How would you react if your kid was given an "Award" for Most Excuses for Not Doing Their Homework? (activity, husband)
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My son was in 5th grade this past school year, and there was one kid who never did his homework. He never brought in things he was asked to, never wore the appropriate clothing for field trips, never brought in completed forms or monies, never completed projects. All of that is irksome, but the biggie was much of the homework was prep work for class work, so this kid delayed the class work repeatedly. All the homework is written in an agenda which is sent home with the kids, and blogged daily.
I know by the end of the year the teacher was beyond frustrated with the kid and family's lack of compliance. Despite daily emails, phone calls, and regular conferences she kept her cool. She handled it was better than I would have.
Sometimes this is just not the case of Little Suzy not doing homework on occasion, but impacting others regularly.
True, that's why I didn't compare them. I said that if allowed to continue, this sort of jokemaking could lead to another misunderstanding whereby a parent thinks the teacher was referencing their child's weight or ethnicity.
How would that happen?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vic 2.0
Yes, and all the other kids had plenty of that, laughing at the student who was given the "award". I'm not opposed to teachers having a little fun at their jobs, but there are smart ways of seeking this fun out... and ways like this.
I think we could beat each other up on this all day but not having all the facts is hard. The school cannot release any other information due to privacy issues-gotta luv it. Therefore, we are going only off a one sided story.
When reporting this story I wish the reporter would have contacted other parents that had this teacher which they could have found out through the mom. If this was the only child that received an award in this manor then I as a parent would be upset. However, in my hearts of heart I do not believe this was the only child and the teacher had no ill intentions of hurting the child's feelings. From what I can tell in the video the child is very caring and a hard worker. Instead of the mom calling the papers to make the whole nation aware of the teacher's action maybe she should let the girl know "I know you do your homework and have confidence that Mrs. H was having fun, next time if someone says something you do not like or hurts your feelings let them know".
Old phrase I say to my kids that my parents used to say to me: "work it out if you don't and I get involved you may not like the outcome". The only time when this does not apply is when there is phsical touching, etc involved.
Here is an update video to the story. They talked with a teacher about it, not the teacher in question, just another teacher. They also share some comments afterwards.
I wish they would inform us if the mother received notice of her daughters homework problem from the teacher or if she didn't. That would make a big difference in the part the mother played in this to me although it would be a different topic than that of the award and teacher, I don't think the award was appropriate either way it would just clear up her surprise on the issue.
I think we could beat each other up on this all day but not having all the facts is hard. The school cannot release any other information due to privacy issues-gotta luv it. Therefore, we are going only off a one sided story.
When reporting this story I wish the reporter would have contacted other parents that had this teacher which they could have found out through the mom. If this was the only child that received an award in this manor then I as a parent would be upset. However, in my hearts of heart I do not believe this was the only child and the teacher had no ill intentions of hurting the child's feelings. From what I can tell in the video the child is very caring and a hard worker. Instead of the mom calling the papers to make the whole nation aware of the teacher's action maybe she should let the girl know "I know you do your homework and have confidence that Mrs. H was having fun, next time if someone says something you do not like or hurts your feelings let them know".
Old phrase I say to my kids that my parents used to say to me: "work it out if you don't and I get involved you may not like the outcome". The only time when this does not apply is when there is phsical touching, etc involved.
They address this in the video interview. Whether the child is old enough to work this out on her own or not. Seems they think she is a little young, and that high school is when they usually expect the kid to work it out on their own.
Very interesting that the teacher they interviewed - again, not involved with the school in question - says he would have had a different opinion five years ago. I wish they'd asked him why his opinion changed.
p.s. Poppy: You might want to update your temp!
Last edited by DewDropInn; 06-01-2012 at 10:28 AM..
"Laziest" or something similar could be taken as a reference to stereotypes of ethnic minorities and/or being overweight. "Loudest talker" could be taken as a reference to stereotypes of ethnic minorities. On the reverse, a white kid getting an award for being the "craziest" by a black teacher might just do the trick too! I've heard kids being called bottomless pits, and it's a perfectly innocent half-joke, but could be taken out of context quite easily when applied to a kid who's overweight. Remember that this is all assuming the award was randomly selected as a joke, because if it's based on any reality specific to the student, that's counterproductive along the lines of the comment simply becoming part of the child's self-concept. Just like you wouldn't tell a kid who's stolen a candy bar from a convenience store that he's a thief; you'd be better off attributing it to something temporary and showing them you see them as an overall good person.
Journey further along into Junior High or so, and imagine a homosexual boy getting an award for being the "whiniest", an anorexic or bulimic student getting an award for being the scrawniest, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DewDropInn
Very interesting that the teacher they interviewed - again, not involved with the school in question - says he would have had a different opinion five years ago. I wish they'd asked him why his opinion changed.
Well he kinda revealed that the reason he would've thought it "okay" back then is because "by the end of the year, teachers are usually pretty disgruntled at that point"... Kinda gives it away that, at least for some teachers, an "award" such as this is a way of releasing some frustration... Just sayin.
Well he kinda revealed that the reason he would've thought it "okay" back then is because "teachers are pretty disgruntled at that point"... Kinda gives it away that, at least for some teachers, an end of the year "award" such as this is a way of releasing some frustration... Just sayin.
Sorry. "Kinda revealed" or "kinda gives it away" doesn't do it for me.
I have kids ranging from 12-6 years old and they all work it out and the public school they are the teachers ask that the children address it with them. It happens to give my children confidence that we did not have in a different state with a private school where the children were asked to not say anything back to the teachers. Usually here the teachers say "I understand how you feel", it makes the child feel important and their feelings acknowledged.
I am sorry it happened to the girl if she was the only one receiving the award, however, like the mom said the daughter was in a after school program where they are supposed to do their homework. In this one sentence it sounds to me and I maybe wrong the mother may think it is not her fault since she pays a group to watch her child after school and they are supposed to do their homework there. I have seen these after school programs some children play instead of doing homework, the ratios are off and trying to help every child and making sure their homework is done is next to impossible.
If my child did everything they were supposed to the first time I asked I would be sooo happy, however, that does not happen, it doesn't even happen with my husband or adults I worked with in the past. Ultimately the little girl is her responsiblity not the teacher's, school, or daycare. Like I said it is sad that this happened but I personally would have never called a news station to make a permanent record of this situation. I would have ripped up the "award" took the child out for ice cream and told them not to worry too many other things for the child to worry about.
Sorry. "Kinda revealed" or "kinda gives it away" doesn't do it for me.
Well, it should! Because you asked, and I quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DewDropInn
Very interesting that the teacher they interviewed - again, not involved with the school in question - says he would have had a different opinion five years ago. I wish they'd asked him why his opinion changed.
And he said he would've been okay with it because teachers are usually disgruntled by the end of the year. Now, he considers himself a more caring individual. Word for word. I don't know what better an explanation you could possibly be hoping for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3a's
Like I said it is sad that this happened but I personally would have never called a news station to make a permanent record of this situation. I would have ripped up the "award" took the child out for ice cream and told them not to worry too many other things for the child to worry about. Many other people would, just a difference of opinions.
I wouldn't have done this either, as a parent. But getting the message out there that a teacher of 8-year olds should be a bit more tactful and considerate is a good thing, imo.
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