Student Teacher Problem What Do I Do?

Hi A.! You need to go directly to the teacher and tell her what you have heard. I understand that can be uncomfortable, so if that is the case go directly to the principal. The Principal will want to know about this ASAP and I personally don't think it matters if she/he is old or new, he/she needs to know. Let me know how everything works out.

Speak up NOW before more harm is done to these childdren. There is no way that kind of behavior is acceptable from a teacher. After similar situations a couple of years ago, in hind site I would have pulled my son out of school completely and homeschooled until changes were made. Totally not acceptable!

A.,
I would immediately speak to the teacher in a kind but firm way-- asking for her side of this then I would appeal to the administration. These comments made to the children are very damaging and extremely unprofessional. You may need to get in touch with other parents and go to the principal together. If the administrators will not do anything, I would demand that my child be moved to another classroom.
-G. K

Hi A.,
My daughter had a bad teacher in the 4th grade. I talked to the principal. Other parents had complained as well. I ended up taking my daughter out of the school because they could not accomodate her in another classroom. I later learned that the teacher was no longer at the school. I think he might have been "encouraged" to move on.

It is totally unacceptable for any child to be in a classroom where children are belittled and abused! I would recommend that you write down all the things that have happened, with names of other children and take it to the new principal. The principal will have to investigate, and hopefully the children won't be too afraid to tell the truth.

I can't remember who said this, but it certainly applies to this situation, "All it takes for evil to prevail, is for good men to do nothing." Each and every child in that classroom is being abused because they are seeing that it's ok to treat people in this disrespectful fashion.
I wish you well in your assignment!

Blessings,
D.

This situation requires drastic measures. My daughter had a sub once while her teacher was on maternity leave who did the same thing. Enough parents complained so that she never subbed again. However, if your daughter is in public school this may be harder to take care of. Having a new principal is a good thing, maybe that person will have a fresh perspective and the guts enough to do something about that teacher! Do you know the teacher well? Try to foster a friendly relationship with her. Then, I would spend a day in her class. The teacher cannot say no to this, and this will put her on notice that you are watching her. Just tell her that you want to do this as an involved parent...if you still have concerns after that, then definitely go through the chain of command. The school year is halfway over, so switching schools may not be a good option at this time, and next year's teacher is likely much better. I am an advocate for having good parent-teacher relationships, so do your part, but if she is that bad then do what you can to make sure she does not do this to any more children.

Yea, you need to go talk to the principle, if the new principle is doing his/her job, they will take the appropriate actions against both the teacher and the aide, if not you need to see the schools superintendent or schools board of advisors, i dont understand why when the 1st complaint came in the principle didnt take action immediately. you really need to speak up, raise your voice if you have to, to get this teacher and aide out of your childs class. this is not by any means healthy for your child. I dont really agree with doing voluteering in the class, cause the teacher will act differently when a parnet is in her class, if your in the class she is going to be on her best behavior so she doesnt get into trouble and you will not hear the things that she & the aide are saying, so best off, just going straight to the pinciple.

You need to go to the principal and let him/her know of your concerns. You can also try talking to other parents and find out who has similar concerns, and maybe draft a letter to give to the principal with signatures of all concerned parents...or get them to also write their own letter. The more people that get involved, the better chance of coming to a resolution.
If you do not get results from going to the principal, go to the school district and lodge a complaint - again using the letter with other signatures so that the district has an idea of how many parents are frustrated with this issue. When sending in the letter to the district, make sure that the principal is also aware that you have gone over his/her head. It is unfortunate that complaints have been lodged in the past and not resolved, but that doesn't mean you can't do anything. Again, try to get other parents involved so that it doesn't sound like you are the only one complaining. Good luck!

Outrageous! As disruptive as it is, as long as you are certain all these incidents took place, I would take my children out of that school immediately. The fact that that school hired and tolerates this person is not a good sign. I am assuming the school is public. Of course you should bring up your concern with the principal, but I would let him or her take it from there. I would put my energy into figuring out where to put my kids rather than spending time writing to school district officials and so on. Your daughter(s) absence will speak for itself because schools lose funding when they lose students. I agree with one of the other people who brought up that such a person might single out your daughter to pick on if her mother is complaining. Get them out.
As an aside, my son's best friend left our school last year. I was awake nights worrying about how my son would deal with it. He has been absolutely fine. I think it's a bit "out of sight, out of mind" at this age (my son's also 6). Best of luck. You and your girls deserve much better.

First thing I think you need to do is talk to the principal, I would also find out what school this student teacher is taking classes at and talk to her professors.

I would also suggest that you ask the principal if you might be able to video the class for some relatives, and hopefully catch these teachers being nasty, then you take it to the board of supervisors.

Remember these teachers work for you and your kids. I understand that your daughter wants to stay with friends but obviously this isn't the best place for. Maybe you could talk to the other parents and a group of you could go to the higher ups. Good Luck, I really think it is getting harder and harder to find good teachers.

COMPLAIN to the new principal, immediately! Your daughters self-esteem and education is important. If you can talk to some other parents and meet with the principal as a group, that would help. The more parents who voice their complaints and concerns to the principal, the better. If the teacher's inappropriate behavior continues, complain to the principal's supervisor. To allow a teacher to degrade and humiliate any child is unacceptable.

Good luck!

That's harassment and illegal for teachers to act that way. You should get the administration involved and if that doesn't work, go to the school board. Teachers can and are fired for that behaviour. It depends on your school district, some take a harder line than others, but don't let it go. Your kids are worth the effort.

T.

Hi, A.:

You do not, under any circumstances, tolerate this. You need to document what your daughter tells you the teacher says, speak to other parents about it also, and then go to the principle and demand that this teacher be removed or that your daughter be transferred to another class. Far too often children are made out to be instigators of these situations, etc., but do not stand for that excuse from anyone. A teacher should be able to patiently speak to all children, even those they do not like, do not think are well-behaved, etc. There is so much pressure on children nowadays to perform in school that the last thing these little ones need is another voice telling them they are no good.

Just remember, this is your child, and your voice should be listened to by the school NO MATTER WHAT! If they don't listen to you, you can always take other steps.

Be strong!

L.

Hi A.,

That sounds terrible! I can't even imagine. If you have already complained to the principal, you should go make a list of everything inappropriate that has been said, make an appointment, and go see the superintendent of the district (if it's public). If it's a private school, find out who the big kahuna is and speak to them. No child or parent should have to be "educated" by such a person, and generally those in charge are very sensitive to the possibility of negative publicity and lawsuits. You can also request an immediate classroom change; your child will quickly make other friends.

Good luck!

L. K

If this teacher is mean now, she will not improve unless she is either continually called on the carpet by her administrator or fired out right. If the things she says hurt her students feelings I would complain loud and often. Your "someone" that said it won't end is correct if you fail to change this situation by being involved. Than that teacher will earn tenure and will not be fired for any reason barring criminal behavior. Is that acceptable to you? It doesn't sound like it. Call the principal and the parents of every other student in that class and document every time there is an incident.

First of all it is terrible that the kids in the class have to go through a entire day with this type of behavior. The teacher is to teach respect as well as manners to a child and this teacher seems to be teaching the opposite. As a parent, you want to teach your child that she can come to you with her problems and that you will take care of them. You must be your child's protector in this situation. With your child not present, you should make an appointment with the principal requesting the teachers present. In this meeting you should discuss your facts in regards to your child, what is exceptable and not, and the position that you stand on the teachers practices. Hopefully, the principal will monitor that class a little closer. If not,it is your responsiblity to place your child in a positive environment that will allow her to have a pleasant day. She will develop new friends along the way. You may have to stop in every now and then to let her know everything will be alright. Change is difficult for adults so you can imagine how impact kids.However, I find children adapt better than adults.

I would definately go talk to the principal. Try to document things you find out are going on in class. Keep a journal. Talk to other parents and have them do the same. This is not a healthy situation for any of the kids. If things don't get better try to get your daughter out of her class. Being away from this negative person is much more important for your daughter than staying in class with her friends. Seeing as how it is getting close to the end of the year she may have to stay there though. Either way talk to your daughter about this adult's behavior and how it is not good to be like that. Some people are only good at being bad examples for others.

This person sounds like a verbal abuser which is not tolerated in schools. Contact the school's principal, new to the job or not. All parents whose children are being verbally abused must also complain. You need to speak up for your child and protect her.

I'm not a mother but I would not tolerate this type of behavior.

You complain and you dont stop complaining. U start visiting the class and u ask other parents to do the same. I sign in at the office so there is a record and you put on a visitors badge. There are official complaint forms for everything from bad books to bad teachers and building issues. They are located in every school office. Sometimes u can find them on the School district website. If yo do not want to go to your school office for the forms go to another school in the same district the forms would be the same. Keep copies of everything you turn in and follow up. I am the office manager of a public middle school the the east bay.

Hi A.,
Being a teacher myself, you owe it to your daughter and the teaching profession to document everything and then make an appointment with either the teacher (if you feel comfortable) or sit down with the principal to talk about your concerns. This is not appropriate behavior.

Never accept anyone emotionally abusing your children. Address it directly with the teacher. If nothing changes, address it with the principal. If nothing changes address it with the school superintendent. This is inexcusable regardless of any child's behavior.

I'm a teacher and I feel it is so important to speak with children in a positive way. I would address your concerns with the teacher and spend time volunteering in the classroom if you have time so that you can see and hear what she's saying on a daily basis. If the teacher is not willing to improve, you need to make an appointment with the principal and/or see if there is an opening in a different classroom. You can always arrange weekend or after school play dates with your daughter's friends to ease that transition.

I think Jennifer P gave you the perfect advice. I second it!

I am a teacher and that behavior is completely and totally unacceptable! My advice would be to go to the teacher first. Make an appointment with her and give her an opportunity to reflect and correct the situation. I know how hard that is but I respect parents who come directly to me with any issues so I have the chance to fix it before they go over my head. I know it sounds silly but she may not realize the things she has said and how it's coming across to the students and the children. I strongly encourage you to go to her first.

If she doesn't stop, then I would NOT hesitate to make an appointment immediately with the principal. If she does not do anything to correct the issue, I agree with others, go to the district office and complain. I can't believe other parents that work in the class aren't complaining and raising a fit with the school. That teacher is a MAJOR role model for those children and should not be allowed to remain in that room if this continues. In this situation I would not hesitate to ruffle some feathers and complain. If needed, I'd get other parents involved as well. I know the impact I have on my students year after year and it should be a positive one!
If she is a new teacher (within 2 years) this could end her job and if she's tenured, a report should be started to document her behavior.
I wish you luck with that.

That is TOTALLY unacceptable behavior from any adult to any child, and especially someone in a school setting. The principal must be told.

Can you spend time in the classroom? To me, it would be worth taking some of my vaction time to visit the class for a couple of hours, maybe unannounced, several times during the course of a month, and let them know why.

Best wishes

Get them out of that school today.

I am 52 years old and have a 6 year old ADOPTED son who is in a nurturing and loving environment where he is wanted, loved, cared for and encouraged and that included appropriate discipline...you want your girls to love school and respect teachers and adults and for them to want to learn, not be critisized or belittled for no apparent reason.

This teacher is not well mentally and should be fired, but be sure that you have everything documented and that you have witnesses.

You know the best thing for your daughters.

While the "right" thing to do would be set up a meeting with the teacher, meet with the principal, etc, I would first get my kid/s out of that school. This teacher could retaliate against your children given her state of mind.

Do best for your kids first and don't take them back to that school on Tuesday.

Do you have firsthand knowledge of these incidents, or is it heresay? Perhaps you might volunteer in the classroom or on a fieldtrip, and see if you experience the same type of comments. Meeting with the teacher and sharing your understanding of how difficult and stressful her job must be, and that you were wondering how you might help, might get you on her side, so that once you have a closer rapport with her, you could bring up your concerns, e.g. "I know this job is very demanding, but I've heard some comments that seem innappropriate, and I was wondering if we could talk about it." If she is not amenable to that, your next step is to met with the Principal. You will be taken much more seriously if you go through these steps before going straight to the Principal.
I know it seems like a lot, but it's worth it in the long run! Good luck!

A.,
You need to be a mama bear and protect your daughter from being abused by her teacher. Don't be silent, and don't be afraid.
This teacher needs to be fired in a public manner so she doesn't just go to another school and gets a new job there.
I would start with the principal, and would ask for time limits-- say 1 week to correct behavior; if that doesn't help, then the school board is next. I know how scary and intimidating it can be, and you are a very young mom. But, if somebody was physically hurting your daughter, I am sure you would not hesitate to act. This is no different. She is teaching them to be bullies, to be scared, and G-d know what else.
M..

Hi A.,

Take her out of that abusive classroom. If it were on fire you would not let your daughter stay in there. I would set up a appointment with the principle and the teacher to express your concern for your daughters mental health/education. This is totally unacceptable behavior from a elementry teacher~!!! She needs to go if she chooses not to change her attitude. you not only have rights but by taking your child out of the classroom they are losing valuable funds for there school programs. Let your voice be heard. See if there are any other parents that feel the same way. I do have a adopted child and if a teacher said that to my daughter...Let's just say it wouold not be financially fiscal for the school or the teacher~!!! Hope this helps...Don't let them bully or talk down to you either. Bless you~!

Hello, the first thing you should do is drop in at your daughters class unexpected. They teacher will be surprised. Sit and listen in on what is going on. Once there is a break such as recess then you should bring your issues to her attention. If she says she doesn't have time and that you have to schedule a time to talk with her then demand that it be the same day or very next day at the least. Then proceed with your complaint with the principal and really express your concern. If he/she does not respond to your satisfaction then you contact the district office for your daughters school. There are steps in filing a complaint and if you don't do them nobody listens....I worked for a school district and had to do the same thing regarding my child. After I followed all the steps, then people started listenening. (cont'd)

If it is possible to pull her out and place her into another classroom, do so imediately!!

That teacher sounds horrible. Maybe you can try to get enough people to sign a petition against her and bring it up at a board meeting. The more you get yourself involved in your daughter's school, the more power you'll have to make a difference. I don't think confronting her yourself will be a good idea, since you might lose your cool and come off looking as the "bad one". Well best of luck to you A.!

J. :)

A., I remember having a couple of those teachers...they were burned out but, for whatever reason, did not find another outlet for their negativity.

You have two options that I can think of, and I suggest implementing both.

First, document each incident and take it to the pricipal. I am making the asupmtion that you have already spoken to the Teacher. If not, you might want to to see what her "philosophy" is before taking it to the top, so to speak. Also speak to other parents (objectively) and find their impressions of the teacher.

Second. This is a 'wonderful' opportunity to teach your child coping mechanisms for dealing with people in society who are less than professional/civil. Your child will run into many people in the future who behave inappropriately or unfairly. Should they? No. Do They? Yes.

You may not get far with the teacher, but you can teach your daughter how to deal with it constructively. If your daughter is ok with staying in the class and wants to be with her friends; it is ok. This is an excellent opportunity for societal examples and response training.

Give you child support at home. She will be ok. Keep listening to her, if something comes up, act on it...but knowing that she has your trust and support at home can help alot.

You definitely need to go to the principal about this. And if you don't get any response or assistance there, go to the district office/superintendant and file a complaint about the teacher. People like this teacher should not be around children, much less be in charge of teaching them.

Do what I did. Go to the Director of the school with your concerns. Sit through a follow up meeting with teacher and director so you can learn what will be done. If not satisfied then pull your child out immediately. Kids bounce back and will respond happily to a nurturing environment. My son is literally thriving at his new school despite having left his old friends behind. Like you, I was so mad that I tried to make things right. In the end what was right was removing my son and moving on. You can't fix idiots like that teacher.

I have been an elementary school secretary for 20 years and here is what I would suggest:
#1 - Document everything in a letter to the classroom teacher and the principal. Make sure that you ask for a response in a timely manner (1 or 2 days - even principal's need time to investigate the problem)
#2 - Make yourself a copy.
#3 - Give it to the classroom teacher and take one to the office for the principal.
#4 - If you don't hear from the principal with the 1 or 2 days, call and ask to speak with them.
#5 - If you get no response after that, make a copy of your original letter and write a letter to the superintendent of the school district. Ask them for a timely response also.

Even a new principal should have support at the administrative level and principals have to have classroom teaching experience also, so...they should know how things like this can happen. Sometimes people do say the wrong things, but they need to show that they can correct them and explain it to the child. "I'm sorry" can go a long way! Students are also so sensitive to their teachers because they are the next thing to their parents. I don't think alot of people realize how many hours a day, a week, that their children spend at school. Some of our students are dropped off in our childcare at 7:00am and are picked up at 6:00pm. That's 11 hours a day and 55 hours a week. Tell me how many parents get to have that much quality time with their children these days. We become a very big and stable part of their lives. They look up to us as models and they expect the best of us. I believe that everyone that works with the students is an educator and we should all be setting good examples. Parents, although, are their child's first teachers. Remember, it's up to you to set the example of how to handle a problem. Read up on a program called "Conflict Resolution". It teaches us how to approach situations with compassion and understanding. Most of the time the anger comes from hurt feelings. The problem becomes emotional. It is good to remember that most of the time, the person that did the "hurting" doesn't even realize it. Patience is a virtue and it will always pay off. You and the teacher will probably come to wonderful understanding. I suggest volunteering in the classroom, if possible. You will get an insight into the daily goings-on. You will be able to tell if the teacher was just having a "bad" day, or they just can't handle the stress. One thing for sure is that people who get into the education business are not in it for the money. The heart is usually in the right place and that is to make our world better through teaching. They sometimes care to a fault. They are pretty emotional, too, because they do care so much. I hear frustration in their voices sometimes because they want to help their student and there are so many obstacles. These days, our young ones have so many things to deal with. Things that we never could imagine when we were little. Hang in there, there will be more to come, peer pressure is next! We are working on bullying and I believe Conflict Resolution training can prevent wars! If we learn to communicate our feelings effectively, we can change things. Take care and have a great school year!

Hi A.,

Normally I would have recommended talking with the teacher first before doing anything else (and maybe that would be the best route.) However, since someone in her class has already said that she won't change her behavior, the next step would be to go to the principal. If he/she won't take action, then go to the school board.

I had a similar situation many years ago with a baseball coach. Unfortunately I ended up just pulling my son off his team and registering him with another league. I regret not pursuing getting this coach disciplined and/or removed from coaching as I'm convinced that he damaged many children through his actions - not only the ones that were hurt by the comments, but the others that were influenced to pick up his behavior.

So, good luck to you and I hope you will pursue getting this situation fixed, not only for your child but for the others in the class as well. This will be a tough fight but hang in there.

Cate

HI A.,

With all do respect - Get your butt to that school and make a complaint. And if it keeps happening, keep making complaints and talk to your childs schoolmate's parents and see if they have had any problems with this.
My son is in kindergarten and I absolutely would not tolerate this for one minute longer once I found out about it.

Sorry to be so blunt - but do you want your children to feel bad about themselves and have an "adult"; their teacher to be exact to talk to them like this or any other kids for that matter.

I hope it all works out.

First of all I'd go to the principal, new or not, and let him/her know what you believe is going on in the classroom. Then I would tell the principal that I will be sitting in the classroom (you pick how many days/hours) to observe the class. If you aren't already volunteering in the classroom (do they have parent aids?), I'd start that right away. My son had a teacher that would belittle some of the kids, or say (what I believed were) inappropriate things. I had no problem telling her what I thought (politely of course). When observing, you might want to keep track of things said so you can accurately report this to the principal. If he/she doesn't take care of it, I'd go to the school district and speak with them about it. You can also put your complaints in writing to the school principal and "cc" it to the head of the school district. When it's in writing they can't say they didn't know about it.

Think things through, document everything you can - and then stand up for your child. If the teacher is uncooperative, be sure to meet with the Principle or Vice-Principle - whatever the practice is at your school. If you don't get satisfaction there, contact the Superintendent or School Board. Can't let this kind of behaviour continue to affect our children. Can't let this kind of behaviour be taught to new teachers in training. Be sure you have all your information documented so you aren't seeming to pull stuff randomly out of your head. The children can't protect themselves in this kind of situation. Great Grandma of 7.

Stand up for your child. Go back to the principal and request that you be allowed to visit the class during class time. The teacher won't repeat the unprofessional actions while you are there, I'm sure, but she'll know that you are serious about your concerns. It shouldn't matter that it is a new principal. If he/she is doing his/her job correctly, the parent must be taken seriously.

Go to the new principal, go to the PTA, go to the school board.....BUT be careful. I am NOT defending this teacher, but are you sure she is saying these things? As a teacher myself, there have been times when one of my students went to the principal saying I said something, when either I never ever would have said such a thing, or another student had said it, not me. Now, if you are absolutely sure this teacher is doing these things, then take it higher than the principal if the principal wont listen. But start with the principal because if your daughter needs to be at that school for a few more years, you dont want to step on the principals toes...but in the end, if the teacher is treating you child like this, she needs to go. I know these days teachers have tenure, and it is very hard to fire them, but that is unacceptable, and as an elementary school teacher myself, I am disgusted by her behavior. Good luck. I hope this stops for your daughter.

Hi A.,
Parents have a powerful voice at school. (I know this first hand within my line of work as well as being a parent.) But you need to make sure your voice is one that will be heard. I have read through all your responses, and I think the best advice you're getting involves doing your homework on how to approach this situation professionally, DOCUMENTING the teacher's and the student teacher's remarks, and then approaching the teacher and the principal. The teacher needs to be severely disciplined and the student teacher needs to have a better mentor so that this kind of behavior discontinues. Make sure your accusations are well-founded and try not to focus on what the teacher has said to other children in the class unless you personally heard it. Other parents need to get involved, too!!
If the new principal is smart, this will stop immediately. If not, then don't hesitate to go up the ladder a bit. Again, I emphasize, start with documentation, then go to the teacher AND the principal (don't wait for things to change in the classroom as they most likely will not, but be sure the teacher is aware of your concerns before addressing your complaints to the principal).
Good luck! Your daughter is lucky to have a mom who is concerned enough about the situation to take a step. If you're the first one, others will inevitably follow.

Wow this sounds awful. How about a parent petition to get rid of her! I would definitely take my child out of the class. She sounds disturbed! Totally not appropriate!

Just my opinion!

K.

Definitely talk to your principal, a parent liaison or a pta board member! Do you volunteer in the classroom? Are other parents seeing/hearing the same thing? Have you spoke to other parents in your child's class? Document what you are seeing/hearing. Try changing classrooms if possible. If you don't get any support I would look for a different school.

Make sure you have a papertrial. Document everything, date, time, witnesses, what was said to who, etc. Take it to the new principal, if that doesn't help, check your parenthand book. It should tell you how to go about filing complaints with the School District. If that doesn't help, take it to the School Board. If you have other parents on your side and they have witness all of this, it would help. Document, document, document.

Wow, this is very disturbing. I am a member of the School Board in our community. The first place you should take your complaint is the new principle...welcome to his position!! If that doesn't work, attend an open school board meeting and express your complaint there...the school board should be able to put the pressure on the principle to administer his duties. The principle will have to take certain steps, #1 being a warning, then if it continues, writing the teacher "up" may be necessary....If they get a certain amount of "write ups" it could result in a temporary suspension...this is serious as teachers have an important role in rearing our children!!!!

Some people have a unique way of supposedly motivating the children. However, the first thing I would do is communicate my concerns (in a respectful manner) directly to the teacher. Find out what he/she is trying to accomplish by being so "straigh forward" with the students.

In the meantime, document all the things your child is telling you and submit your concerns in a written letter to this "new" principal. They don't usually ignore this type of stuff once you put it in writing. Especially if you CC: it to a few people at the school board.

You can usually find the right personnel and their addresses online or by calling and asking, : "If I have a complaint about my child's teacher and I think the principal can not address it, who can I contact and what's their address."

They'll get right on top of it then.

Hi A.,
My daughter is only 2 so I haven't had to deal with teachers yet. But if I were in your situation I would definitely file a complaint. There is no way I would want that teacher as a role model for my child.

Are there other parents with the same concerns? Hopefully if enough parents come forward the new principal will do something about it. I would hope since the principal is new, he/she would want to do the right thing so it's not an on-going problem he/she will have to deal with.

Good luck!

When I was in only second grade myself (I'm 49 now), my father taught me an important life lesson. Teachers cannot become tyrants (as this one clearly has become) without first intimidating the parents. A strong parental presence that is reasonable and consistent puts a teacher back on the straight and narrow -- ESPECIALLY when there is a new principal involved. Just remember to stay completely professional in your presentation of the issue and do not allow insinuations about your child or your own motivations to set you off. My dad even brought some roses as a peace offering after (he was a florist and ofter brought flower gifts to faculty or administration for different occasions so it looked perfectly natural) to show there was no hard feelings. Your child's only advocate is you, and you have more power than you think.

WOW First of all I have a child in the 5th grade who has a hard time reading. And we also have 4 year old who is adopted (and very much wanted). I know it is always best to talk to the teacher first. But in this case I know I would be far to upset to have a civilized conversation. So I would talk to the principle and voice my concerns. If I was not satisfied I would have to put my child in another class. I know they like to be with their friends. But it is more important to have someone you trust teaching your child.

I agree with you that her behavior is unacceptable. Depending on the rules in your school district and state there possibly is little that can be done. Often teacher are very well protected and can't be dismissed unless they have done something criminal. That said, you still have a chance. I would begin documenting the incidents as specifically as possible enlisting the help of other parents in the class that you know that are also aware of the problem (or even past parents). I wouldn't hesitate to talk to the principal about it. Don't just voice your concerns but bring facts and incidents and dates. Ask directly what he/she intends to do about it and when it will be done.Follow up. Be a thorn in his/her side.
I would volunteer or observe in the class as much as possible, again enlisting the aid of other parents when possible (in my state California) at leastparents can not be denied access to their child's classroom). Adults are perceived as more believable than children. If nothing is done, have as many parents as possible make the superintendent aware of the problem and then school board members. Districts should have a procedure for complaints.
Children shouldn't have to be victimized by teachers like that and should be proctected but ultimately if you can't get anywhere with the system then we need to protect our own children. Look into other schools in the area that you might be able to transfer your children into. There are many fine charter schools which are publically funded in many places or if you're up to it homeschool your child for the remainder of the year and re-enter school next year with a new teacher. It's hard. I teach and am ashamed at the way that some teachers treat children.

write letters to the principle and to the superintendent of the school district. enlist the help of other parents who feel the same way to do the same. write a letter to that teacher if you feel like it won't come back on your child in a negative way. grrrr! i don't know... that's hard.

This is completely unacceptable! I'm an experienced teacher and I also coach teachers. Calling your daughter a "creep" is namecalling. Would the teacher tolerate it if students in the class were calling each other names? Also, the teacher should be more aware of the impact of comments such as all of those that you mentioned. It goes beyond having a "nasty" mouth. What she is saying could have long lasting effects. The part about calling home and making your daughter out to be in the wrong may be a seperate issue, and it could possibly be that your daughter was indeed misbehaving and that the teacher doesn't know how to communicate about it (not enough detail there for me as an outsider to really know the context). Regardless, name-calling and discouraging comments which hurt students' self esteem should not be tolerated. You are angry for a good reason. You do need to say something, otherwise it may be true that it won't end, however HOW you say something is important. You want her to hear your concerns and not just get defensive. The title of your post was "student teacher". Is this a student teacher (one who is in training under the regular classroom teacher), or is it the classroom teacher? In either case, the first person you should talk to should be the classroom teacher. I recommend that you ask to make an appointment with her (this could even be a phone appointment). That way you will have a better chance of having her full attention as she won't be distracted by teaching/prep duties. It would also be a "neutral" time in the sense that it won't be seen as a "reaction" in the moment of anger. Also, just the fact that you are requesting an appointment gives your concerns some weight. Then tell her what your concerns are about the impact of her words. What someone else said is true...the teacher may not be completely aware of what she's saying and the impact it has, especially if it's a teacher who is under a great deal of stress. (It's amazing, but I've done formal observations on teachers and some have been surprised at what they said when I show them the data!) You need to communicate first with the teacher, but if the problem continues, then talk to the principal. A new principal may be feeling overwhelmed, however, it's the principal's job to hear concerns from parents, and these concerns are valid. Who were the complaints made to? Were they from other parents? Remember what they say about the squeeky wheel?...it's true.

TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!!!
First, remove you child from the classroom. It doesn't matter if she will miss her friends. You know this is not a good situation.
Second, document as much as you can, time, date, words and send a copy to the principle as well as to the district.
Third, explain to your child that Mrs. So and So is not behaving the way an adult should and her words are hurtful. As your daughter's mommy, you are tying to make sure that the teacher gets the help she needs and that the kids are not hurt by her actions/words.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

I can say this because I have been in the exact situation with my daughter. Every year there were complaints but no one did anything about it. I talked to the principal but got the party line. I asked the principal to transfer my daughter to another classroom but was told there were no openings. Finally, I called the school and left a message for the principal that I was removing my child from school until an appropriate classroom could be found. You should have seen them jump.

I made an appointment with the head honcho at the district and went in with a file that included other parents' experiences. He said he had never heard anything about this but was appalled. Party line? Who knows. What I do know is that it took 3 more years to remove this teacher from the classroom. Imagine if everyone had lodged a complaint in the very beginning.

By the way, my daughter adjusted just fine to a different classroom and saw her old friends on the playground as well on play dates.

At some point children have to learn to deal with problems themselves, but not when they are 6 and never with an adult who has absolute power and control over them.

Take a deep breath and load your guns!

E.

Hi A.,

I can understand your concern. I work for a local school district. First call the principal and address the issue than follow up with a letter to the school and principal. Keep all of your paperwork and a diary of what happens day to day in the classroom if your child has a complaint. Next,(if nothing is being done about this at the school level), take this matter to your local school board. Go with all you information that you have collected. I hope this will be of some help to you. I never ever speak to my students like that and never will, some people aren't meant to be teachers.
Good luck with this.

I am a teacher and a mom. What you describe is completely unacceptable. As a mom, I would go to the principal and let him/her know what is going on and that you expect it to change. If it does not, I would demand a classroom change and threaten to pull my child from the school. I don't know what school district you are in, but you may be able to change schools. You may need to homeschool or send your child to a private school for the remainder of the year, if necessary. I would definitely not allow my child to be in a negative environment like that. As a pearent, you have rights - don't be afraid to demand them!

Go to the principal first. Tell her about everything that you are having a problem with that teacher. I want you to also know that the principal will be on the teacher's side because it is her job. Then, if nothing changes you go and help in the class. You be there and have a talk to the teacher. Get other parents involved, see if they have or see the same problem like you do.
I have experienced this problem and this is what worked for me. I volunteer at the school every week and I have since my first child started school. Everyone knows me and they know that I am a good parent. Stay involoved in the school and your child's class. The teacher is a bully in it will stop with you!