Grrrr....Teacher Vent

[Honey81808]

How do you know shes a teacher? I'm sure you would want to take a class with her because there would be no discipline you could run free and do what you want. That's g and it's called babysitting NOT teaching. That is what gives us good teachers bad reputations.

 

[SpecialK]

Mushy do you bulldoozer or helicopter your children? I doubt you know anything about teaching or what REAL teachers are like.

If you are a teacher, which I doubt, you have a lot to learn. I am a REAL teacher with fifteen years experience and a masters in administration. If I had a teacher wih your attitude in my building you'd need the union to protect your rear. Nothing good happens in a classroom run by a dictator.

 

[Sandy V.]

Oh did you pass the hardest MTEL in the USA? NO. Most people don't even know what correct grammar is, so please spare me your uneducated judgement. I'm sorry all of you want to feel sorry for the OP but she is wrong. The minute someone disagrees with you they suddenly become a troll? There are many opinions in this world. Grow UP!

Honey, I passed a BAR EXAM, so no matter what names you call me, "uneducated" would be an inaccurate one.

 

[RitaE]

How do you know shes a teacher? I'm sure you would want to take a class with her because there would be no discipline you could run free and do what you want.

What in the world are you talking about now?

I'm nearly 41 years old. If I want to run free and be undisciplined so be it. I am long past the point where a teacher threatening to deduct discipline points causes angst. Just put it on my permanent record - okay?

 

[declansdad]

Oh did you pass the hardest MTEL in the USA? NO. Most people don't even know what correct grammar is, so please spare me your uneducated judgement. I'm sorry all of you want to feel sorry for the OP but she is wrong. The minute someone disagrees with you they suddenly become a troll? There are many opinions in this world. Grow UP!

Please explain how the OP is wrong? Storm is her son's name; a name she gave him. She doesn't need to change it or use a traditional name to fit the naming conventions that you feel parents should use.

 

[Wishing on a star]

No, I'm not believing this person is even a teacher. Posts FULL of misspellings/grammatical errors + contentious attitude

Hey Mushy, think again for a moment here... I am sitting here remembering your posts and comments about some of the younger college students in the teaching program that were coming thru when you completed yours... And, for me, the 'contentions attitute' is absolutely NOT an indicator that one might be a teacher.. Sometimes just the opposite!

I also wanted to say that this one possible troll is not the only one on this thread who has made questionable comments.

 

[disney junky]

Oh did you pass the hardest MTEL in the USA? NO. Most people don't even know what correct grammar is, so please spare me your uneducated judgement. I'm sorry all of you want to feel sorry for the OP but she is wrong. The minute someone disagrees with you they suddenly become a troll? There are many opinions in this world. Grow UP!

No one feels sorry for her. We just agree that her son has a right to be called by his middle name.

The reason I suggest that you are a troll is that your post numbers are quite low and it would appear that the last 20 have been here.

As I suggested earlier, you are uninformed about the legalities of your (supposed) profession if you think that in this day and age of teacher accountability, a teacher could deduct points for behavior or grade on participation without some point of reference as to what defines participation. Yet you have avoided responding to the facts, and have only defended the teacher's right to call a student by his first name, against that student and student's parent's wishes.

Your arguments are based on fallacies and generalizations, and quite frankly, your claim to be a teacher lends support to the masses who think we are everything you seem to represent.

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

Wow, my head is spinning from all these responses.

The more I think about it, the more I think I'll just say, "Mr. __________, my son's legal middle name is Storm and it is the only name he's ever gone by. It is what he should be called." I sincerely doubt that the teacher will protest.

I have read all of the responses and I really do appreciate those who support my stance and those who oppose it, most of whom have made good points.

I am not a hover parent. Fortunately, DS has always been a good student and never gets in trouble so we don't have to contact the school often. My DH and I both agree that the name issue is non-negotiable and that's why I contacted the teacher. DS wasn't getting anywhere so we'll take care of it.

DS has had some spectacular teachers and a few who were duds. He's getting off on the wrong foot with this particular teacher but the class is an easy elective so I'm not concerned about the effect the great name battle of 2008 will have on his grades. Hopefully the two of them will coexist peacefully. If not? Oh well.

Thanks again. If anything unexpected happens (like the teacher protests) I'll update, but otherwise assume that Storm can be Storm in all of his classes.

 

[pajamommy]

Gee I don't know, no one seamed to have an issue with John Kennedy being called Jack? It's a common nickname for John. Just like Dick for Richard, or Bill for William etc.


I get that, I do. I understand the whole nickname thing, but sometimes it isn't a common nickname like you gave examples of, so I guess my example wasn't a good one either for what I am talking about. I guess I mean one name, then a completely different name to call the child. I guess it really doesn't matter in the big picture though. Big deal if the parent legally names a child one thing, then calls the child another, or the child wants to be called another....I guess that I think it would be easier for the child if they were named a name and that was their name.....but to each their own.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Good luck OP and I hope everything works out for your son!

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I try to see things from both sides, so this is what I think:

First, this child has every right to be called "Storm" if that is his legal name. However, this is probably the first of many "situations" if he doesn't make it his first name. What will he put on his resume? If it's Alexander Storm Longpolishlastname, that's what his interviewer and later bosses will likely want to call him. Many bosses would be okay with the change, but I could foresee more problems like this. If he is planning on being "Storm" forever, he should just change it. He has as much right to be "Storm" as he does "John" - just because it's not standard doesn't mean it's not a real name. If it were offensive, the government would not allow it to be a registered name.

Secondly, teachers have students try to pull a fast one. I am a teacher and I have students named Michael, Susan and Ashley who tell me they want to be called "Che", "Si si" and "Vita" and I say NO-- not in class. Now, if one of those names were their middle name and I had documentation, I'd have to go with it. If the teacher didn't have any documentation that stated "Storm" was his real middle name, he might have thought it was a joke, or that he'd lose credibility by going along with it.

I don't know the teacher's exact words, but it would have been best to ask him to talk to him on the side between classes and ask him to show id with his full name. Speaking professionally is a must for a teacher. I would also tell your son if he has any issues in the future to just smile, act polite and professional and offer to show identification if it is a problem. If after showing id, the teacher still has a problem, then it's a different situation and you might want to get involved.

Lastly, I think it is great to be involved in your kid's academic life. I don't think it's being a hovering parent at all to go to school over an issue. He's a freshman and at that age, I think it is still very important (maybe even more?) to go to parent teacher nights, check report cards, and stay involved.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

How do you know shes a teacher? I'm sure you would want to take a class with her because there would be no discipline you could run free and do what you want. That's g and it's called babysitting NOT teaching. That is what gives us good teachers bad reputations.

Also, you have missed at least 10 commas and 10 apostrophes in your most recent posts, so I really hope you are not a teacher.

 

[Carys]

Just dropping in to say I love the name Storm! I love lots of traditional names too, but considering many traditional names were made up by someone at some point in time and came from nouns for something in some language or another, the name Storm fits in perfectly well with tradition and is cool to boot

 

[Just Jan]

I just think that parents need to get back to normal names. Storm ESQ? Dr. Storm? Come on. I feel like naming a child is a big deal. Have we as a society lost that? I really hope not. Whats wrong with John, Franklin, Alex? There is a difference between different and just over the top. I would do what the teacher says other wise Storm is going to have a rough weathered four years. I'm not trying to be mean but teachers SOSOSOO label students like this. The fact that he's in the ninth grade and mommy is fighting this battle for him...they are going to label him. FYI be prepared. GL

Normal is relative. Oceanus, Patience, Mercy, Zebadia, Obedia, Prudence..........Are they common now? No. Were they common at one time? Yes!

I live in MA and it is quite common in the area I live for people to use the initial of their first name and then use the middle name as the first name is usually a family name. A. Stom Last name, M. Joshua Last name,
O. Stevens Last name.

I also worked in an elementery school for 9 years and if a teacher went running to the union because they weren't getting their way as to calling a child by the first name instead of the middle name that the child has always been called, we would think you had a huge control issue.

 

[mumom95]

I think the teacher is way out of line here. A teacher has a right to set his/her own rules in a classroom, but those rules need to be reasonable. This isn't a nickname for the child, it is the name the parents have chosen to call him (and he has chosen to keep it). The teacher needs to give a good reason how your DS going by this name is going to have a negative impact on the class.

I haven't read the whole thread, but did the OP go in and talk to the teacher yet (I know she was going to try and let her DS try again the second day, which I think was the perfect way to handle it, then have the parent go in).

Oh, and when it comes to teachers and spelling/grammar. I have to confess. Before I had kids, I was a high school math teacher. And there was a reason I was math and not english. I'm a horrible speller and even worse when it comes to punctuation and grammar. But I don't feel I was a horrible math teacher. So, I do think someone can be a teacher, and not have great writing skills. I think Honey81808 has been a round for a little while. If I remember correctly, she was the one that threw an absolute fit because she couldn't get a table at CRT for her honeymoon. She claimed to be the queen, and couldn't believe Disney was going to allow those kids to get a table and not her. I think this is the same person, but I could be wrong.

 

[Snow_White]

Wow, this turned into a hilarously entertaining thread....thanks, Honey

To the OP, Storm is a cool name and it sounds like the teacher is a typical high school teacher on a power trip (former nerd or something similar I would bet).

PSSST...as others alluded, there is NO WAY Honey is a teacher....if she thinks that all teachers gossip about is their students she is sorely mistaken. Teachers gossip about OTHER TEACHERS all day long, silly =) Only a self-absorbed high schooler would think that teachers gossip about students all day long. Judging by the time Honey disappeared from this thread, I think her parents called her off the PC and sent her to bed so she wouldn't be grumpy in the AM =)

So, thanks for the laughs tonight, Honey =) P.S. Good luck with the Algebra quiz in the AM =)

 

[manning]

I can see the teacher's point but is handling it wrong. I know a frank who is francis--'is' male and 'es' is female. Teachers after understanding why required work to be handed in as francis but was called frank when addressed.

Where the teacher was coming from was in real life paperwork would have to be in given name.

Changing the name would be a good idea.

 

[MushyMushy]

I am not a hover parent. Fortunately, DS has always been a good student and never gets in trouble so we don't have to contact the school often. My DH and I both agree that the name issue is non-negotiable and that's why I contacted the teacher. DS wasn't getting anywhere so we'll take care of it.

I think that's exactly the way it should be in high school. Let them try to handle things and if they get nowhere, we step in. It's a balancing act.

I don't get the attitude that a lot of people seem to have on the DIS that we should just throw our high school kids to the wolves and expect them to be independent all of a sudden. I can't help but wonder if those people actually have teenagers. They seem so mature and adult-like one minute, but then act like little kids the next. We have to remember that they need their parents too.

 

[AtlantaSue]

I've been following this thread, and find it interesting how many moms would go to the principal. I went to a much smaller high school (graduated with 65), but I can guarantee this is not something my parents ever would have thought about stepping in on. I, however, would have been encouraged to show the teacher my birth certificate; if that failed, I could have taken it to the principal/main office and appealed to him. If that failed, I would have just been out of luck. Before reading this thread, I would have my own high school child handle things the same way. I never felt like my parents "threw me to the wolves," so to speak; I do think they were trying to get me to deal with things on my own as I looked towards college. Would it be acceptable in this day and age for Storm to take this to a higher level on his own? I'm not disagreeing that it's a big deal, I'm just curious about the parent stepping in and handling it. My kids haven't made it to the big scary HS yet!

 

[addicted_to_WDW]

Final update! This has been very interesting reading. I figured my little "get it off my chest" vent would get 2 responses than drop off the front page, so thanks for everyone's insight.

Mr. _________ called me back verrrry early this morning. I was polite as could be and said something along the lines of, "I know that Storm is an unusual name but it is a legal name and it is what he should be called." The response, "Ok, no problem." I didn't press the issue or accuse him of anything and then we chatted for a minute about the class.

I wish the teacher would have respected Storm's requests without me stepping in, but the bottom line is that some teachers feel that they need to assert themselves by trivializing the kids' concerns. It's much easier to blow off a 14 year old freshman than a parent. I called to make sure that this concern was addressed to my satisfaction and it was.