How To Deal With "Bad" Teachers

I guess this all depends on what you consider to be a bad teacher.

I know we have had our fair share of them. When one of my kids come home and complain about hating school, I try to get to the bottom of it before I call the school. Maybe it's not the teacher. Maybe it's because said child doesn't want to do the work the teacher is giving them or he's not interested in a topic that the child is being taught, or maybe one of my kiddos is having a hard time understanding the material and needs a little extra help. If you have kids like mine (other than Gitty, she's an exception), my boys' will not ask the teacher's for help. Therefore, the teachers' are doing a bad job and hence, they are bad teachers.

If the above issues are true, I first try to encourage the child to 1) do the best he can. 2) ask for help, from teachers, from friends, from us. If we can't help him, we may be able to find a friend who can help him. 3) if all of the above fails, I call the teacher myself and I work out a plan with them on how best to help my child succeed.

But if that teacher then places all the blame on my child, not understanding the position my child feels he is in, doesn't want ridicule or teasing from the kids......then I move on. Next, I speak with the guidance counselor and we discuss what options are available. No child should HATE school and if they do, it's the school's responsibility to fix that problem.

I have yet to need to have one of my children switched out of a certain teacher's class, but I know that day is coming and I'll deal with it like I deal with everything else. I will be what my Gitty calls, Mommy Bear! And I will do all that I can to make sure my children are able to succeed.

We have one child who doesn't like school at all. It's always the teachers or the kids or whatever, it is never his fault and no matter what steps we take to insure he does better, he never follows through. I'm thrown for a loop with this one as I fear he may be the one to drop out of school. I tell him all the time, "You need to stop letting those kids determine your future for you! It's up to you to decide who you are, not them!" But he doesn't get it and he probably won't until he's my age and realizes the mistake of quitting school. Had I stuck with it, our lives would have been so much different and better for that matter! I just wish I would have discovered my skill and passion for writting when I was younger, not now in my 30's.