I have spoken about bullies in the past. When our son was in fifth grade at the local public school, he had issues with teachers bullying him. He was an easy target because he was different. While he continues to be different, we now don't have to worry about teacher's bullying him because he is homeschooled.
Our youngest is currently in public school. She is now in 5th grade. The past month or so, she has been criticized by one of her teachers. It angers me and motivates me to protect my young chick. A little background on my youngest. She is a very sweet and caring little girl. She wears her emotions on her sleeve and she is sensitive to others feelings as well. A few weeks ago, right before April vacation, her best friend moved downstate. It is far enough away that we have to plan a trip just to visit with her. This has been very difficult for Grace because she doesn't really have a lot of friends who she really confides in. She has been dealing with it pretty well at home, crying here and there. The day before vacation, her grade participated in jump rope for heart. She was okay except for the fact that at the end of the activity, she broke down finally because she missed her best friend. It had only been four days since her friend had moved away and being at this activity without her made her sad. When she went to lunch that day, one of her friends came up to her and told her that her teacher was complaining to another teacher that she was being dramatic,crying and making a scene. This was said in the classroom while there were still students present.
I sent this teacher an email stating how I felt about the situation at hand. Knowing this teacher since I was in middle school, I was very angered about this. This is not by far a new teacher. She is a very seasoned teacher. I feel that I was able to explain how I wasn't thrilled with the fact that she called Grace out on being emotional. I patiently waited for a response from this teacher and to this day, I have not. Instead, the Thursday after vacation, Grace came home and said that the teacher pulled her and the other child from class. She asked the other child if that was necessary for her to share that the teacher was complaining about her with Grace. Then she went on to say that she wasn't only talking about Grace but other students as well. The student said that it wasn't necessary. However, I believe that what this student did was the right thing to do and it was necessary.This teacher was complaining about her friend, my daughter, and she had every right to know. Do I think that the teacher handled it correctly? No. I don't. I believe that the teacher should owe my daughter an apology. I believe that she shouldn't single her out. I believe that she should be reprimanded for her actions.
Some people would say, maybe she was having a bad day. Maybe she was just stressed out because she spent time in the Community Center with a bunch of fifth graders. That may be the case but she still doesn't have the right to take it out on my daughter or any student for that matter.
Yesterday Grace came home and said she had detention because she forgot her book at home. This has never been an issue before. She most always has her book. She had another book that the class is reading together but it is her own copy and she had that with her. Plus another student offered one of her books to her to read. Still the teacher gave her a 10 minute detention to be served on Monday. She didn't follow procedure though. There was no paper sent home saying that my daughter had detention. Plus she actually did have a book. We decided that enough was enough with this teacher.
Monday we are dealing with this teacher ourselves. We will be going into the classroom and taking appropriate action with this teacher. She has hurt, singled out, and degraded our daughter enough. It is time for a nice long chat. Who knows, maybe Grace won't finish the year out in public school. Maybe she will spend her last month, homeschooling. I think I would really like that.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
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2 comments:
WOW, pulling her out to confront her for talking to her own mother is just... wow. And this sort of thing is the reason all of us should be against compulsory education laws. Not every teacher or school is great!
Whatever you decide, I know your girl sees your dedication and I think you will make whatever is the right decision. You didn't mention how much longer the school year is; here it is a couple more weeks.
There has been more bullying since I have written this. It seems that at least one time a week, this teacher has been saying something or threatening detention for frivilous things like forgetting her reading book at home. Currently has until June 18th until her school year is finished. We are going day by day for now. We continue to encourage our daughter to do the best she can. If this teacher degrades her again, I will not be staying put. I will be going to talk to the principal. I used to think she was a great teacher until this happened. I had never heard anything bad before.
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