Requesting teachers, was Starting Kindergarten

Cathy Kearns wrote:


I was wondering about those schools where you can request teachers.
What do they do about new teachers? I assume no one requests teachers
they don't know, do they let the parents interview them? Do new
teachers get entire classes of kids whose parents don't request a
teacher? Does that reflect at all the number of volunteers available
for their classroom?


I can't speak for such schools (mine would prefer that
you not request a specific teacher, although of course some
parents do so). However, I can think of at least one situation
in which people might request a new teacher even without a
chance to interview him or her. If the parents know they
*don't* want any of the current teachers, they might prefer
an unknown to what they know of the current teachers.
Also, it's my experience that often it's not the
case that there are one or two teachers that everyone
prefers. Unless a teacher is just horrible, some parents
will prefer one teacher and some will prefer another
based on their child's temperment and abilities.


Our school is similar to LFortier's school, which lets you write a letter
saying what special skills you child might need in a teacher the next year.
However, even the kinders are interviewed before the teacher is assigned,
and they take into account what they know about your child in a classroom
situation (which, by first grade, is a bit more than I know about my child
in a classroom situation) when selecting teachers. They also try to divide
the kids such that each classroom has the same amount of parents that
are inclined to volunteer to ensure math labs and reading groups and
field trips are available to all children in that grade. They also try to
ensure the ESL learners and special ed kids are spread evenly. How
would this work in a school where you can request a teacher.


First of all, I think it's only a minority of parents
who request teachers, or even make suggestions. Second,
I suspect that if there are a bunch of teacher requests,
they remain just that--requests. In most cases, I doubt
a school would compromise a classroom in order to fill
all parental requests.

Best wishes,
Ericka

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...
Cathy Kearns wrote:


I was wondering about those schools where you can request teachers.
What do they do about new teachers? I assume no one requests teachers
they don't know, do they let the parents interview them? Do new
teachers get entire classes of kids whose parents don't request a
teacher? Does that reflect at all the number of volunteers available
for their classroom?


I can't speak for such schools (mine would prefer that
you not request a specific teacher, although of course some
parents do so). However, I can think of at least one situation
in which people might request a new teacher even without a
chance to interview him or her. If the parents know they
*don't* want any of the current teachers, they might prefer
an unknown to what they know of the current teachers.
Also, it's my experience that often it's not the
case that there are one or two teachers that everyone
prefers. Unless a teacher is just horrible, some parents
will prefer one teacher and some will prefer another
based on their child's temperment and abilities.


Our school is similar to LFortier's school, which lets you write a
letter
saying what special skills you child might need in a teacher the next
year.
However, even the kinders are interviewed before the teacher is
assigned,
and they take into account what they know about your child in a
classroom
situation (which, by first grade, is a bit more than I know about my
child
in a classroom situation) when selecting teachers. They also try to
divide
the kids such that each classroom has the same amount of parents that
are inclined to volunteer to ensure math labs and reading groups and
field trips are available to all children in that grade. They also try
to
ensure the ESL learners and special ed kids are spread evenly. How
would this work in a school where you can request a teacher.


First of all, I think it's only a minority of parents
who request teachers, or even make suggestions. Second,
I suspect that if there are a bunch of teacher requests,
they remain just that--requests. In most cases, I doubt
a school would compromise a classroom in order to fill
all parental requests.

A few years back, my school went from homogeneous grouping (high, middle,
low) to heterogeneous grouping. One of the teachers had always had the
highest ability, best behaved kids, and didn't like the idea of having all
the rest too, so she called up a bunch of parents who she knew and asked
them to request her. Her hope was that the principal would let these kids
come in, and transfer the lower performing ones out.

Well, the principal noticed what was happening (and apparently, some of the
parents told him that "ms X told me I needed to tell you I want little
Johnny in her class"), and he asked each of them if they were willing to
accept a larger class size in order to have their choice of teacher. If they
agreed, he accepted the change-and for each high performing kid he moved in,
he made sure there was a low performer as well.

This lady ended up with almost 60 kids in her room on day 1-and was irate
about it. He pointed out that the district had mandated that there were
equal numbers of high and low ability students in the classrooms, so if she
REALLY wanted all of these high ability students, she would have to accept
some of the lower performers as well.

She ended up calling up these parents and explaining that she couldn't have
their child after all.

We don't generally accept teacher requests for a specific teacher, but will
try to match learning style, class structure, etc if a parent requests it.
We also get a pretty good number of "Don't put her in the same class with
her cousin Kelly-They'll play all the time!" and we take those into
consideration.

Class placement is a balance game-because you want a mix of high performers,
middle performers, kids with special needs, kids who are behaviorally
difficult, kids who speak different languages (although we do sometimes
cluster children who speak the same language in the same room, so they have
someone to talk with socially-we have two children coming in this year who
speak Swahili, so they are in the same class, while the other classes have
ESL students who speak different languages), as well as learning styles,
family relationships, and everything else.


Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer wrote:

I can't speak for such schools (mine would prefer that
you not request a specific teacher, although of course some
parents do so). However, I can think of at least one situation
in which people might request a new teacher even without a
chance to interview him or her. If the parents know they
*don't* want any of the current teachers, they might prefer
an unknown to what they know of the current teachers.

I've always interviewed the existing classrooms in the spring so that I
can write a letter telling the principle which teacher I think would be
the best fit for my kids. One year I absolutely hated both third grade
teachers and chose the unknown teacher based on her resume.

Also, it's my experience that often it's not the
case that there are one or two teachers that everyone
prefers. Unless a teacher is just horrible, some parents
will prefer one teacher and some will prefer another
based on their child's temperment and abilities.

That's been my experience, too. In fact, sometimes I've found that the
right teacher for my child is not the same teacher I picked for his
sister.

I have never once requested a teacher based on who was the popular
teacher. I don't even think that sort of request would get honored. I
write the letter saying, "I think my child needs Such and Such and based
on my interviews and observations in the classrooms, it is my opinion that
those needs would be best met with So and So."

First of all, I think it's only a minority of parents
who request teachers, or even make suggestions. Second,
I suspect that if there are a bunch of teacher requests,
they remain just that--requests. In most cases, I doubt
a school would compromise a classroom in order to fill
all parental requests.

I would be shocked if a school had so many parent requests that it
compromised their classroom allocations. In all my years in the
Elementary school I've never met more than half the parents of kids in my
children's classes. An awful lot of parents just feel like the schools
will take care of it so they don't have to think about it.

My Principal's opinion was that they would be nuts to disregard an
involved parent's opinion on how best to educate their child. They WANT
parental participation in the children's education!

Wendy

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003, Wendy Marsden wrote:

Ericka Kammerer wrote:

I can't speak for such schools (mine would prefer that
you not request a specific teacher, although of course some
parents do so). However, I can think of at least one situation
in which people might request a new teacher even without a
chance to interview him or her. If the parents know they
*don't* want any of the current teachers, they might prefer
an unknown to what they know of the current teachers.

I've always interviewed the existing classrooms in the spring so that I
can write a letter telling the principle which teacher I think would be
the best fit for my kids. One year I absolutely hated both third grade
teachers and chose the unknown teacher based on her resume.

Also, it's my experience that often it's not the
case that there are one or two teachers that everyone
prefers. Unless a teacher is just horrible, some parents
will prefer one teacher and some will prefer another
based on their child's temperment and abilities.

That's been my experience, too. In fact, sometimes I've found that the
right teacher for my child is not the same teacher I picked for his
sister.

I have never once requested a teacher based on who was the popular
teacher. I don't even think that sort of request would get honored. I
write the letter saying, "I think my child needs Such and Such and based
on my interviews and observations in the classrooms, it is my opinion that
those needs would be best met with So and So."

First of all, I think it's only a minority of parents
who request teachers, or even make suggestions. Second,
I suspect that if there are a bunch of teacher requests,
they remain just that--requests. In most cases, I doubt
a school would compromise a classroom in order to fill
all parental requests.

I would be shocked if a school had so many parent requests that it
compromised their classroom allocations. In all my years in the
Elementary school I've never met more than half the parents of kids in my
children's classes. An awful lot of parents just feel like the schools
will take care of it so they don't have to think about it.

My Principal's opinion was that they would be nuts to disregard an
involved parent's opinion on how best to educate their child. They WANT
parental participation in the children's education!

The schools in my first district dealt with large numbers of parent
requests, so many that we had to develop a written policy on how they
would be handled and a visiting schedule in the spring to accommodate
the many, many visitors to our classrooms.

Parents were given a form to fill out which required they explain
why they thought a specific teacher would be the best placement for
their child. We also had timelines and retained the final say.

Some parents don't realize it and not all schools do it this
way, but we spent quite a bit of time on the process of putting
together each year's classroom assignments. Each child was
personally assigned based on staff knowledge -- which teachers
we felt were best for specific children, especially those with
identified needs or challenges of one kind or another. Classroom
dynamics played a role in this process too. We knew, for example, that
certain combinations of children could spell disaster. If the
parents of two "disaster-causing" loved ones requested the
same teacher, we had to talk one of them into a different
classroom....

We did try, however, to honor as many requests as we could.

Changing teachers mid-year was a different ballgame altogether.
We even initiated such changes on occasion. It wasn't something
we did often. In fact, it was rare. But we know that sometimes a child and
teacher can clash, even among the best of both. Parents also initiated
such change. Now we didn't just say, "Okay!" Often times these
requests were emotionally charged... We brought the families
in to talk and to discuss a broad range of possible solutions
to whatever the problem might be. But yes, sometimes, changing
classrooms seemed to be the best solution.

It's not that way in my current district. I don't think it would
even be possible in such a huge and fast growing network of
schools. It's a zoo. But I got around it by scheduling an
appointment with the principal and discussing what I considered
to be my child's particular needs and asking if she could
recommend a specific placement for him. She seemed glad to
do so, stepped out to the office and told the secretary to
assign my son to so-and-so's classroom....

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 14:35:20 GMT, "Cathy Kearns"
wrote:

I was wondering about those schools where you can request teachers.
What do they do about new teachers? I assume no one requests teachers
they don't know, do they let the parents interview them? Do new
teachers get entire classes of kids whose parents don't request a
teacher? Does that reflect at all the number of volunteers available
for their classroom?

In general only a very few knowledgeable parents made any requests in
my children's school, so it never became a big problem. Since the
school system they were in had a good reputation and people trusted
that *all* or *most* of the teachers were good, it was rare to make
such requests.

Most requests too were based on personality and style matches not
much on thinking the other teacher would not teach the academics
adequately. Maybe it is an unusual school district though.




--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..
Outer Limits

In article ,
Wendy Marsden wrote:


I would be shocked if a school had so many parent requests that it
compromised their classroom allocations. In all my years in the
Elementary school I've never met more than half the parents of kids in my
children's classes. An awful lot of parents just feel like the schools
will take care of it so they don't have to think about it.

My Principal's opinion was that they would be nuts to disregard an
involved parent's opinion on how best to educate their child. They WANT
parental participation in the children's education!

Wendy

The only time I ran into really wanting a specific teacher, it was more
that I didn't want the other one. The school accepted NO requests --
and I realized much later that it was because that particular teacher
was SO horrid that the other teacher would have had most of the students
in HER room: they couldn't honor all the requests, as it would have
left almost no one in one room, and over 50 kids in the other.

The teacher was finally dismissed; unfortunately, the former principal
had been a wimp, or she'd have been gone much sooner.

meh
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

x-no-archive:yes dragonlady
wrote:
In article ,
Wendy Marsden wrote:
I would be shocked if a school had so many parent requests that it
compromised their classroom allocations. In all my years in the
Elementary school I've never met more than half the parents of kids in my
children's classes. An awful lot of parents just feel like the schools
will take care of it so they don't have to think about it.

My Principal's opinion was that they would be nuts to disregard an
involved parent's opinion on how best to educate their child. They WANT
parental participation in the children's education!

The only time I ran into really wanting a specific teacher, it was more
that I didn't want the other one. The school accepted NO requests --
and I realized much later that it was because that particular teacher
was SO horrid that the other teacher would have had most of the students
in HER room: they couldn't honor all the requests, as it would have
left almost no one in one room, and over 50 kids in the other.

We transferred into a school in the middle of the year and dd#2 had a
horrible clash of personalities with the 5th grade teacher - mostly
because dd#2 didn't suffer fools gladly and this older lady didn't
have too firm a grip on science and math. (She taught the kids that
the blood in the veins was blue like in the illustrations) DD#2 was
un-tactful enough to be able to prove her wrong on several occasions.

I was concerned about how dd#3 would get along because dd#3 was very
quiet, but had an extremely expressive face which would tell anyone
who was looking at her exactly what she thought without her saying a
word. But in fact dd#3 was a teacher's pet of this teacher because
she was outwardly quiet and amenable.

She retired before ds came along, and he had a man teacher who was
incompetent across the board.

DS had a far harder time than any of my dds because he was the only
one who had the opportunity to follow a sibling into a teacher's class
all the way along. For the others, we always moved before any of them
got to have a teacher that another one had had.

The teacher was finally dismissed; unfortunately, the former principal
had been a wimp, or she'd have been gone much sooner.


grandma Rosalie

Our school frowns in requesting a certain teacher, but you can request a
certain style of teaching for your child. They try their best to accommodate
parents, but it has gotten so bad that we don't even get to know what
teacher the kids have until the day before school starts. I have had good
"new" teachers and horrible "old" teachers so it really depends on what
teaching style the child needs and what your looking for and the personality
of the teacher. The principal and teachers get together and try to hash out
which kids get put into certain classes. They try to separate the trouble
makers and they also try to spread out the special need kids so they are not
all in one class. There is a first grade teacher that everybody and their
brother just loves to death and everyone requests her. My dd1 had her and I
wasn't impressed at all. She gives out a tremendous amount of homework for
first grade and I don't care for that at all. So I am hoping that my first
grader doesn't get her and gets the other first grade teacher. We shall see
though.
--
Sue
mom to three girls

Cathy Kearns wrote in message
. ..

"LFortier" wrote in message
...
toto wrote:

And for requesting. . .that also varies. Our school doesn't let parents
request a teacher by name,
but you can write a letter describing the kind of teacher you want. I
generally don't
bother.

I was wondering about those schools where you can request teachers.
What do they do about new teachers? I assume no one requests teachers
they don't know, do they let the parents interview them? Do new
teachers get entire classes of kids whose parents don't request a
teacher? Does that reflect at all the number of volunteers available
for their classroom?

Our school is similar to LFortier's school, which lets you write a letter
saying what special skills you child might need in a teacher the next
year.
However, even the kinders are interviewed before the teacher is assigned,
and they take into account what they know about your child in a classroom
situation (which, by first grade, is a bit more than I know about my child
in a classroom situation) when selecting teachers. They also try to
divide
the kids such that each classroom has the same amount of parents that
are inclined to volunteer to ensure math labs and reading groups and
field trips are available to all children in that grade. They also try to
ensure the ESL learners and special ed kids are spread evenly. How
would this work in a school where you can request a teacher.