Sally update
Thank you all for your support and encouragement...here is the update.
Our meeting with the counselor was set for 8am on Friday. Fridays are busy days for me as I always set up board games and/or videos in my room during tutorial for my students on the last day of the school week for them to earn their pesos. I need to be there by about 6:15 to get everything all set up and ready and usually kids start arriving by 6:30.
Yesterday was no different.
Add on to that, kids in frantic mode as it was the last day of classes before semester finals so I had kids coming and going asking for grades, trying to finish up corrections, and wanting help studying, etc.
Tutorial ended at 7:30 and by 7:35 everyone was gone and I had a few minutes to pack up the games, put the chairs back in place, get the day's agenda on the board and our bellringer on the overhead, finishing typing in the grades of the assignment from the day before, and by 7:55, I was ready enough to leave for the conference.
I go up to the counseling office and the parent has not yet arrived. By 8:05 I said to the secretary that I couldn't wait all day (kids would be arriving at 8:25) and that I would wait 5 more minutes. Mom and daughter arrive at 8:08 and mom goes to check daughter in late to get her an excused pass.
We head into the counselor's office around 8:10. (do you know that as I type this my stomach is churning and my hands are clammy...that is how stressful this whole thing is)
Counselor asks me to repeat to mom and student the fact that even despite taking a 0 on this test, student still has an A. Mom says, that is not the point.
All of a sudden there is an excuse for why daughter couldn't make up the test in the week after the absence. Mom was out of town. I said to her, but daughter didn't tell me this. There was no effort made to tell me that there was a problem, just a week and a half later she wants to write the test.
Mom gets all upset at me and is very rude and angry to the point that the counselor has to jump in. Now, Mom attacks the counselor saying he does not support her, he takes the teacher's "side".
Counselor finally sends student out...as student leaves, she pleads "mom...". I honestly think she was embarassed.
Mom continues to attack both of us now and finally the counselor says that we need to stop this conference. Mom asks for the superintendent's phone number, which neither of us had, so the counselor gives her the district office number.
Conference is over at 8:24 and I run down to my room to open the door for the kids.
Now I am waiting for the dreaded call from the superintendent...
Our meeting with the counselor was set for 8am on Friday. Fridays are busy days for me as I always set up board games and/or videos in my room during tutorial for my students on the last day of the school week for them to earn their pesos. I need to be there by about 6:15 to get everything all set up and ready and usually kids start arriving by 6:30.
Yesterday was no different.
Add on to that, kids in frantic mode as it was the last day of classes before semester finals so I had kids coming and going asking for grades, trying to finish up corrections, and wanting help studying, etc.
Tutorial ended at 7:30 and by 7:35 everyone was gone and I had a few minutes to pack up the games, put the chairs back in place, get the day's agenda on the board and our bellringer on the overhead, finishing typing in the grades of the assignment from the day before, and by 7:55, I was ready enough to leave for the conference.
I go up to the counseling office and the parent has not yet arrived. By 8:05 I said to the secretary that I couldn't wait all day (kids would be arriving at 8:25) and that I would wait 5 more minutes. Mom and daughter arrive at 8:08 and mom goes to check daughter in late to get her an excused pass.
We head into the counselor's office around 8:10. (do you know that as I type this my stomach is churning and my hands are clammy...that is how stressful this whole thing is)
Counselor asks me to repeat to mom and student the fact that even despite taking a 0 on this test, student still has an A. Mom says, that is not the point.
All of a sudden there is an excuse for why daughter couldn't make up the test in the week after the absence. Mom was out of town. I said to her, but daughter didn't tell me this. There was no effort made to tell me that there was a problem, just a week and a half later she wants to write the test.
Mom gets all upset at me and is very rude and angry to the point that the counselor has to jump in. Now, Mom attacks the counselor saying he does not support her, he takes the teacher's "side".
Counselor finally sends student out...as student leaves, she pleads "mom...". I honestly think she was embarassed.
Mom continues to attack both of us now and finally the counselor says that we need to stop this conference. Mom asks for the superintendent's phone number, which neither of us had, so the counselor gives her the district office number.
Conference is over at 8:24 and I run down to my room to open the door for the kids.
Now I am waiting for the dreaded call from the superintendent...
posted by Katrina | 1/22/2005 02:42:00 PM
2 Comments:
That sucks. I'm still trying to understand exactly what happened.
The girl had an excused absence on the day of a test, was aware that she had 3 days to make up the test, but didn't. Came to you the next week about it and you said no. Mother gets mad, wants to have a conference about it.
You have the conference, tell the mother that her daughter still has an A, even with a zero for that test. Mother says that's not the point. What, pray tell, is the point then? A blatant disregard for rules?
So then it comes out that daughter couldn't make up the test during the allotted time because the mother was out of town. Daughter never mentioned this. If it was me, if I knew my teacher/professor had a strict policy about make-ups and I knew I would be unable to make up the work during the time I was allowed, I would go to that person and explain the situation and see what alternatives I had. If the mother was aware of your policies, and she knew that she was going to be out of town and the kid couldn't make up the work, why didn't she get involved at that point and call or email you, to see about alternatives and/or to make sure that her daughter had done so. It seems that a 3 minute conversation a couple of weeks ago would have alleviated all this mess.
So you've explained that the daughter still has an A, that she never gave any reason for not being able to make up the test sooner, just came to you last week asking to make it up and didn't even specify which test she wanted to take. At this point, mom goes psycho and reams both you and the counselor and wants to talk to the superintendent. Sounds fishy. What is she trying to accomplish?
You have it exactly right...LOL. I don't get it either, and hope that the superintendent can see that nothing makes her happy....guess we will see. I had a horrible experience with a parent (who also happened to be my vice principal) at my first teaching job ever, so I get nervous when things go this sour...but I am trying to not think about it for now.
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