I just can't please everybody all of the time. Maybe I should go with the mindset a lot of teachers I know have and just not even try to please anyone, and do it my way!
If I send a kid to the nurse and he gets sent home sick, the parents complain that he was fine and "played" all afternoon (well, okay, they're kids, aren't they? Mine play until the fever goes above 103!), and the nurse asks ME why I sent him down because now they're mad! Well, she makes the decision to send home, I just send to her! Same with lice, she gets mad when I send them down, and parents get mad having to pick them up..........I've been told, "Then YOU can treat their hair if you're so worried about it!"
On the other hand, if I happen to miss a kid feeling under the weather, parents would get very upset (I actually feel they should, and that's why I err on the side of caution and send to the nurse if they even seem "not themselves"). If I don't catch the fact that a kid has lice, and another kid gets it from spending the night at their house, well, that's my fault too, as I'm the teacher and everyone knows I should be looking at every kid's hair every day. Honestly, if the kid isn't scratching, I won't be looking.
If I have a child who is having trouble in school, and want to have the team look at their progress, I have to jump through hoops to get anyone to take me seriously. "Are you SURE he is having trouble? Is he actually failing? What have you done to help him?".........they MUST have failing grades to be referred.
On the other hand, if I let the kid get failing grades, the parents get very upset and want to know why I didn't help him more, and what am I going to do for him? I explain he has to fail to get help, but that's not what they want. They want me to change his work and let him work on his level.........that's what I'm trying to do, but it has to go through channels.
Then I have the ones whose kid is perfectly fine and THEY are convinced he's got "problems" and want something done. What? He's got Cs and Bs.........he's fine, he's not failing, he reads on grade level, the Cs are from not doing his best work, not doing homework, absences........not lack of ability.
If I let them go to the bathroom when they say they need to go, and then write a note about how often the kid goes, their parent wants to know why I let her get away with that? But if the kid pees their pants, the first thing they ask the kid is "didn't the teacher let you go?" The kid invariably says no.......they don't want to be in trouble, mom's already mad. Then the mom wants to know why I wouldn't let them go. I ALWAYS let them go, but they ALWAYS say I wouldn't. Most of their excuses when I get parents and me together for saying that is that they didn't hear me say yes, or they THOUGHT I would say no so didn't ask.
Some parents complain I'm too strict. Others complain I coddle the children and "like them too much". Some think there's too much homework, some think there's too little. Some think I should never read aloud as the kids should learn to read to themselves, and some think I don't read aloud enough. Some don't like me using manipulatives in math because they aren't doing enough "paper and pencil" math.........and some say I shouldn't require them to write down problems "at their age".
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess it was just one too many complaints today.
If I send a kid to the nurse and he gets sent home sick, the parents complain that he was fine and "played" all afternoon (well, okay, they're kids, aren't they? Mine play until the fever goes above 103!), and the nurse asks ME why I sent him down because now they're mad! Well, she makes the decision to send home, I just send to her! Same with lice, she gets mad when I send them down, and parents get mad having to pick them up..........I've been told, "Then YOU can treat their hair if you're so worried about it!"
On the other hand, if I happen to miss a kid feeling under the weather, parents would get very upset (I actually feel they should, and that's why I err on the side of caution and send to the nurse if they even seem "not themselves"). If I don't catch the fact that a kid has lice, and another kid gets it from spending the night at their house, well, that's my fault too, as I'm the teacher and everyone knows I should be looking at every kid's hair every day. Honestly, if the kid isn't scratching, I won't be looking.
If I have a child who is having trouble in school, and want to have the team look at their progress, I have to jump through hoops to get anyone to take me seriously. "Are you SURE he is having trouble? Is he actually failing? What have you done to help him?".........they MUST have failing grades to be referred.
On the other hand, if I let the kid get failing grades, the parents get very upset and want to know why I didn't help him more, and what am I going to do for him? I explain he has to fail to get help, but that's not what they want. They want me to change his work and let him work on his level.........that's what I'm trying to do, but it has to go through channels.
Then I have the ones whose kid is perfectly fine and THEY are convinced he's got "problems" and want something done. What? He's got Cs and Bs.........he's fine, he's not failing, he reads on grade level, the Cs are from not doing his best work, not doing homework, absences........not lack of ability.
If I let them go to the bathroom when they say they need to go, and then write a note about how often the kid goes, their parent wants to know why I let her get away with that? But if the kid pees their pants, the first thing they ask the kid is "didn't the teacher let you go?" The kid invariably says no.......they don't want to be in trouble, mom's already mad. Then the mom wants to know why I wouldn't let them go. I ALWAYS let them go, but they ALWAYS say I wouldn't. Most of their excuses when I get parents and me together for saying that is that they didn't hear me say yes, or they THOUGHT I would say no so didn't ask.
Some parents complain I'm too strict. Others complain I coddle the children and "like them too much". Some think there's too much homework, some think there's too little. Some think I should never read aloud as the kids should learn to read to themselves, and some think I don't read aloud enough. Some don't like me using manipulatives in math because they aren't doing enough "paper and pencil" math.........and some say I shouldn't require them to write down problems "at their age".
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess it was just one too many complaints today.
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