Bite the bullet

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Home : 2002 : October : 8

Bite the bullet
By Cathy-Dee

I would get both parents in right away and have a short meeting with them to go over your expectations. This way they cannot plead ignorance or that they didn't know down the road.

Before this meeting - go over everything
you do with your Administrator and ask him if he thinks what you are doing is fine (don't mention it's because of the notes you are receiving). If he thinks everything is fair and just and well-organized, then take it from there.
This "mother" may be used to others saying great things about their child because they do not want the superintendent to be angry with them.
I've

taught my administrator's child and treated her the same as I would any child. I think this is very important for both the child and his or her parents.

The note challenging you on why you marked something incorrectly - this one I would just let roll off your back. Whenever a parent brings something like this to my attention - I just apologize and say I'll change their mark. And sometimes I'll add a comment like - you know after marking 20 workbooks I guess I just missed this one. That usually gets the message across.

Sometimes when you are dealing with children of administration you are also dealing with their "social standing" in the community. They want their children to be known as the "smart" students, the ones who work hard, etc., So if the teacher is not saying those things, they may become more defensive than other parents. But I've seen many parents over the years who can be like this.

If you do decide to have a meeting - begin it by saying how you've seen growth in the past two weeks and you are confident than in a short time their child will be doing his work at his best. Then ask them if they have any questions about your policies and guidelines regarding homework, etc., If they do answer them honestly.

I'm guessing that the "superintendent" is not aware of these little notes and that the mother is expecting you to be a bit "scared" of who she is. I may be wrong, but sometimes those with a bit more power take advantage of it.

The main thing to remember is you've been teaching for 5 years now! You do know your stuff and if there were any major concerns you would have heard about them well before this time.

You may want to ask your administrator as well how you should handle the situation. Your administrator deals with the superintendent more often than you do and may have a better feel for how the situation should be handled.

Good luck!