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Work Vent
The hardest parts of teaching are the parts that have very little to do with the actual teaching.
I have a student this year whose dad has custody and he is just about as uninvolved as he can be. This particular boy was not finished with his writing project on Friday, so I sent it home with him over the weekend. It didn't get done over the weekend, so today, my coteacher and I decided to call his dad to see if he could stay after school for homework club (he goes other days, but not Mondays). His dad said he couldn't stay because dad had a meeting at 3:15 and that he'd make sure it gets done tonight. Well, come to find out, the 3:15 meeting was AT SCHOOL, so there's no reason why the son couldn't go to homework club at 3:30. I saw the boy sitting in the office after dismissal at 3:45 and that's when I found out his dad was with the principal. I said to the boy, "This would be a pretty good time to work on your essay, wouldn't it?" and he said, "No, I'll probably do it at home." I was so upset that this kid (who we've bent over backwards for all year) and his dad weren't worried about it that I just said, "Ok" and went to my classroom. It just makes me so sad and frustrated that this dad doesn't value education and therefore, this 11 year old boy has basically given up too.
I'm pretty sure I won't be given a completed essay tomorrow, but maybe he'll surprise me.
Re: Work Vent
Yeah, I'm basically at that point. With the last writing project, I allowed my coteacher to take him and help him finish during social studies, but I refuse to let him do that again. If he doesn't have a completed essay tomorrow, he'll receive zeros for the assignment and I'll call his dad to tell him his son's new writing average (which will be a failing grade).
I'm sorry ladies. I'm certainly no teacher, but I have seen what its like to try to give people breaks and have them disappoint you.
I know teachers have their jobs 1 million times tougher when parents do not help. I wish I could drag all those parents down to MY job and show them where their kids can end up when they don't teach them basic self responsibility. Its very defeating.
Do you have a "yay me" folder (I don't remember what it was called but that was the gist)? When I was a first year teacher, my mentor made us folders to put things in that remind us of why we do what we do (or did in my case). I put in notes and cards from kids and parents and my mentor and stuff like that. It stayed in my bag so it was always around. When I had a rough day or started wondering why the heck I bothered, I would flip through and remind myself that I really was making a difference.
I'm sorry both f you had rough days. Hang in there and remember you are making a difference even when it feels like you are banging your head on a brick wall.