by Jennifer W.

Created on: August 24, 2007

Let's face it: every parent knows about that one teacher in the third grade that they pray daily that their child will not have to endure. There may be one of those teachers in every grade, or you may get a new teacher and find out you're living in a new teacher nightmare. Well take heart, your child will not be ruined forever. In fact the year may end up better than you anticipated if your child is placed with one of the less desirable teachers in your school.

First, understand that teachers work close to 80-100 hours a week. They are working in a high pressure government regulated system and there is not a single teacher out there who will say that they have enough time to teach any given topic in any given subject area. (I'd love to sit you down and chat about the math curriculum, but thats another topic for another day). Many schools are struggling, teachers are under paid, and the education system is a huge issue in the media. To top that off, teachers have between 15 (in those very lucky classrooms) to 40 students in a class, many with disabilities, most with discipline problems and all with the desire to be out on the playground instead of learning about verbs and adverbs. So basically, a teacher has a stressful job.

Even so, there are some teachers who almost seem like they have a personal vendetta against every child who enters their classroom, or in some cases, have a problem with your child alone. Short of marching into the Principal's office and demanding your child be removed from such a hostile environment, there are steps that you can take to ensure a better school year for your child.

First, meet with the teacher in person. Regularly if need be. Ask to see work examples, be open about how homework time goes (here's the time to explain how much time YOU spend with your child doing homework, or if you don't have the time, then the fact that you have hired a private tutor to help your child with his homework). Ask about specific issues in class. Make sure you understand exactly what it is the teacher has against your child, and strive to suggest fair solutions that may help the situation. Remember, though, a difficult teacher WILL balk at your suggesting that she needs to do additional work - 80-100 hours a week already, remember?

Make sure the teacher understands clearly that you want your child's best interests, and that you don't necessarily expect straight A's, but that you are willing to do what you can to help.

Volunteering to help the teacher out in school may provide enough relief from the workload that the teacher's stress levels come back down and allow for a more pleasant atmosphere for the students. If the teacher is against this, check with other teachers, at the very least, you will then be in the building and able to intervene if there is a serious problem.

If the problems continue despite your attempts to work them out with the teacher, arrange a meeting with the teacher and principal. This WILL put a difficult teacher on the defensive, but be understanding and clear about your concerns and questions. Making sure the principal is aware of your desire to rectify the situation and improve your child's education will never be bad.

Ask for advice from the teacher, and if you disagree, bite your tongue. Giving the teacher respect and acknowledge his or her authority on the subject of education may be all that is needed. If you have serious problems with the advice, clarify and ask questions until you come to a mutual understanding.

The bottom line is this: if you are able to demonstrate that you want to work with the teacher to educate your child in the best manner possible, there should be a way to rectify any situation.

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