It is parents' job to filter this information and recognize when their kid is blaming other people for their problems, and teach them to regulate that, develop awareness of the needs of other students in the room, understand the teacher's perspective, not constantly demand instant gratification, and take responsibility for themselves, instead of immediately dumping on us. She's allowed to vent to her mother about frustrations at school that's healthy. I don't hold any of this against this kid, who is actually pretty awesome. Pandemic learning loss, algebra is hard, parents doing their best to advocate for their kids amid a failing system, blah blah blah. *DISCLAIMER- Obviously I didn't send this this is a creative writing exercise mostly for the sake of my mental health. I suppose we should fire the student teacher for that, also? Your daughter is failing the quarter because she didn’t turn in the last project. But if you’d like, have your attorney contact mine. For the record, we don’t lash out at kids because of their parents’ immature bullshit, because we are professionals in an institution dedicated to educating the next generation of people to hopefully know better than to act like you. I don’t know what you do for a living, ma’am, but I’d like you to imagine for just a moment that I showed up at your place of employment, while you were minding your business and doing your best at your job, passed judgement, and then contacted your boss and tried to get you fired. I’d like you to take a moment here to remember, mom, that in three years of teaching two of your children, I have never been anything but responsive to your children’s needs and promptly respectful of your communication. I can’t wait to get emails from their mothers. That’s 30 minutes more individualized instruction than most of my students received today. I’ll be sure to remind the student teacher that expressing any kind of desire to be treated as a human being with dignity is frowned upon in this day and age.ĭear mom, even if none of the above were true, it would still be true that when my student teacher told your daughter she would help her after helping another student, I personally sat with your child for the last 30 minutes of class, reteaching her what she missed while she was asleep during the lecture and even going so far as to give her a reduced assignment(!) so she wouldn’t feel overwhelmed with work. Sometimes, student teachers make mistakes and respond to shitty teenage behavior like people, instead of the emotionless information-doling robots you expect them to be. My student teacher does all this while not making any money and simultaneously attending grad school at night. They are learning how to design curriculum units, plan engaging lessons, grade papers, analyze data, and perpetually be held responsible for society’s ills, while also dealing with the fact that your kid gets to talk to them any way they like while facing no repercussions or taking any responsibility for their actions. Many of them are optimistic and naive, and not used to the abuse and disrespect that most of us face every day. Student teachers come here every year to develop these skills and adjust to this reality. I work here 40 hours a week, and then I leave this building every afternoon, weekend, and holiday, thinking about how I could do better, teach harder, accommodate more, for your kid. I have met with her and the school counselor to make sure she wasn’t feeling singled out by the school’s bathroom policy, even when she would be out of the classroom for over 20 minutes at a time on a regular basis, while other kids danced around trying to hold in their pee. I have worked with her, conferenced with her, encouraged her, and coached her. I have personally given your child snacks out of my own lunchbox and tampons out of my own purse. I willingly take less money at this job than I could earn teaching elsewhere, or doing something more lucrative with my multiple higher degrees, strictly for the privilege of teaching your daughter. I walk into the school building every day knowing this might be the day I take a bullet for your kid.
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