Useless Teachers

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole week since I've posted. I came down with the flu, and I can now say that I'm finally over it, although I'm still coughing regularly.

When I started tutoring, I imagined my students' teachers would be happy to work with me. I imagined that they would want to help their struggling ESL students, and because they're probably stretched too thin to spend any time individually helping them, they would be happy to spend a few minutes helping me. It hasn't worked out quite like that.

Miki's mother asked me to preteach Miki topics from science class, since that's the class she's struggling the most with. To do this, I need to know what her science teacher will be teaching ahead of time. Miki was unable to remember her science teacher's name, so her mother suggested I email Miki's school counselor for the information. I did so, being sure to mention that I was Miki's tutor and I was emailing per Miki's mother request, but I never received a reply.

A few days later, I found out the name of Miki's science teacher from her progress report, so I emailed him directly. I began by informing him of the concerns Miki's mother expressed to me and her proposed solution. I asked him for information about what he would be covering next in class, offering to come by and see him directly if that was easier for him than email. And... no reply. Ever. Not even one to say "Sorry, can't help you."

What is with these teachers? Do they not care?

I was ready to go by and see him directly so that he couldn't ignore me, but Miki's mother said she had a teacher-parent conference planned so she would handle it then. During the conference, the teacher said that the information was on his website. It's not. I checked back when this started, and Miki's mother and I checked it again today together. I looked at every bit of his website, and there's no class schedule or anything like it. What a sorry teacher...