Posts Tagged teaching

Fold the paper in half. Pinch the tip. Open it back up. Write your name next to the pinch mark. Write the date underneath your name. Write your class period under the date. Student number in top right corner. Index cards folded on the left corner by height; exactly half an inch wide. Run your nail along the fold to crease it good and tight. Open back up. Bullet point your vocabulary words along the crease. DO NOT SKIP A LINE!

She’s an old crotchety teacher and my son is fed up. Said she is too anal and he can’t take much more of her micro-managing! He also said half the time she makes no sense when she’s teaching the class. This is a child in advanced classes. Honor Roll student throughout his academic career, so I have no doubt that he knows what he’s talking about.

Pissed beyond belief that he brought home an A- due the fact that he did not perfectly align the date underneath his name, along the pinch, made by the fold, instructed by the teacher, who taught the class, that one day drove my baby mad!

He also voiced his concern over the fact that she yells; incessantly. Said he thinks she’s been teaching too long and she believes the only way to communicate and get the attention of the class is to stand up front and yell; even when all eyes are on her and she has their total attention.

What does one do in a case like this? Do you go to the school with your petty complaints? Fretting over whether or not it will get back to the teacher that you were the one who complained and then hope like hell she doesn’t take it out on your child? Do you make excuses and urge your child to overlook these issues that could potentially damage his class performance, in a subject that he once considered his favorite? He certainly isn’t going to say anything, he has too much respect for her to do that. Besides, that’s a parent’s job.

Though I don’t really believe he wants me to do anything; he’s simply making normal conversation, telling me about his day. But I see the frustration on his face and hear it in his voice. But still, I believe this is something he needs to deal with on his own. Or perhaps just grow accustomed to her ways and demands, and make certain he follows them to a T; lest he continue brining home A-’s.

We’ve all had crotchety teachers, coaches, co-workers and bosses; at least I have. And while I might have hated every minute of it, I sucked it up and did what I had to do. I believe it’s the little things like this that builds character and prepares a child for some of the not so niceties of the real world.

I could, however, do without the 8th graders dropping F-bombs and throwing around sexual innuendoes at every turn. But that’s another story for another time.

We’re not in elementary anymore, Toto!