Thistle2011 - 2014-01-14 3:07 PM for the sake of a different point of view: I am the only one in my family that is not a teacher. not saying the teacher is right she very well could be over reacting. I was a child that would do my work...but I would only do it standing... never sitting and I did have a teacher blow things out of proportion about this habit. Anyway teachers have ridiculously high expectations and close to no pay. they teach because they love the children (or at least it starts that way) years ago these expectations for high testing results were not in place and teachers could use there god given skills to help children of many learning styles achieve knowledge (teachers have a very long list of things they are no longer allowed to use as tools in the class room or out of the class room ) so now you have teachers that MUST use a particular teaching style and cram a TON of knowledge into young minds. Along with this parents are more busy than ever both parents working 40+ hours a week and children are not followed up on as much at home is not uncommon. Thus all the responsibility of learning is put on the teachers shoulders when parents used to take a part in this. I would be excited to have a conference instead of getting defensive you should embrace your teacher still has the drive to want to understand you child and come up with way to maybe make things more interesting for him. Teachers and parents need to work together communication is the only way!

ksjackofalltrades - 2014-01-14 3:28 PM I too loved to read but there is a time and a place for it.  When someone tells you to do something and you ignore it, then that is a problem.  What if a child was ignoring a teacher and it caused them harm?  Like walking out in front of a car or something.  Getting in the habit of ignoring adults can be very dangerous and is not something I would want my child doing.   

ksjackofalltrades - 2014-01-14 3:28 PM

I too loved to read but there is a time and a place for it.  When someone tells you to do something and you ignore it, then that is a problem.  What if a child was ignoring a teacher and it caused them harm?  Like walking out in front of a car or something.  Getting in the habit of ignoring adults can be very dangerous and is not something I would want my child doing.   

Three 4 Luck - 2014-01-14 4:58 PM Speaking for myself, it's not ignoring it's that I don't hear. When I'm visually engaged, I can tune everything out without trying. This is good and bad. And I agree, he needs to learn to do better. Not going to dispute that. But it's not worth getting mad at him or overly concerned about IMO--like I said, get after his ass and move on. But that's why I posted, to get other opinions.

Just Bring It - 2014-01-14 2:57 PM

This reminds of the kid Brick from the TV show "In The Middle"....lol. His dad is always trying to get him to get his head out of his books and experience the real world. 

I guess I see the teacher's point of view. Her job is to teach a certain subject and it can be very frustrating when your students are not paying attention. Not only does she have to try to get your kid to pay attention but in doing so she is disrupting the whole classroom by having to stop and get him to pay attention. What if she is teaching something and then goes around asking the students questions and when she gets to your child who is deep into his book that she has to not only ask him more than once but  how can she expect him to have any knowledgeable answer if he was not paying attention. Of course reading is a good thing but it has its place. I find it disrespectful for a child to be doing something else while the teacher is trying to teach. I don't think reading a book is any different than playing a video game in class if it has nothing to do with what the teacher is trying to teach.

I put on a few small clinics and I find it very frustrating when some of the kids are not paying attention because I know when it comes to asking them all to do what I was explaining they will not have a clue and I will have to spend extra time with them. But they are paying me to learn what I have to say so either they listen and actually learn or they waste their money...their choice.

Go have the conference and listen to what the teacher has to say. Try to see her point of view. Reading is a good thing and should not be discouraged when done at an appropriate time. I can't imagine your place of work would be fine with you reading a book while in a business conference so I don't see a classroom as being much different. He is there to learn what is being taught. That is his job and while it may be hard to be peeled away from his book during that time he will need to learn to do that. It will show respect to his teacher and classmates.

Three 4 Luck - 2014-01-14 4:47 PM  This particular teacher has a habit of taking things personally and getting emotional.  We've had a couple of meetings with her before this over minor issues, including one involving the entire class.  IMO, she is better suited to K or 1st instead of 3rd and 4th grade science/social studies/Bible.  And I'm totally backing her up to him--he has to respect her and learn to deal with the real world. I'm not saying he shouldn't get in trouble. But she wrote me a very detailed note, and when I questioned him, everything matched except he said he didn't ignore her on purpose. Which I believe. Not only because I know him (and myself!) but because he was in tears over being misunderstood.  He's a mischievous little turd--he's used to getting in trouble and deserving it.  But I can't understand why THIS is a big deal. His other teacher is more of a no-nonsense type and she does fine with him. She handles him without getting her panties in a wad. LOL.  I'm just baffled that she's upset and apparently expects me to be upset too.