All of the kids transitioned smoothly last week, which was a great sigh of relief for me. Yesterday things changed, for Morgan that is.
Apparently he was late to his honors English class on the first day of school, and the teacher made him an "example" of what an honor student is not, in front of the whole class. He was tardy because another teacher at the front of the school, was telling the kids that they needed to pick up a new, revised schedule. Morgan eventually realized that he already had the schedule they were talking about, and headed off to class. While belittling him in front of the whole class, she asked him how he was assigned to her honors class. He told her that a certain guidance counselor had placed him there. She then proceeded to say, "Um, no. No, no, no. You see, Mr. _______ is a teacher over special ed...."-- need I say more?
She evidently handed out a writing assignment before Morgan arrived to class. Morgan didn't think to ask her if he had missed any assignments from being tardy. I should have prepared him for that better. She called Aaron yesterday at work, and was really irate over the phone, with Morgan standing right there. She explained what a "hole" Morgan had already put himself in for not turning in the first assignment. She said that she had no idea why Morgan didn't know about it, since all of the 35 other students had completed the assignment. Morgan said that she told him, that she "didn't think he'd make it through the year in her class, and that he could drop honors English at anytime." She then said in front of the whole class that "Morgan would never be a ________"( a certain special name she gives her students whom complete her class). He wasn't a student with those kind of qualities.
I'm sorry, but this is one of my biggest pet peeves. I work so hard at building my children's self worth. I can not even begin to tell you how angry I get when someone comes along, and tries to make my child feel like he/she has no potential and is worthless. I know Morgan didn't do everything right, and has made a bad impression on her. That's understandable. However, to belittle him in front of the whole class like that, that's just low. I thought teachers try to build a child's self worth, not bring it down.
Unfortunately, there are no other teachers that offer honors English. If we decide she is not a suitable teacher for him, his GPA will suffer, unless we can put him in another honors level class.
I emailed her this note last night:
Dear Mrs. Mongielloa,
Morgan informed me of how he missed his first assignment, the 500-700 word personal narrative. He felt terrible about missing this important assignment, and would love to make it up. He would like to use 1 out of the 2 "zero zapper coupons" that you mention in your syllabus.
My son wants to succeed in your class, and we as parents want to help him in his efforts. He is a good kid. This will be a difficult transition for him, since I homeschooled him during his Middle School years.
He thinks the reason, he never received the assignment you passed out during class, was because he was tardy. He explained his tardiness by stating how a teacher in front of the school told him to get a new schedule. He eventually realized that he didn't need a new schedule, he already had the right one. I think he was confused, and felt overwhelmed.
Is there a way that I, as a parent, can know what his assignments are each and everyday? I would love to assist in anyway. Thanks for your help on this matter.
Sincerely,
Trina Barry
Morgan, Aaron, and I were up till 12:30 last night working on that assignment. Let me tell you, waking up at 5 AM for seminary was painful for all of us! I just hope Morgan makes it through the day.
8 comments:
Poor Morgan! Good luck in that class!
I agree with Amanda! That is terrible that the teacher was so mean! I hope it gets better for him!!! I would definitely want to chew that teacher out after that!
I had an English teacher just like her. She was the only teacher to ever make me cry. And you probably won't believe it but she ended up being one of my favorite teachers ever (not saying she will be Morgan's). I swear English teachers (especially honors and AP English teachers) are just like that. They want to intimidate the kids so they're on top of their game in their class or whatever. But she shouldn't have said half the things she said... and poor Morgan, on his birthday. I think your letter was great and I bet it will make a difference for him in the class, if he stays in it. Good job supporting him, he will be okay!
You handled that a lot better than I would have. I would have been in the school down her throat. I hope she can be mature in her response.
You handled it better than I would have. I'd have arranged a meeting with the principal and the teacher so there would be a witness when I told the teacher off. However, you chose the high road and I'm sure it will pay off. Morgan will be just fine and an occasional speed bump can be a good learning experience for him.
don't let it knock you down. you've worked so hard to get him there. i try to stand behind and support the teacher whenever i can, but it would be hard under these circumstances. if morgan is interested in taking this class, i think scheduling a meeting with everyone present is a good idea to get everyone on the same page and have a fresh start. and i also think tara is right: the first few weeks of a school year are pretty harsh to "weed" people out and help them learn respect for the rules. the teacher crossed the line, but it is a great learning experience for morgan- even if he didn't deserve it. he took a hit for the whole class and has learned hard lessons in his first week of school that are better to learn now while the stakes are lower than later in the school year over an assignment with bigger consequences. good luck! don't give up on the public school system yet!
How awful and embaressing for Morgan! You handled that very well Trina. I hope that things improve.
Poor Morgan. I can totally relate. Alex had a similar experience when we first moved to Tennessee at the beginning of his 7th grade year. He had a teacher who did not think he should be in advanced math and belittled him in front of the class in a similar way. She treated him horribly even accusing him of cheating at one point but like your situation, she was the only advanced math teacher. He had a really hard year, but by the end of the year, he had finally proven to her that he was up to the challenge and gained her respect. Things are much better now. I hope he can stick it out. I hate it that some teachers treat students like that.
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