Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Stars and Dragons!

Kagen has a bit of a rough start to the School year. But after some talking listeening to him about what was going on I thought it was on the mend!

We also went into to visit with his teacher, we noticed that she had the class split up in to 2 sets of tables. One table with a name tag on the end that said "STARS" and the other table with a name tag of "Dragons".

I found Kagens name on the table that was marked Dragons and questioned the teacher as to how the kids were put on the tables? She answered "That the kids that were doing well with school work were on the "STARS" table! The kids on the "Dragons table were kids that misbehaved and were behind on their work!"

We talked about Kagen and how he was doing and that we felt that he wasnt happy in class! His teacher told us that she had been thinking of moving him to the other table as his work had picked up! So we waited and waited to hear if he was moved? Asking Kagen without letting him know the reason behind the questions.

Today they had an OPEN DAY. The parents were invited in to see the kids in class. When I went into Kagens room they still had the SAME table set up and he was still sitting in the same place next to the same two boys that are giving him a hard time~

Now I was not happy and was ready to VENT! But there and then wasnt the time or the place! And I have thought about this all day (YES STREWING ON IT) And I think it really STINKS!

1, The teacher has done nothing we talked about with her~

2, That they are Labeling the kids!

3, That I really dont know what to do next!

grrrrrrrrr

6 comments:

Janine said...

What an archaic system for a modern school. When I was at Teacher's College a lifetime or more ago I remember that it was definitely a no-no to divide kids on the basis of behaviour or even ability ...no-one benefits and kids are smart enough to work out what the grouping really means. It's much more beneficial for a well behaved child to be paired with a poorly behaved child, as the influence on both is generally positive. Put two (or more) little ratbags together and no-one can work for the chaos! I'd definitely be having some more dialogue with the teacher or even the principal. Even if Kagen joins the stars the system doesn't work well for the class as a whole...best of luck..keep us informed.

Maggie said...

I would speak to the teacher and the principal (or whatever the equivalent of a principal is in AU). Even if Kagen were on the STARS side, it's completely unacceptable to group students by behavior and to label them in such a fashion. How demeaning and demoralizing for the kids.

Anonymous said...

The names of the groups do label them... and I wouldn't want to be in the Dragons group, either.

Why were the names so different? Maybe just the red and blue groups would be better?

Paula said...

That doesn't seem right to me. I would definately talk to the principal. I don't think they should be separated like that.
I'd be stewing too.

Ellen said...

As a teacher we are taught to be fair and evenhanded to all. You do not separate kids like that because you end up with WORSE behavior! The "bad" kids feed off each other and end up acting worse than before. The trick is to mix the kids up in such a way that you have high and low, loud and quiet, silly and serious, all mixed up in a glorious group. Then they can help each other and work together without so many problems.

If the teacher told you she would move your ds, and she hasn't yet, I'd give her one more chance. Ask for a conference ASAP and straight out ask her to move him. If that doesn't happen right away, get the Principal involved.

Melissa said...

your kids teacher needs to take a class over here. that is so unacceptable it is not even funny. Kids are not stupid, they understand why they are grouped that way. Anyhow, you are supposed to make heterogenious groups so it benefits all the kids. The "high group" benefits by helping their peers (you really internalize things if you can reteach it yourself) and the "lower group" benefits by having work shown to them in a different manner than the teacher is doing. I cant tell you how many times another peer has explained things to me in a way I can understand better than a teacher. Also this way they get to work with other children. The behaviors are better. There are times for homogenious groupings, like during guided reading groups, but otherwise, you always mix the groupings.