My son's Math teacher told the kids that today (last day of school) they would be having a review test of everything they have learned this year that would be a large part of their grade.

So, we literally went over Math from 11 yesterday, until 8. He was still struggling with more difficult equations, so that was what made the review take so damn many hours yesterday.

Today, he gets to Math class, and the teacher had been kidding and just handed out review sheets to do over the summer. I know that it is not as if my son was hurt by studying all day with us yesterday, but that was a huge kick to the teeth because we have all summer to go over things and I am feeling very pissed off that instead of spending the day doing other things, we had to spend Sunday making sure that he would not stumble on the equations part.

I don't blame you for being pissed off. If it makes you feel any better tell the teacher the joke was not funny and how you spent all those hours for nothing when it could have been spread out.

The worst part about it is that maybe it sets a tone for the kids who studied to hope for it being a joke in the future and then not study or tell their parents they need help on part of it they are stuggling with.

RedBedroom wrote:

The worst part about it is that maybe it sets a tone for the kids who studied to hope for it being a joke in the future and then not study or tell their parents they need help on part of it they are stuggling with.

I sure hope that is not the case.

That really wasn't very smart on the part of the teacher. Do you think you could talk to her about it? Let her know that you're worried about the tone it sets for the future and how hard your son studied? I really don't know why the teacher thought it would be funny to do something like that.

TSJFan4Ever wrote:

That really wasn't very smart on the part of the teacher. Do you think you could talk to her about it? Let her know that you're worried about the tone it sets for the future and how hard your son studied? I really don't know why the teacher thought it would be funny to do something like that.

My son won't have him for a Math teacher again, now that he is out of sixth grade. So, since report cards don't go out until the end of the week, I shall stay mum. My son had possibly slipped to a B, and I really don't want him to factor in my bitching when going between an A/B. Maybe that is an unrealistic worry on my part, but this teacher did not take to criticism earlier this year well.

I was not a bitch about it, but the kids do two tests (one at the beginning and one at the end of the year) to see if they would do ok for pre algebra in 7th. Well, my son was so happy to test into it early. He was proud, and excited. Then this teacher really started to preach to the class how hard it would be, seemingly talking pre algebra down to the kids who should really be in there. So, I did bring it up that I hoped he would try to accentuate some of the positives about it in class. I'm all for prepping them for the harder work, but not getting them to the point they don't think they can handle it.

Yeah - true - you don't want to jeopardize your son's grade. Maybe after report cards are out, you could taken in like that.

Yeah that was kinda sleazy; very deceitful. While I bet a number of kids in his class breathed a heavy sigh of relief, your son had to feel a little duped for having to sacrifice part of his weekend to study for this bogus test so that he'd get a passing grade.

At least it got him to study and practice his math. I don't really see the harm. It was a dick-move, though.

Rockbird wrote:

At least it got him to study and practice his math. I don't really see the harm. It was a dick-move, though.

I agree. And I hope anyone who reads this doesn't think that I am of the mindset of, "Damn, we did all that work for nothing." Those difficult equations kicked all our asses for a huge part of the day until we got him to understand it. So, it was worth it, but last night at six, I would have much rather retired for the night when we were all tired, hungry and crabby after having been at it for several hours.

The problematic equations were part of a "challenge yourself" section of his workbook, but because grades are so important, he knew that it was in his best interest to know them just in case they were part of the test, even if just an extra credit.

And just so everyone knows, my son isn't a kid who just naturally comes by wanting to know something like that. (though, that would be great) He just knows that grades come first and that his summer is defined by that final report card.

He races motocross, so if he gets any B's we don't leave the state to race. If he gets any C's (which never happened) we would cut it down to just our region within our state. So if we were not so strict, who knows what would happen. But the way I see it, it works for us. Plus, some of his sponsors shell out a heck of a lot more cash in the seasons they are sent a straight A report card.

RedBedroom wrote:

Rockbird wrote:

At least it got him to study and practice his math. I don't really see the harm. It was a dick-move, though.

I agree. And I hope anyone who reads this doesn't think that I am of the mindset of, "Damn, we did all that work for nothing." Those difficult equations kicked all our asses for a huge part of the day until we got him to understand it. So, it was worth it, but last night at six, I would have much rather retired for the night when we were all tired, hungry and crabby after having been at it for several hours.

The problematic equations were part of a "challenge yourself" section of his workbook, but because grades are so important, he knew that it was in his best interest to know them just in case they were part of the test, even if just an extra credit.

And just so everyone knows, my son isn't a kid who just naturally comes by wanting to know something like that. (though, that would be great) He just knows that grades come first and that his summer is defined by that final report card.

He races motocross, so if he gets any B's we don't leave the state to race. If he gets any C's (which never happened) we would cut it down to just our region within our state. So if we were not so strict, who knows what would happen. But the way I see it, it works for us. Plus, some of his sponsors shell out a heck of a lot more cash in the seasons they are sent a straight A report card.

I get what you mean. It was deceitful. It's not about how your son and his classmates had to spend a day studying what they learned, it's about how all that studying wasn't put to good use. A better joke would have been if he had actually given them the quiz, but when it was over he told them that it wouldn't count as a 'make/break' part of their final grade, but rather as extra credit. At least that would have amounted to something.

I'd go in and have a chat with the school Principal and bypass the teacher all together. "Out" him and make sure the higher ups know exactly what's going on in the classroom and that you're watching--you have that right as a parent.

Hyacinth Girl wrote:

I'd go in and have a chat with the school Principal and bypass the teacher all together. "Out" him and make sure the higher ups know exactly what's going on in the classroom and that you're watching--you have that right as a parent.

I agree. That's a pretty stupid thing of the teacher to do. He doesn't sound terribly bright or considerate of other people's time. Of course, some kids did slack off, and as Chris said, breathed a sigh of relief, but there are kids like your son who really did study hard and put his body and soul into it. I'd raise hell with that teacher.

It's usually best to go right to the source first. It's even more of a dick move to go above somebody without laying your cards out on the table. Seems underhanded and malicious.

That's a little fucked up, but in all honestly....your day really wasn't wasted. If your son got a better understanding of the equations he was having problems with, then it's AG.