Anther school vent...............

[Magic Mom]

From the Urban Dictionary

1. special snowflake
A member of that newly-adult, me'er-than-me generation which expects attention and praise just for being themselves -- doing anything to deserve it is completely optional.

Oh, he's too much of special snowflake to get a day job -- his mom's paying the rent while he hangs out waiting for the perfect high-paying project to come along. I guess the market for C-minus filmmaking majors is a little soft right now or something.
narcissism spoiled kids today entitlement high expectations

2. special snowflake
A problem person. A person who thinks they are unique, different and therefor more special that everyone else. Derived from too many parents telling their kids they are "special," like a "snowflake." Typically used by used by those in the customer service or retail industry to refer to bad customers.

That lady was a special snowflake, in a blizzard of other special snowflakes; shes unique, just like everyone else.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

I'm a teacher, and I didn't hear "special snowflake" until I came to the disboards!

Yes, I have summers "off" from teaching. However, I work summer camps at my college every year for almost the entire summer...in order to be able to pay my bills! I understand that I'm paid for 10 months, and for me, I also need to work the other months in order to live.

 

[Kathi OD]

I'm a teacher, and I didn't hear "special snowflake" until I came to the disboards!

 

[OceanAnnie]

I think it was 4 people before me that said they hadn't heard the term, "special snowflake before the came to the DIS.

Make that 5.

 

[december]

6....I had never heard it either. But it does fit in so many cases!

 

[pilesoflaundry]

This is really long and I'm going to admit jumping in without reading anything except the OP.

There are still teachers that want to help and do care but their hands are sometimes tied.

Both of my children have wonderful (but overworked!) teachers. The school is full of badly behaved children, parents that aren't doing anything to ensure homework is done, their children BEHAVE during school hours and there are a lot of transients. It's awful. My kids hate it here and I really am disappointed in their school.

There are too many kids in one class and if 18 out of 20 are acting up all day, how can they teach the rest?

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Well I am in the UK and have just finished training as a teacher after leaving a well paid reasonably stress free job in the pharma industry. I am well aware of the long hours, bad pay and stresses that await me in my new career. On my placements I came in from school at 5, made the dinner for my children and spent some time with them before putting them to bed. After that I got my laptop out and started my planning turning my laptop off around midnight every night. I was in school by 8 (classes started at 9). I was exhausted but I loved every minute of it. No complaints at all. I wouldn't have carried on if I didn't love it. And to be fair all of the teachers I have met so far in my training also love their job.

I am excited about teaching children and seeing them develop and grow. I am a bit disappointed to hear such negative views. I have encountered some similar situations in my teaching practice and I have to admit that I am not looking forward to that aspect of the job. Some parents can be demanding, and far too many get involved in the petty arguments of their children. But most have been supportive and in partnership with the school working towards helping their children succeed in school.

 

[MrsPete]

There is really no reason at all for me to post this other than to get it off my chest but may I say that I personally bitterly hate public schools and just about anything related with them.

I never believe posts in which people claim that EVERY SINGLE THING about schools are bad. Do bad things happen? Of course! Public schools serve every segment of society, including those who don't really want to be part of the educational system. Are there teachers who are ill-suited to their jobs and who should be fired? Certainly, but they are the exception rather than the norm. But is EVERYTHING bad? No way.

When I hear stories like this, I always think to myself, "If everything's bad about school, every year, every class . . . what's the common demoninator?" The answer is obvious.

My own kids started in Christian school and then transitioned to public school. While every moment hasn't been butterflies and rainbows, they have had an excellent experience thusfar, and I am very pleased with the education they've received. Of course, no small part of that is because their father and I have encouraged them in many ways.

Im not saying this in a snarky way but did you read the part where I said that THE SCHOOL gave him the present to begin with?

Remember that "the school" is a big place, although you're lumping it together as if it's one small office in which everyone knows everything that's going on.

Who within the school gave the gift? It might well have come from guidance or the school social worker . . . and in that case, the administration probably wouldn't have known about it. Or it might've come from his own teacher, who knows his low income situation, and the school resource officer might've had no idea. In charity situations like this, things are purposefully kept hush-hush so that the kids don't feel that "everyone knows" about their situation. So saying that "they" gave it to him, and "they" should have known doesn't make sense.

 

[princessmom29]

I didn't read anything but the OP, but wanted to say that I'm a teacher that cares about her kids. I do what I do because I care about the kid. Peroid. I am an academic team sponsor and spend a good bit of my own time and money keeping the teams going, not because I have to, but because I want the kids to have the opportunity to do well. I have certianly met teachers like the OP is describing, and you can rest assured that the teachers that really care about thier students dislike them as well.I teach high school and by the time they get to me I would say the majority of parents ahve had to deal with one of these teachers. They make my job 10 times harder because parents who have had to deal with them come into dealing with me braced for conflict. I care what my kids parents have to say and genuinely want their help, but I need them to be willing to work with me, and oftentimes that is hard to achieve becuase they come in with the idea that I don't want to hear anything they have to say. Once I get the idea that I really do want and need thier help through we are usually ok.

 

[ols386]

If the school and the teachers are that bad, then take the kid out of public school and enroll in private school, or do the home-schooling. If I had as much hatred towards the PS as the op seems to have, I would have done something different long before now.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

Hopefully after a year and a half since the OP posted this, her issues have been resolved.