Teacher Issues

Yesterday my oldest came home with an F on her report card for math. She has been having problems with this subject for a few years now. It has become worse and worse this year since moving to Tennessee from Arizona. Her step-dad and I have tried working with her at home but it doesn't seem to be helping. She just isn't understanding the work.

After seeing that her grade got worse this time I emailed the teacher. I asked her if there was anything that she thought I could do to help my daughter improve her grade and understand better. I explained that we have been working with her but it doesn't seem to be helping. The teacher emailed me back with a list of her grades and a generic form letter that she hands out in the beginning of the year to her students. This letter basically explains how she teaches and grades. She also stated that she goes over the material for a couple days before testing on it. None of this answered my question. My question, which I thought was clear, was what she thought I could do to help my daughter. I wasn't questioning her teaching abilities. I just want to help.

It seemed clear to me from the email that the problem isn't just my daughter (although I do feel like ultimately it is her responsibility to make good grades). The teacher seems to group all of the kids together and obviously doesn't pay attention to a student that needs extra help. This was obvious to me by the generic response as well as the grades she sent. One of the grades was an in class quiz in which my daughter received a 0. Personally I think that if a student is consistently getting bad grades but seems to be trying, they aren't understanding what is being taught. This means this student may need it explained differently. In fact going over the material over and over in the same way may not work at all.

I feel angry that this is happening. I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. I don't expect the teacher to be able to spend tons of time with my daughter. I understand that she has a classroom full of kids. That's not even what I'm asking her to do. I do think however that if a parent reaches out to a teacher, the teacher should at least try to give some advice. 

This is one of the many things I have had issues with at this school. It's a small school in a small town. Most of the people around here know each other and are usually related in some way. That makes it difficult to complain to the people higher up. The principal of this school is no better. I think he needs to find a new profession actually. Moving her to a different class is out of the question because this teacher is the only math teacher for the upper grades. The school is so small that they only have one teacher per grade (except they have 2 for 8th grade). My daughter is in 7th grade this year. The math teacher is currently one of the 8th grade home room teachers. I worry that she will be my daughter's teacher next year. If this happens I'm guessing my daughter will have a hard time in other subjects as well. If her teaching style is not what my daughter needs, she won't learn effectively.

This is my first time living in a small town. Up until this point, I raised my kids in Phoenix, AZ. If something was going on there, a parent had the choice of several teachers and/or schools to send their kids too. It's very different here. I don't have the patience to home school so I'm sort of at a loss for what to do. I suppose the only thing I can do is continue to help her at home. Try my best to teach the material to her and hope that she improves.