A Bad Day

Remember when I mentioned Meet Your Teacher? It's the thing at the beginning of the year that allows the parents and kids to look at their teacher, follow their schedule and get a feel for where the classrooms are located, and so on.

It's the week before school starts. So we haven't seen gotten a roster yet, we don't know the names of any of our kids, we're still setting up the classroom, trying to get copies made, posters hung, and myriad other things that demands attention before school can begin.

Well, we recently had a parent conference with a parent, who screamed at me, and said she had told me that if I had ever had a problem with her child, that I was supposed to immediately pick up the phone and call her, and she would take care of the problem and make sure it didn't happen. That she had problems with her child last year, since midway through the year no work was completed.

I said sure, I could do that. So did the other teachers, back then at Meet Your Teacher. You know, the one that happened before school started. So I didn't know her, or her child, or even their names.

Now, if I was a parent, and I knew that my child had a habit like that, I would have let school get started, then called the teacher and had a little chat about what my child likes to do, and ask if the teacher could keep their eyes peeled for any indication it was happening, so that I could deal with it immediately.

But that is apparently too hard to do. It's much easier to wait until there is about 1 month left in the school year, make a conference, and scream at each of the teachers in turn about how you were not notified that you child was failing.

When it was mentioned that the report cards and progress reports serve as a notification, we were told that she had not "seen any f*** report cards." (not as bad as it could have been; it wasn't the actual word, but it was a pretty vulgar substitution anyway, and I must say it offended me.)

I'm really sorry, and maybe I could have said something to mollify her, but at this point, I shut down. I can't handle being screamed at, I really cannot. I mean, beyond the simple fact it's not polite, she has no right to speak to me in such a manner. I am not her child, I am not her servant. I am a professional, who has a real job, who went to school and worked hard for my degree, so that I could teach these children as I love to do. How dare she scream at me?

This really upset me, and I am still upset. I am not sure what she was hoping to get out of this, but I can assure you I am officially not committed to helping her figure out a solution.

This might be childish on my part, but I'm sorry, and I cannot help it. Maybe in 20 years time I will be more philosophical about it all, but not yet.

Add to the horror of getting yelled at by someone I don't know, we were not supposed to be alone with this parent, as administration has had previous contact with her, and she has been a little aggressive and belligerent. So, we were supposed to have an administrator and the guidance counselor, neither of whom came. I think someone outside of the situation would have helped immensely, as they could have said calming things and explained how it is not acceptable to speak to us like that, and ways to resolve the issue.

Instead, we have no resolution. The parent says that it's our fault her child is failing, because if we had just called, just once, it would have changed instantly.

We did try to explain that we sent home lots of things with her child, explaining she has received a low grade on something, or she wasn't doing something, or sending her tests home to be signed. When we pulled the child's file, it was stuff full of things from one class, then nothing from the other classes. When we showed her that her own signature was on the tests, she claims only one of them, and calmly tells us the rest are forged, and that her child is really good at forging.

Then, she tells us, that's not the problem, though. The forging wouldn't be happening if her child knew that she had received a phone call from the school.

Well, we're sorry, but we did not remember that you had talked to us, before we knew your child's name. So we didn't call, because, and this is the most annoying part, her child is in all advanced classes. So, we should not have to check up on her constantly, as she is in advanced classes. It's the same thing as how we do not have tutoring for the child, since they are in advanced classes, and if they cannot keep up, they need to not be in advanced.

Anyway. It was a very bad day, and I felt sad and snappish the remainder of the of the day. I don't blame the kids for their parents, since they cannot help it, but it's still hard to not see the mom when you look at the kid.

So, anyway. Parents need to remember that the vast majority of teachers really want whatever is best for your child, and if you work with them, and be polite and patient, they are thrilled to help you. I love my super-involved parents. They make my life much easier.

So. Just thought I'd share one of the very very negative things about teaching.

But I still love doing it.

Not sure why sometimes, but I do.