Teacher angst
I want to begin by saying that I believe that anytime there is conflict between a teacher and a student, the teacher is as much to blame as the student.
I want to begin by saying that I believe that anytime there is conflict between a teacher and a student, the teacher is as much to blame as the student.
I have a student this semester who is probably going to fail to graduate, in part because she is going to fail my class. M has had a difficult life, she's been and out of foster care, and from the little I know, in several different school districts in the past few years.
Scheduling in our school district is a mess, I teach Oral Communications the last period of the day, which in our district is a freshman level course. However, in most other districts it is a junior or senior level course. Students who transfer in have to take OC with the freshman.
Unfortunately, this means students who are seniors who could leave for employment or college classes cannot, because they have to have OC to graduate. (Having a disgruntled 18 year old in a class with 14 year olds is no picnic either.)
About a month ago M didn't show up to class for two days in a row. I had seen her earlier in the day both times. The second day I did a quick swing by the library and found her and made her come to class. She didn't show up for the rest of the week, some of the kids said "she's checked out and going to work".
At the end of the week I went to the office to verify the story. If went to work, she didn't check out. So I go to the principal and ask him what I should do. (Not to mention that she's leaving school without permission.) The principal says,"..if she doesn't show up, fail her..and after 12 days I'll deny her credit.")
So, she doesn't show up the next day of class, I report it directly to the principal. The principal meets with M. She tells him that at am "the most hateful woman" at the school and she can't stand to be in the same room with me.
The principal tells her that he doesn't believe that (or that's what he assures me he told her) and tells her if she wants to graduate she has to attend class. She shows up one day and has a hissy because I told her (and four others) to take their seat until the bell rang.
She misses five more days of class, and this puts her at 14 days of absences. The school policy is to deny credit after a student misses 10 days in a semester. At the end of that week I get an email from the principal asking me to come up with work so that Mcan “make up what she’s missed so that she can graduate”.
I spend about 45 minutes coming up with some busy work for her to do. The class I teach is project based, and it would be much more difficult for her (and for me too) to have go back and do the work she’d really skipped missed. And to be honest, by this time, I’m getting pretty angry about her attitude and the lack of support from my boss on making her attend class. So I give her a list of a hundred terms to define, and at the top of the page write a note promising her to give her a passing grade on all the work she’d missed if she finished all the terms.
After a bit of huffing and storming around with the librarian (who talked her into doing the assignment) she turned in the work and came to class. The rest of the kids are working on outlining their persuasive speeches. She turns in her first draft at the end of the first day (opposing abortion).
In the middle of the second day of class she asked, “Did you give them a list of topics to choose from?” I *think* I stayed really cordial when I said, “No, but we spent two class days in class brainstorming and discussing possible topics.”
To her credit, she stayed really calm too. “Can I have a list?”
I said, “Better yet, I can give you the Web site that we worked from.”
That over a week ago, and she has not attended class a single time, even though I’ve seen her around campus, including going to math class across the hall. I ask the guidance counselor, “Is she going to be able to do some sort of credit recovery for my OC class? I mean, if she’s not graduating, why is she at school?”
The counselor explains that she turned 18 and to qualify for food stamps she has to attend school, and that unfortunately, there’s no credit recovery for oral communications. Before I make it back down to my classroom, the principal stops me.
“Monica and I have had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting, she’ll be in class today.” (She’s now up to 17 absences.)
At the end of the day, her math teacher tells me, “Don’t worry, it’s not just your class. She’s been in my class most days, but she does nothing. She’s failing my class too. “
Then Wanda (the math teacher) tells me the clincher of this story. “M has told me that she really doesn’t need a diploma anyway. She’s going to be an exotic dancer and make more money that I do.”
I wish I knew what I'd done to this child in particular to make her so angry with me. I wonder what I could have done differently, because right now I really feel like I failed her.
I want to begin by saying that I believe that anytime there is conflict between a teacher and a student, the teacher is as much to blame as the student.
I have a student this semester who is probably going to fail to graduate, in part because she is going to fail my class. M has had a difficult life, she's been and out of foster care, and from the little I know, in several different school districts in the past few years.
Scheduling in our school district is a mess, I teach Oral Communications the last period of the day, which in our district is a freshman level course. However, in most other districts it is a junior or senior level course. Students who transfer in have to take OC with the freshman.
Unfortunately, this means students who are seniors who could leave for employment or college classes cannot, because they have to have OC to graduate. (Having a disgruntled 18 year old in a class with 14 year olds is no picnic either.)
About a month ago M didn't show up to class for two days in a row. I had seen her earlier in the day both times. The second day I did a quick swing by the library and found her and made her come to class. She didn't show up for the rest of the week, some of the kids said "she's checked out and going to work".
At the end of the week I went to the office to verify the story. If went to work, she didn't check out. So I go to the principal and ask him what I should do. (Not to mention that she's leaving school without permission.) The principal says,"..if she doesn't show up, fail her..and after 12 days I'll deny her credit.")
So, she doesn't show up the next day of class, I report it directly to the principal. The principal meets with M. She tells him that at am "the most hateful woman" at the school and she can't stand to be in the same room with me.
The principal tells her that he doesn't believe that (or that's what he assures me he told her) and tells her if she wants to graduate she has to attend class. She shows up one day and has a hissy because I told her (and four others) to take their seat until the bell rang.
She misses five more days of class, and this puts her at 14 days of absences. The school policy is to deny credit after a student misses 10 days in a semester. At the end of that week I get an email from the principal asking me to come up with work so that Mcan “make up what she’s missed so that she can graduate”.
I spend about 45 minutes coming up with some busy work for her to do. The class I teach is project based, and it would be much more difficult for her (and for me too) to have go back and do the work she’d really skipped missed. And to be honest, by this time, I’m getting pretty angry about her attitude and the lack of support from my boss on making her attend class. So I give her a list of a hundred terms to define, and at the top of the page write a note promising her to give her a passing grade on all the work she’d missed if she finished all the terms.
After a bit of huffing and storming around with the librarian (who talked her into doing the assignment) she turned in the work and came to class. The rest of the kids are working on outlining their persuasive speeches. She turns in her first draft at the end of the first day (opposing abortion).
In the middle of the second day of class she asked, “Did you give them a list of topics to choose from?” I *think* I stayed really cordial when I said, “No, but we spent two class days in class brainstorming and discussing possible topics.”
To her credit, she stayed really calm too. “Can I have a list?”
I said, “Better yet, I can give you the Web site that we worked from.”
That over a week ago, and she has not attended class a single time, even though I’ve seen her around campus, including going to math class across the hall. I ask the guidance counselor, “Is she going to be able to do some sort of credit recovery for my OC class? I mean, if she’s not graduating, why is she at school?”
The counselor explains that she turned 18 and to qualify for food stamps she has to attend school, and that unfortunately, there’s no credit recovery for oral communications. Before I make it back down to my classroom, the principal stops me.
“Monica and I have had a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting, she’ll be in class today.” (She’s now up to 17 absences.)
At the end of the day, her math teacher tells me, “Don’t worry, it’s not just your class. She’s been in my class most days, but she does nothing. She’s failing my class too. “
Then Wanda (the math teacher) tells me the clincher of this story. “M has told me that she really doesn’t need a diploma anyway. She’s going to be an exotic dancer and make more money that I do.”
I wish I knew what I'd done to this child in particular to make her so angry with me. I wonder what I could have done differently, because right now I really feel like I failed her.