It's Not About You.

I've been doing really well leaving Jack's teacher alone. I know it's her first year and that she is getting very little support from her team (and her administration for that matter). However, recently I've become concerned about a couple of things that are going on. I've voiced them to Jason and he's in agreement that something needs to be done. It all came to a head when, last Monday afternoon, I checked Jack's grades on the District's grade site. The district has been encouraging parents to sign on so they can track their child's grades and attendance. It's put pressure on teachers because they have to grade papers in a timely manner and post them online. Well, I checked on Monday and Jack's grades were where they'd been mid-six weeks. Basically, Jack's a B-C student. His interests lie in the athletic realm and academics don't come easy for him. Satisfied that his grades were fine, I logged off and went on my way.

The next day, I found myself questioning why there weren't the district's minimum grade requirement of 12 grades for math so I checked the website again (this past week was the week where report cards are printed and basically teachers start taking grades for the next six weeks). To my astonishment, 5 more grades had been entered (4 of them were 60 - which I know what that meant). His grade had dropped 5 points in less than one day and he was on the brink of failing the subject. I was shocked. I called Jason and expressed my concern, 6 of the 12 grades were 60's. There was no sign of reteaching, just a couple of papers that said, "Redo" at the top. We received 4 of them in Tuesday's folder, but didn't have enough time to complete them and return to her by the time the window closed.

Here's where the trouble really started. I emailed and requested a parent conference because I was concerned about his grades and the tutoring situation (another teacher--not a classroom teacher--takes Jack and some other kids for tutoring). Jason and I don't think the person tutoring him is reteaching appropriately. Keep in mind, Jack's no angel either but it just isn't working. I told her that before school or after school was the best time for me. She responded that the only time she had available was Thursdays at 3:15. I said that was fine and set the meeting for the next day at 3:15 (I was going to tell my principal that I would have to miss the faculty meeting to attend the parent/teacher conference). Her response was that that would be fine, but she could only give me 15 minutes because she had a faculty meeting at 3:30. Howeve,r if I needed more time I could let her know another day and she'd check her schedule and see if that was okay with her. Oookay. So I responed that I did need more time, 45 minutes would be enough time and that I could meet after school or before school. I'd even consider taking a personal day to meet with her during her planning time. The response I got was that was fine, she could meet Tuesday during her planning time. Fine. I told her I'd be there during her planning time on Tuesday. I was ready to take a personal day, until.... I got the repsonse that said she could actually only give me 35 minutes because she had to drop off/pick up her kids from specials. Wait a minute. REALLY? Okay, that's fine. I was going to get someone to cover my kids so I could go over and meet and then I'd go back to school. It was only going to be about 45 minutes (round trip) and I had a test planned for that day. One of the teachers at my school who has a student teacher offered to watch my class, so I was covered. Then, at 4:30 yesterday afternoon I get another email. "Sorry. I was just informed that I have a staffing during my planning time for one of my kids, so Tuesday isn't going to work. How about on Monday?" Fine, I'll see you Monday after tutoring." was my response. To which she responded, "I meant during my planning time on Monday."

By now, I'd had it. This was the 3rd time I'd had to rearrange my schedule. No, I couldn't meet during her planning time because I couldn't get coverage and according to the district I couldn't get a personal day approved on the short notice. I didn't have a test planned for Monday. And you know what? Now I don't want to take a personal day anymore. I emailed that I would see her after tutoring on Monday.

What happened next really cracked me up. As I'm leaving to pick up the kids, I checked my cell phone and see that I've missed 2 calls and have 2 messages. Thinking it's Jason I called to check. The first message was from Jack's teacher. "Hi Mrs. Huffman. I have a few minutes before I have to pick the kids up from specials, so I thought I'd call. I will not be at school at 4:15 on Monday, so I can't meet with you then. But since I have a few minutes, I thought I'd call and see if we could discuss some of your concerns." Um, excuse me? It's 2:00 p.m. 1) I'M TEACHING!!!!!!! This is my personal phone which is turned OFF during instruction time so there's no way on EARTH that I am going to get this, AND 2) YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES BEFORE YOU HAVE TO PICK UP YOUR STUDENTS. You think I'm going to cram 45 minutes of information into 5 minutes? You're denser than I thought.

I was LIVID. You know, as a teacher I serve my community. If I have a parent who has a concern about their child I make it a point to meet with them at their convenience. Yes, it is often inconvenient for me but they have concerns and need to talk about them. I have often stayed until 5:00 because that's the only time they can make it. I have often gotten to school early so they could meet before school. I have often missed faculty meetings because that's the only time a parent could meet. My principal has some short-comings, but if I have a parent that I need to meet with and that is the only time they can meet she understands. I called the principal to set up a meeting with him and I got the same stone-walling. I can't believe that the school is run like that. He asked when I could meet and I said, "In the morning, during my planning time (which I know is not possible) or after school." Well, he'd have to get with Mrs. So and so and see when she could meet. The time would have to be agreeable for everyone involved. But looking at his calendar, which he was doing while I was talking with him he could see that every afternoon next week was booked with something going on that his teachers were involved with. Okay, was my response, why not in the morning? Because, my teacher's don't have to be here until 7:45 (school starts at 7:50).

Jason was shocked by this. So, we're going to send him and Jack's teacher an email that says basically we give up because they're not willing to work with us. I'm tempted to copy it to the superintendent, but Jason doesn't think it needs to go that far..yet. I do. But we'll see. So for now, I'm going to have to basically home school Jack at night because it's not working with his teacher.

Our job as educators is to serve the community. Granted, some times parents can go too far but often they're just concerned about their kids. And, any teacher worth their salt should be too. So it's important to work together. I should, any teacher for that matter, work to accommodate the parents as best as I can. If it's not possible for them to meet during the day because they work, then it is our job to meet with them when they can meet. If a phone conference will suffice (which about some things it can...but not in this one) then fine. But when it comes down to a teacher avoiding a parent because they don't want to deal with them, that's wrong. I know that I've dreaded meeting with parents sometimes, but I've done it because it's my job.

Most of the teachers (not all--Caroline's teacher is great!) and the administrator seem to have forgotten all that. It's about them, not the community.