Ok, NOW I'm irritated.

Published on September 20, 2005 By dharmagrl In Misc

One of my son's teachers is pissing me off.

Friday, Davey came home with a homework assignment that involved getting on the internet. I don't agree with that. Not every child has access to a computer and the internet at home. my friend is having problems with her computer and her boy (he's in the same class as Davey) expressed concern about not being able to complete his assignment because of the computer problems. Her response? "Have you mother take you to the library".

The base library is closed on Sundays, leaving Saturday as the only viable option for him to go do his homework there. What is his mother had worked Saturdays? Or had no way to get to the library? In addition, the library only has a few public computers, and as with anything else, active duty take priority. The rest of us have to take a number and wait. So, even if they HAD been able to get to the library, they still might have had to wait hours to get onto a computer. What if his mother was, due to a deployment, trying to single parent a family with smaller children in it? How would she have managed taking those smaller kids to the library and waiting around for who-knows-how long for a computer to come open?

As it turns out, my friend managed to get her home PC working properly long enough to get on the school website. When she tried to access the quiz that the teacher asked the kids to take, she found that said quiz had been archived and was no longer acessible to the public.

She called me, and asked me to try and access it. I did, and I got the same error message.

I decided to email the teacher and explain to her why my child wouldn't be able to complete his homework assignment. I also expressed my concerns about teachers assigning weekend homework that involves internet access, citing the same reasons as I gave here.

That was Sunday. I know she got my email because my son told me that she had mentioned it to him, also saying that she had mistakenly archived the quiz.

I have yet to hear back from her. That irritates the crap out of me. At the very least she could have emailed me back telling ME, the parent, what had happened. My child is NOT a reliable messenger....matter of fact, I don't think that he should be ANY kind of messenger for his teachers, period. I don't tell him to tell his teachers stuff, I contact them directly. I expect the same in return.

I'm going to email her again this evening, asking what the status of the quiz is. I'm going to make like my son never told me anything, and I'm going to sit back and wait for a reply. I aint holding my breath, though.

Am I wrong for thinking that she should have at least sent me a 2 line email explaining what happened and reassuring me that my child won't be penalized for HER mistake? Am I asking too much?

I thought that most teachers wanted parents to be involved in their children's education. How can we do that when their teachers won't communicate with us?

Comments (Page 3)

dharmagrl

on Sep 20, 2005

Here's a little update:

my friend reads my blog and she called to tell me that her son informed this teacher on wednesday that his computer at home was acting up and he wouldn't be able to watch the little Mpeg that preceeded the quiz. Her response was 'tell your mother to take you to the library' - and she ever had him write those words in his school agenda on Friday and bring it home to show his mom.

Oh, and Dan....she's pretty fucking pissed over what you said. Wanted to know who in the hell you thought you were......

Chaos Manager

on Sep 20, 2005

A cheap, can't-do-much computer is still several hundred dollars.

---- Texas Wahine

Although NEW systems (not quiet bleeding edge, but close to it) are coming down in price, they're still fairly pricey ($550+). If you're lucky, you might find a used system for sale through the local "trading post" type newsletters or some such.

Several other places to try would be ... FreeCycle. It's a long shot, but it's got possibilities.

I've got a computer (w/ internet access, obviously) at home. However, it serves several distinct roles. Education (as a teacher resource and a student resource - homeschool), work (I'm a programmer and do some work at home as well as freelance stuff from home), and web work for various organizations that I'm involved in.

This doesn't mean that the single father next door (who's a mail carrier for the USPS) has a computer (I know he doesn't) for his elementary age son. It definitely wouldn't be fair for the teacher to assign internet based homework there. Dad works 6 days a week from 6 until 7:30. The libraries in town that have internet access (I know which ones do ... I wired most of them

) close by 6:30 and shutdown the computers at 6. There's no way he could do the work.

Dharma, if you don't hear something by Friday, make sure that you've got hardcopy of the emails (including all pertinent headers like the date/time sent, recepients email address, etc.) when you go see the principal.. That way, she can't dodge around it with "you never sent me any email" type responses. Also, in the future, make sure that you have the program(s) ask for a read receipt. So you'll know that she actually got it. Most people leave their email programs configured to automatically send read receipts, so she might not even be aware that she's acknowledging that she got them.

[/ramble]

MarcieMoo

on Sep 20, 2005

You're assuming that people know that there are places where you can get a free computer, you know? Most people who don't have a computer or don't have the internet don't know a thing about how to get access to either. I'm sure there are families like that in my classroom. The teacher in this case is assuming too much. If she wants the kids to have access to all this stuff, she should take them to the school computer lab and let them do the assignment there. I *assume* that my students have at least a pencil and a few crayons at home. That's a grand total of about $2 as opposed to the expense to purchase a computer and acquire and maintain an internet connection...

InBloom

on Sep 20, 2005

Set up a conference with this teacher if she fails to contact you. Yes, teachers get super busy (hell, I'm lucky if I get to sit at my desk for a few minutes), but it is part of her job to keep that line of communication open with parents. She seems a little ignorant to the fact that not all students have access to the net. I work in a school where the majority of kids come from a low income household, and it would be ridiculous to require them to use a resource they don't have. Maybe she should set up alternative assignments (such as book research) for those students with no access. Or better yet, set up enough time for her classes to use the school's computer lab (I'm assuming they have one).

dharmagrl

on Sep 21, 2005

Dharma, if you don't hear something by Friday, make sure that you've got hardcopy of the emails (including all pertinent headers like the date/time sent, recepients email address, etc.) when you go see the principal..

Already did, sweetie. And, I always ask for a read reciept when I send something important....

This doesn't mean that the single father next door (who's a mail carrier for the USPS) has a computer (I know he doesn't) for his elementary age son. It definitely wouldn't be fair for the teacher to assign internet based homework there. Dad works 6 days a week from 6 until 7:30. The libraries in town that have internet access (I know which ones do ... I wired most of them ) close by 6:30 and shutdown the computers at 6. There's no way he could do the work.

That's exactly the kind of circumstance I'm talking about. She didn't take anyone's home life into consideration.

Here's another update: my friend's kid asked if he could do the work at school because his computer at home was acting up. the teacher's response? "There;s not enough time, you'll HAVE to do it at home on the weekend".

She never gave him an alternative, despite his asking her to. She KNEW about his home situation, but just didn't give a fuck.

dharmagrl

on Sep 21, 2005

Everybody has them?

Hah. Tell that to the welfare mother 3 doors down, who doesn't even own a car to take her kids to the library, much less a phone, computer, or internet access.

Exactly. Just because the majority of the kid in the class come from military families, doesn't mean that they're all going to have a computer.

You're assuming that people know that there are places where you can get a free computer, you know?

I know! Not everyone's going to either be able to find a free/cheap PC, or even have the time to go looking for one. Around here there are a lot of exercises, where people work 13 and 14 hour shifts. That doesn't leave a person with a lot of free time....

dharmagrl

on Sep 21, 2005

Or better yet, set up enough time for her classes to use the school's computer lab (I'm assuming they have one).

Yes, they have one, but she told the students that there "wasn't enough time" for them to use the lab to do their homework. That's setting a child up to fail, IMO.

If I haven't heard anything by Friday, then I'll call the principal and set up a meeting with bother and and this teacher present.

I'm hearing some things from kids that are in her class that I find slightly disturbing. She snatches their work out of their hands (like she did with my son), and she tears it up in front of the other students, she is very vocal about pointing out to all the other kids when one kid has made a mistake in their work, she yells at them....it's nothing criminal, but it's still slightly inappropriate. they're little kids, y'know? They're not in boot camp, they don't need to get yelled at and demeaned every day.

ParaTed2k

on Sep 21, 2005

I'm guessing ol' Dan has never even conceived of neighborhoods where one "house" has power and three other "houses" are running extention cords to that house just to keep the lights and a few other electric things running.

Chaos Manager

on Sep 21, 2005

You're assuming that people know that there are places where you can get a free computer, you know?

There's the rub. Some people do. Some people don't. Like so many other things, those that are interested in finding out where they could find one, will find the necessary information. Those that aren't interested (even remotely) won't make the attempt to find the information.

She never gave him an alternative, despite his asking her to. She KNEW about his home situation, but just didn't give a fuck.

That's just sick. And the sad part is, it's teachers with attitudes like that (and this clown in one of the counties around Richmond that's been arrested for child pornography) that reinforces the decision (in my mind) to homeschool. Which, isn't an option for everyone.

drmiler

on Sep 21, 2005

Would you care to rephrase that? While this is NOT a bleeding edge machine it's "more" than capable of handling most jobs you could throw at it. And to find this did NOT take a lot of looking either.

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Total Memory 512MB
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drmiler

on Sep 21, 2005

While computers (and internet) access is growing in American homes, I do agree with you that handing out a weekend assignment that cannot be accomplished without internet access is foolish.

During the school week the children should be able to access the net at school, but on the weekend, there's no guarantee that a kid is going to be able to get to a computer. According to some statistics (which may or may not be on the mark), only about 56% of Americans have internet access. If this is factual, the implications to your situation are obvious.

Your friend's son was not the ONLY child in the class who would have to scramble (and might not even be able) to do the assigned work.

Not all families have crayons at home. If a child is assigned a project that requires it, they can borrow a package or spend a buck and buy some. Not all families have a calculator at home. Again, borrow or spend a buck or so.

But...a computer with online access? If a family doesn't have one already (and believe it or not, it's not a necessity to live), they're probably not going to be able to afford to go buy one (not to mention the mess that getting internet access entails). And how do you justify doing that when the child will be at school with online access on Monday?

A cheap, can't-do-much computer is still several hundred dollars.

I just think this teacher has lost her mind. (And she probably hasn't contacted you because she knows she's in the wrong and doesn't want to have to own up to it)

While I agree 100 % with "most" of what you wrote, I have to take exception with one sentence. See reply #42 for details. But "everything" else is "dead on"! And IMHO I think the teacher is a jerk!

foreverserenity

on Sep 21, 2005

The teacher should have certainly gotten back to you by now. Even a quick phone call to say she received your note and will contact you at a later time, anything! That's what my son's teacher did when I contacted her. That's courtesy. Unfortunately, your child's teacher doesn't seem to care by her actions and what she says to your son and the other parent.

On the computer/internet issue, I have two computers at home, none of them have internet connections. Although I'm trying to find the most economical one that will not blow up out of control the way our AOL account did. Thank heavens I can access information at work if they really have to go on it during the week before we hit the library on the weekend. Teachers do set homework that has to be done via the internet and accessing their websites is always so hard to do because, either they have forgotten to update it and/or did not give access to everyone. That has happened to me too.

Texas Wahine

on Sep 21, 2005

See reply #42 for details. But "everything" else is "dead on"!

drmiler: I think you're confusing what I said with what Chaos Manager said.

My quote was,

A cheap, can't-do-much computer is still several hundred dollars.

That's all I said. It's true as well. Ever use an eMachine?

The point is, you're not going to be able to purchase any new computer for less than a couple hundred bucks. The one I'm using now is a Gateway...real simple...and it was $500.

dharmagrl

on Sep 21, 2005

I have a feeling that Dan, despite his assertions to the contrary, has lived a relatively comfortable existence thus far. He's certainly never lived in the kind of paycheck-to-paycheck existence I have....we've been so broke at times in our married lives that we've been lucky to have had $5 in the checking account after bills were paid and food was bought....and we've been relatively well off compared to some.

dharmagrl

on Sep 21, 2005

And the sad part is, it's teachers with attitudes like that (and this clown in one of the counties around Richmond that's been arrested for child pornography) that reinforces the decision (in my mind) to homeschool.

I admire your ability to do that. I had considered it, but I don't think I'd be very good at it. Although.....after the way this school system has been the past few weeks, homeschooling might become an option. I have never experienced a more fucked-up system than this one, ever.

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