Worst school day thus far

[seasonalkat]

E brings home a daily 'report card' that tells us every half hour if he behaved appropriately or not, along with a space for comments. The day begins at 9 am and goes until 3:30. Today, EVERY half hour with the exception of 2 periods has comments about his behavior. None of them are good. Some of the most distressing

Comments

[aelf]

When you ask E about his day, how does he describe it?

Does he feel successful? Does he feel like he can be successful?

How much recess does he get? (It looks like he doesn't have anything in the morning ... ?)

Does the teacher ever put positive comments? I have a hard time believing from 9am until 12:30 E didn't do even *one* good thing. I'd even accept a comment like "E started out doing his work well! He was enthusiastic, but then he got distracted being silly and for the rest of the math block was bothering other children."

Admittedly, because of my daughter's situation I'm very sensitive to this, but it disturbs me somewhat not to see one positive statement.

[allyphoe]

IAWTC. *hugs*

Also, because I'm just that kind of a person,
a) "I chose to give he" ??? Yes, it's an awkward construction, but still.
b) What are they not doing that they have time to write half-hourly notes, or that a sub had time to write a two-page letter of complaint about one kid? (If you've requested / negotiated that detailed a breakdown of the day just for E, that's one thing. But I get a colored-marker-line around the calendar box of the day as my kindy feedback, and count myself lucky for that, because the teacher has zero downtime in her schedule.)

[seasonalkat]

Thanks so much. Yes, the awkward construction is there, but you know I mostly glossed over that part. :) The behavior plan put in place for E is for him to get feedback every half hour on how he's doing, and normally if there is any note it is very short (a few words) describing the behavior that was at issue. I think the sub probably wrote about the class in general, but I know my son was one of the featured highlights (lowlights?) of the note. We are going to have him write an apology note tonight to the sub, even if she doesn't get it (don't know if she's a regular or not).

[seasonalkat]

His typical answer about his day was "fine" or "I don't know". If we ask what he did during any portion of the day, odds are good we'll get "I don't know". They do get a morning recess, but it's too cold right now to go outside so I'm sure they are caged beasts

[aelf]

I guess from my point of view it's just as important (if not more so) that you know what's gone right with his day as what's gone wrong. He needs praise and encouragement for the good choices he makes, not just reminders or penalties for the bad choices.

Especially on days when he isn't getting a chance to be active and such. Regular physical play makes such a difference!

Oh, and about the name calling. I wanted to mention that I've seen kids involved in name calling and for one of them to suddenly decide "enough is enough" and break into tears. He could easily have been involved in something like that. But I'm inclined to think optimistically about kids. :)