As a warning... this post is definitely not a feel good kind of post and it's kinda long. So if you're just not into hearing my complaining you should probably stop reading now...
I was really hoping that Gavin's teacher would be just as AWESOME as last years teacher. After meet the teacher night this year I was a little concerned about how quiet his new teacher was but overall I felt pretty open minded and was ready for another great year at Forest Pines! Then as the days went on... Gavin (who is much like his mama and holds absolutely nothing back) started telling me things that I quickly could realize was actually his teacher speaking through him. The inflection in his voice was just a little too much from a 7 year old boy....
Things like....
"You need 3 composition books, not one... it said it on the supply list. You're gonna need to go get more so you can actually do the assignments"
or
"There's a reading log for a reason, mom"
Now.... don't get me wrong. I was a teacher. I frequently would tell my children things and fully expect them to go back to the parents. However, I ALWAYS shared whatever I told the children with the parents as well in either verbal or written communication! It really bugs me when teachers speak through the child. Especially if I'm home all day. Feel free to call or email me at anytime with ANY concern you may have!
Call me a needy mom if you want... I prefer to see it as an INVOLVED mother but I need communication! I don't want to find out information second hand and I don't want to have to pry it out of my 7 year old either! You can keep me happy by keeping me in the loop!
Yesterday, this momma got her feathers ruffled. Gavin's wore his old tennis shoes to school (I don't really know why, other than they are easy to get on and he is lazy... haha!) The shoelaces are frayed at the end making it hard for them to stay tied. Apparently his shoe came untied and the lace came out of the hole. The shoelace could not be threaded back through so she took the shoelaces completely out of the shoes and allowed my child to walk around with his shoes flopping up and down. Didn't send a note saying they tried to fix it but couldn't or anything. You can only imagine how annoyed I was when I saw my child walking to the car with his shoes flapping!! Hello safety issue?!! Not to mention... I didn't send my kid to school looking a hot mess so I would prefer him not be sent home that way. If you couldn't fix it, you could have at least eased my frustrations and sent a note saying what happened or even called me to bring him new shoes! When I asked Gavin about it... he said "we couldn't fix it and she said you need to buy me new shoes and not to wear these anymore!" Boy is this lady lucky we had some place to be or this momma would have lost her cool. (So thankful for a God that calms me down and makes sure I am distracted by other things so that I don't go down the wrong path)
Things like that bother me and I really hope that after a nice email to his teacher this is not something that will become the norm in second grade. Just because you send my kid home on green everyday doesn't mean I won't still question what's going on at school. That's my job. I'm his mom!
For all of those who have asked me in the last couple of days and some of you for months... why don't you just home school or send him to private school? I say this... home school and private school are not for every family! While I am extremely thrilled that it works for many of my friends and family... it's just not an option at this point for ours. That's not to say that in the future it couldn't be, but for now it's not. Besides the fact that Gavin isn't one that learns well from mommy (he can't separate the whole teacher/mommy thing), our family is unable to stay at home and must work to put food on our table and to pay for bills coming in and debt that has been acquired. This does not mean that I care any less about my kids education nor does it mean that I don't value my kids. I hate when people make the assumption that because my kid is not home schooled or in a private school, that he will not be just as smart, resourceful, respectful,successful, etc. as another child. My kid can be just as grounded in what we believe as a family whether he is at school all day or at home. How? He has two parents who love and support him more than anything in the world and will make sure that we do everything we can to help him reach his fullest potential.
While these types of teachers certainly annoy me and often upset me... part of me is thankful that I have experienced them. This is a big part of why I decided to pursue my teaching license. There are FABULOUS public school teachers out there. NOT all teachers are like this. I want to be one of those FABULOUS teachers. I want to be that teacher for parents who are not in the position to be at home with their children teaching them (even though many would love for that to be the case). I want to be that FABULOUS teacher for those families who can't afford private school. I want to be that FABULOUS teacher for the single parents who value education just as much as anyone else but are just dealing with the life they have.
Man I hope I can remind myself of this learning opportunity when situations like these arise with Gavin's teacher. May it be a teaching moment for me and my future.
But hey...
Here's hoping there won't be anymore of those kind of moments... right?
