Hen23's Journal~Goodbye

[freemotion]

Ahhhh, hence the sense of urgency and discomfort on his face!!! Tee-hee!

Sorry you are having more trouble with his teacher. Just a little more to go, then you switch to private school in the fall, right?

 

[Henrietta23]

Ahhhh, hence the sense of urgency and discomfort on his face!!! Tee-hee!

Sorry you are having more trouble with his teacher. Just a little more to go, then you switch to private school in the fall, right?

36 days including tomorrow and next week off. And yes, he's going to the private school althought the public school has not been told yet.
His teacher is the most ineffective communicator I have worked with in a long time. Couple that with the fact that the adminstration had not yet informed her of the meeting I had requested and we ended up on two different pages entirely.
However, DS is no longer going to be losing recess to stay indoors. He finished his "sentence" today with laps around the playground. His best friend was allowed to join him. They jogged part of the way and came in tired but focused and he got his work done. The principal totally backed me up and agreed that 3 days was unacceptable. Teacher then tried to claim that she had said he only owed Wednesday as long as he remembered to show up. Well, that's NOT what she wrote on her note to me! And yes, I keep all her notes! Interestingly, today's note is much neater although still confusing with vague comments about increasing expections. I may even copy and paste some of her email. I don't think it will sound any more confusing to you all than it did to me.
I need some cute little lambs.....
and pasture land. And time.

 

[freemotion]

Awww, the sheep festival will be healing!! Hopefully there will be lots of lambies!

 

[Farmfresh]

So much better than missing recess!

 

[Henrietta23]

So much better than missing recess!

Definitely! That is one "demand" I will have at the CST. I want it in writing that only the principal can take away his recess and only for an office referral situation (ie aggressive behavior, etc.)
It is raining today and his teacher is out. My mom has already emailed me that the sub in there is someone they've had before and he's always been good for her. Mom is subbing in kindergarten today so she'll bump into him from time to time.

Lambies!!! How many do you think I can sneak home in a Volvo station wagon???

 

[modern_pioneer]

I support you in your efforts with your son, as some teachers start out with the best attitude then relapse into same bull different day attitude. We have been lucky to have such good teachers here with my children. DD is now in DS old class room/home room teacher.

Personally I am not ashamed to admit my DS is a total drama queen and busy body. Time after time I have warned him that sooner or later he is going to get into some one elses business and he is going to get caught in the middle. He has already been in the middle and sent to the office for stirring trouble up after it died down.

There is something to be said for guidance office, as his counselor seems to egg on the drama and shows him pity over every little issue. IE He had been grounded for not doing his school work, he lied and was caught. Because DS was miffed about restriction he decided to go to the office because he couldn't handle being put on restriction. I got this email from them asking for me to change his punishment as he was emotionally upset. I was like, whatever.... I carried on with the punishment (restriction) for the next 4 days as planned.

For some children, time is an issue, to long and the punishment is worthless, to short and they don't learn. I think you know your son better and you can better advise them on how to get the correct responses that they want. I also will say you know what methods work for your son, as I know what works for both my children. Trust me when I say what works for DD doesn't work for DS and vice versa.

 

[Henrietta23]

Thanks!
The trick will be getting the school to listen. The principal will be great about it. The teacher is a basket case with lots of personal issues all the time. I'm getting subtle hints from the school psychologist that he will be recommending further testing and will most likely be the one to push ADHD drugs. All the more reason I felt I had to email the principal to get it out and up front that that will NOT be happening. I expect that at some point in this meeting the news will come out that DS is not coming back for 3rd and 4th grade at which point they might just give up on him, figuring he's going to be someone else's problem or back off on pushing unwanted treatments on us because of it. Fact of the matter is he is still a student in the district and in their school for the next two months and they will have to do what they have to do whether or not he comes back.

 

[Farmfresh]

Lambies!!! How many do you think I can sneak home in a Volvo station wagon???

Well ... one only took up a little space on the floor of the truck between my D1's feet.

 

[Henrietta23]

Lambies!!! How many do you think I can sneak home in a Volvo station wagon???

Well ... one only took up a little space on the floor of the truck between my D1's feet.

Could I hide them in, say, the bathtub 'til I can clean out half the garden shed? Would it matter that we only have one bathroom? No one would notice, right?
Oh wait!!!! How many could I fit in the bed of the '86 Ford F250??
Heck with the station wagon!!
VACATION!!!!! 9 days off from school for all of us. Unpaid for me and I don't even care!
I'll be posting a list of plans of things to accomplish and check off.

The sub told my mom DS had a good day in class with a few reminders to stay on task. Three good days.

I'm going to cut and paste the teacher's email. It's a wonder that any kid could follow directions in her class. She is complete ineffectual as a communicator!

 

[Henrietta23]

Here it is, with names changed:

"HI Kristin,

Ms. Principal and I spoke today regarding your concerns with A. I am so sorry that the information I shared with you at conferences has created a wedge in our communications. I felt it important for me to share with you the information about his development so that as a team we can better address his learning needs.

Most recently A. has been showing a significant improvement in his overall impulsive behavior. He is using his strategies to problem solve frustrations with his peers and since the check in and check out with Mr. School Psychologist and the goal sheet he has made good progress. His inattentiveness continues to be a concern and we are working hard to help him develop strategies to meet the modified expectations.

On Tuesday . and several other students needed to report to me as soon as they finished lunch, some came as early as 12:20 to complete work, most were done by 12:30 and were out for recess with their peers. . did not report to me and he knew the minute he walked in the door, as a result I told him he was going to have to owe me recess on Wednesday and could then earn recess for the remainder of the week if he showed up and got his work done.

In the past I have always sent work home for A. to complete, this usually works fine. Unfortunately as I have said at our meeting. A. is falling behind his peers. Since I have put this block in place he seems to be working with more focus.

You can trust taking recess away is the last straw and I will certainly avoid it at all cost but on occasion this time of year it is the only fresh air I can blow in their faces.

Please know that A. is a very loved student, I adore his sense of curiosity, his broad use of background knowledge and his infectious smile. I only want the best for him and if I am working hard to develop mature work habits with him, knowing that he needs support and guidance along the way.

I think it would be beneficial for us to set a meeting with the four of us, you, J., A. and me.
It is important that we work together and let A. know that we are here together to advocate and support him being the best learner he can be.

Let's check in after the break.
Ms. Teacher Lady"

A couple of things to bear in mind:
Taking recess as a punishment is AGAINST district policy.
I have the note she wrote which states he lost recess for three consecutive days.
She must not have seen her email invitation to the CST meeting so she had no clue as to why I had contacted the principal. I verified with a coworker who also works at that school that as soon as the meetings are scheduled the invite goes out. I was contacted by the school psychologist late last week so she received the invite by the time the principal talked to her. She just hadn't gotten around to reading it.