Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Feeling Betrayed I have had a wonderful school year with my 26 third graders all of whom were bilingual. Most of my students were Chinese Americans with two from India. I used very engaging interactive strategies with my students throughout the year. They have responded to my teaching strategies very well, and made a lot of progress in all content areas. To my surprise and disappointment, my school principal informed me that she received a letter signed by most of the parents of my students stating that I did not teach their enough math. In the letter, they indicated the previous year students came home with a lot of homework and completed a large number of worksheets, while this year they have been given fewer worksheets. I explained to my principal that I was more interested in using math manipulatives and meaningful real world math problems than repetitive worksheets. What disappointed me (or hurt me) the most was that I have had four meetings with all the parents, and they did not raise any concerns in these meetings. Why would they directly go to the principal? What did I do wrong? Is this cultural? How should I respond to these parents? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I understand the frustration in this situation. There are those parents who never address problems with the classroom teacher, but instead go to the adminstrators. I applaud you for trying new strategies with your students in order to make math more meaningful. I don't think this is a cultural issue, I think it became a social issue between parents. They are not used to the new approach to learning and they want to insure what is best for their children. I would invite these parents in and explain to them the strategies that I am using with their children. Once they understand and see the progress that their children are making they will appreciate you and respect you more in the long run.