2012-2013 school year. I wrote about my concerns back in May whether or not he would get to attend Miss K's school. I was stressing about the long wait I may have been facing and if he didn't get it.
I thought all my worries were over now that I had this piece of paper in my hand. I was wrong again.
I went by the school this Monday to drop off the letter for the school registrar and talked to my friend in the front office. She is like the school secretary/ school website web master. I asked her about the teacher list for the upcoming year so I could confirm which teachers I would request for Miss K and Little E. She told me she had just posted it online just a few minutes before I walked in.
Which meant if the new list was up, the teacher request form would be up also. Nope. My hopes were deflated. There's always an obstacle in my way, it seems.
She told me that the principal has decided to do away with teacher request forms due to new salary regulations on teachers being based on student performance. She is hoping to have the classes more balanced without having all the high scoring kids in the top two favorite teachers rooms.
The plus side, is that she is accepting letters of your child's needs and will take that into consideration when choosing the class for your child. She will not accept letters with a teacher request in them.
I am more worried about Miss K than Little E because it's only Kindergarten. The school handles this grade with "kid gloves" and I'm sure he will do just fine with minor adjustments from his new teacher. He aims to please.
I didn't know that I had a choice when his sister entered school and we got what teacher the school chose. Which was an awesome teacher and one of the top picked Kindergarten teachers in the school.
Having dealt with several years of inability to focus, short attention span and limited short term memory with Miss K, she really needs a compassionate teacher. Some one who can understand that she has ADHD and won't treat is as a label. A teacher who can have open communication with me and be able to recognize when she is "slipping" and needs positive encouragement with a firm tone.
Miss K is a loveable child who has three previous teachers (not counting 1st grade-she was not a great teacher) who absolutely love and adore her. Especially last year's teacher who was the most help in accomplishing many goals we had set out for the school year.
I'm hoping that I can get this across to the principal that is is very important for Miss K academically, to be placed with a teacher like we hope for.
I'm praying this all works out for the good. I know that my prayers may be answered differently than I expect and I am prepared for that. I'm willing to deal with that but hoping for an "easy button" this time.
10 comments:
We have the same thing here in being able to request certain teachers. But I can see the school's point. Here is my issue with it, if all the teachers were held to a higher standard from the beginning then they would all be equally outstanding. They would be trained in all aspects of being a teacher with a desire to bring out the best in each child. Sadly that is not how it works anymore.. I so wish it did. Hoping you get an easy button as well.
We get no choice. The teachers put the classes together and you are given what you are given. We have been BLESSED!!!!! and have had incredible teachers each year but it's scary every year to know if your child is in the best possible situation for them. I keep thinking that in middle school and high school they will be dealing with so many teachers and they have to learn to deal with all types of people in life. But I do know your stress. We as mommies worry about our little ones. I wish you luck with this!
Hopefully the principal understands. We were able to request for our middle son. and will continue to do so for him, but not so much for our other two.
Our school did away with request forms, too, and that was a big issue this last year. We couldn't think of a solid reason to make requests for our son, so he got the teacher he got. She was new to the district and FANTASTIC.
Our daughter is starting Kindergarten this year and I'm worried about her because she is very likely to be the youngest and smallest kid in her grade. Thank goodness she doesn't take anything from anyone...
That's a difficult situation to be in. When we got a new principal a few years ago he did away with even considering requests. In fact if you approached him about it he made sure to stick you kid in the polar opposite of the class you requested.
I think if you write the letter saying just what you said here, you will be fine. Remember too, that a quality principal doesn't want to put a child in a room where neither the teacher nor the child are happy...that gets him/her complaints from both the teacher and the parent!
I don't think parents should be allowed to request specific teachers. They don't allow it in our district. There is no way a parent can make that choice unless you yourself have been a student of said teacher. I also feel like allowing requests puts too much power in the hands of parents that may or may not be acting on the best interest of their child but for political or selfish reasons. Describing the kind of learning environment that works best for your child is in my opinion the BEST way to get the right teacher. It doens't matter what other people say about teachers being good or bad...every child is different, every parent is different. You should feel good about this change. My Muffin had a horrible teacher (for him) in the beginning of the school year and he was moved into a better environment for him where he thrived. I had his Jr.K teacher from this year write a letter on his behalf about what worked for him and what didn't. They decribed everything they learned about him for his future teacher and I'm so glad I had them do that. Muffin has SPD:) Good Luck:)
After reading everyone's comments and talking to Miss K's previous teacher, I can understand why the principal changed the rules. Too many kids were being placed in one or two teachers classrooms not based on anything but a "favorite teacher persona" by other parents. For myself, I wasn't picking her teacher based on that. I could care less who is the favorite, it's about where is my child going to do best based on her personality type, difficulties and strengths.
We got lucky in Kindergarten, 2nd grade (the teacher was good) the bad was that her classroom was co taught so there were 36 kids and the best was 3rd grade. But I chose the 3rd grade teacher, prior to that I left it up to the school and hoped for the best.
I'm hoping this works out.
Hugs. I'm just starting the stresses of school with my 4 year old. We haven't even found a school yet and I'm already stressed out.
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