To be really annoyed with this teacher?

[tomboytown]

Ds-first week of senior school.
Mon- supposed to have History homework
Mon- gets given a worksheet
Monday night- completes the worksheet

Tuesday-gets detention for completing the worksheet.

It’s his first week!
Punishing a child for actually doing more work than is necessary?!

But OP, he didn’t listen to the instruction. He didn’t write it down, he can’t tell you what it was. That’s not something he needs weeks to learn. It’s obvious. Have you ever heard the way teachers speak to Y7 students in week 1? The instruction will have been given, repeated, checked with questioning, reiterated, written down, sent via smoke signals.

How is your son for listening at home?

OP I think you're getting a tough time here and I'm not really sure why, aside from you writing a post that seems to have got lots and lots of knees jerking. Touchy subject for some reason! Hope you and your DS get to the bottom of it and he settles in well.

LolaSmiles, if your school is managing to capture evidence of bad behaviour to the degree that you suggest on here, it sounds like your school CCTV is fairly excessive and an invasion of privacy.

To be fair a lot of adults don't have finely tuned listening skills and some of them even work in schools!

The instruction will have been given, repeated, checked with questioning, reiterated, written down, sent via smoke signals.
Not a chance he’s missed all this. That’s kind of my point. That might be the way it’s supposed to be done. Maybe it’s the teachers first day, maybe she’s never taught year 7 before, maybe the bell went before the instructions were written down.
He’s actually managed to write down the instructions for 2 other subjects yesterday and 4 for today.

Goldenbear

True. Perhaps they might have benefited from this teacher’s no-excuses approach.

Not a chance he’s missed all this. That’s kind of my point. That might be the way it’s supposed to be done. Maybe it’s the teachers first day, maybe she’s never taught year 7 before, maybe the bell went before the instructions were written down.

That’s all your assumption, though. You could try actually asking the teacher whether clear instruction was given.

I agree with you totally OP. There’s just no need for any teacher of a brand new year 7 child to be giving them a detention for a genuine misunderstanding during their first week ever of secondary school. Bloody hell, give the poor buggers a chance, it’s such a massive change and so much to get to grips with.

My oldest has just started in year 7 and it’s an absolute minefield. My DH and myself are supporting our DS as much as possible and trying our best to work out all the new systems and rules just as much as our son is and we’ve already messed up by apparently buying him school shoes that look too much like trainers (they don’t).

I would be so gutted for my DS if he got a detention for the reason you have described. Not exactly the welcoming environment you’d hope he’d encounter during his first week.

Is it a school where the diary is pre printed with homework from subjects.

Eg each day is a set homework from subject on a rota?

I find it odd a teacher would give out a worksheet that didn't need completing. Sure fire way to have loads of pupils forget to bring it to the lesson! I'd never have considered pupils completing work they didn't need to at home!

Not exactly the welcoming environment you’d hope he’d encounter during his first week.

It is important for school to be welcoming, of course. It is also important - really, really important - for them to set the expectation that when the teacher talks, the student listens. Really important.

A couple of them did it as homework.

Only a couple? Seems the instructions were clear to most.

He’s a very bright, eager to learn student. He’s upset that he’s got something wrong, and is now doubting whether he need to complete tonight’s homework on the sheet or on his book, cos he’s worried about getting told off.

Not so bright and eager if he still isn’t capable of following instructions about homework. A bright, eager child would check with the teacher if they were unclear on what needed to be done.

Hercule- yes, but I’d be ‘that parent’ according to some here! I was torn between just letting it go and trusting that things will sort themselves (that’s usually how i would work it) or winning the prize for first moaning parent of the year.

Of course I will try to get to the bottom of it.

My dc has difficulties with listening and focus - borderline so we don’t have a formal dx at this stage.

We’ve been told by paed audiologist that auditory processing itself is on a spectrum. Tuning in and being able to capture instructions is easy peasy for a lot of people but varies in difficulty level across a group of people.

I used to struggle with this kind of thing at school though I got ok grades. Audiologist told me I probably have lower than average auditory processing just like dc.

If I had been teaching this class my knowledge about the range of auditory processing skills in an average class would stop me taking this sanctions approach for a one off error like this.

Maybe it’s the teachers first day, maybe she’s never taught year 7 before, maybe the bell went before the instructions were written down.

Ahhh, it’s the teacher’s fault your son isn’t paying attention.

Oh give it a rest
He’s got 6 out of 7 instructions written down correctly, completed immediately, neat and tidy and books back in bag.

tomboytown

Personally I think you probably are at the bottom of it; he didn’t write it down, and he should have done. It was 5 minutes. Tell him to write it down next time and let it go?

FWIW- we’ve had a big conversation tonight about new routines and the importance of listening and writing things down.

If I had been teaching this class my knowledge about the range of auditory processing skills in an average class would stop me taking this sanctions approach for a one off error like this.

Possibly. I would also want to avoid the lax approach some students take to writing down homework. I would make sure the instructions were on the board and read aloud.

That’s incredibly mean Yabbers.

@tomboytown I have a DS like you describe and appreciate exactly what you mean when you say he would now be upset and questioning what he’s expected to do with other tasks.

I hope everyone saying he deserves the detention would accept some sort of disciplinary action in your workplace for making a minor admin error based on the fact you’d only been doing the job for less than a week?
I can appreciate that teachers need pupils to listen and follow instructions but don’t agree that a detention is appropriate during the first week of year 7 following an unintentional homework error.

Instructions being on the board would definitely help for people with lower than average auditory processing, provided the instruction to look at the board was clear enough. I find in meetings even now I’m the last one to look at the right hand out - just takes me a bit longer than others to catch on to what’s been said

of course there’s a possibility that there’s more to it. But I’m struggling to see what exactly.

You need to ring or email and ask. Off the top of my head I can think of a few reasons; she might have specifically said "leave the sheet here" so that they could work on it the next day and he went against her instructions. He might have argued with her when she told him he shouldn't have done it or the detention might be for something else and he misunderstood.

Oh FFS. You really think teachers like giving detentions? Sounds like a very clear instruction that he didn't follow.

You'll be doing him no favours if you react like this every time a teacher does their job.

Sorry, I don't mean to be harsh - it's been a long day and I've already dealt with 2 parents who think their children can't do a thing wrong.

Not a chance he’s missed all this. That’s kind of my point. That might be the way it’s supposed to be done. Maybe it’s the teachers first day, maybe she’s never taught year 7 before, maybe the bell went before the instructions were written down.
Yet again, not a chance that the bright DC didn't follow the instructions, maybe it's more likely that the teacher doesn't know how to teach year 7, maybe the bell went so he didn't write them down, look at all the options that mean my child wasn't responsible

It beggars belief.

yes, but I’d be ‘that parent’ according to some here! I was torn between just letting it go and trusting that things will sort themselves (that’s usually how i would work it) or winning the prize for first moaning parent of the year
Yes you probably would.
Any parent raising a genuine concern with an open mind with the appropriate person would never be "that parent".
Someone whose default is that now 2 members of staff were probably wrong and would sooner suggest staff don't know how to teach y7 than consider their child wasn't following instructions or paying attention AND would complain about their child being kept for 5 mins to discuss this because they've decided their child isn't in the wrong would probably be that parent because it's a total non issue (and as you say would be the first moaning parent of the year).

But what other story could there be? How long have you got?? It never ceases to amaze me his pupils misinterpret what I say sometimes. I would contact the school and ask them to clarify what happened. Don't go in making assumptions about the unfairness of it all. I'd be highly surprised if a teacher punished overenthusiastic year 7s in the second week at school. Might be wrong though, in which case it's also good that you've spoken to the school, because the teacher can then get some appropriate support. Won't make you that parent, we do understand that it's a switch from primary to secondary, for parents as well as pupils!

Thistle- there wasn’t an instruction- where do you get the idea that there was a clear instruction?
Lola- you’re so incensed that you’re making stuff up now, what 2 members of staff?