Setting A Child Straight – Part 2
Last time, we discussed how student records are handled and how one can see patterns of behaviour when studying the contents of those records. By that I mean not only a student’s behavioural issues, but also those of a school which is funded at a higher rate when students are deemed “special needs.”
The particular student being discussed in this episode had gotten to a point of no return at the school he was attending. He was so bad, the school had run out of possible issues for extra funding. In desperation, the boy’s parents removed him from the school, determining to educate him themselves at home, and enrolling him with us. As a result, we visited the family and got to know why this child’s student record was such a long “rap sheet”.
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Setting A Child Straight – Part 1
Once upon a time, all student records were paper. Thankfully that is now in the past. EU had many filling cabinets full of documents no one ever read or asked for. When a student left our school for another, we obligingly packaged up all the student’s records and sent them to the new school, which likely filed the documents in a new filing cabinet without ever reading the material either. Similarly, if a student came to us from another school, we had to inform the former school of the child’s enrolment with us and request the student’s records be transferred to us. We then filed them in our cabinets, usually also without looking at the contents.
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Do You Actually Want To Be Free?
A silly song we sometimes hear says, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” As funny as this may seem, it is true. Similarly, everybody wants to be free, but nobody wants to exercise freedom. An interesting observation may help you to understand what I mean.
I have been a bird watcher and studier for as long as I can remember. I have always desired to have the freedom birds seem to have, even if most fall prey to something. As a consequence, I am very upset to encounter birds that have been pinioned, that is have had parts of their wings amputated to prevent them from flying. This is usually done to benefit the owners, whom I believe should consider what it would be like to have their legs amputated.
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Cancelling Christmas
No one knows when Jesus was actually born. I cannot lay claim to having more information than the rest, but scholars think it was sometime in October. God’s incarnation on earth is the most significant event in all of history so the fact that He came makes His actual date of arrival of little significance.
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Boredom With Class
I must admit, the young lady was very attractive. Not only was she pretty, but she had a confident demeanour that went beyond her good looks. She did not play the arrogant “aren’t I pretty” game, and most of the young fellows would have loved to ask her out on a date. However, she was so sure of herself, most of the guys thought she was out of their “league”.
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Expensive Blue Jeans
There was quite a commotion in the classroom before class was to begin. A young lady, obviously of means, was showing off her new blue jeans. Other girls were oohing and ahhing over what was obviously something to be desired. The young lady with the new pants was enjoying all the attention her jeans were bringing her as she gyrated her pelvis to give all the onlookers a better view of her “clothes”. This exercise attracted the attention of more than just the girls who were present; the boys, who were obviously the target audience, turned their heads as well. But one lone girl sitting at the front of the class was clearly not impressed.
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Expectations
I put one hundred and ten percent into everything I do. I say one hundred and ten percent because I have been blessed with an extraordinary amount of energy and I was taught to be dedicated toward excellence in fully completing any task. As a consequence, I really worked hard to be the best teacher possible. This required two very important things.
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On Being a Mom
Even though I had an advanced education in Biology, most of my teaching career was comprised of teaching French. I suppose this had something to do with me being bilingual because this was also around the time Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau declared Canada a bilingual country so every school was scrambling to make students speak both official languages.
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In Loco Parentis
I have now told two of my favourite stories about having contests with parents as a teacher. I must admit I can only think of two more episodes where I found myself on the wrong end of parental anger.
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A Life Lesson Learned – Part 2
Last week I set the stage for a showdown between myself and the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the school at which I worked. During the last class of the day, the chairman’s frustrated son had showed a clear lack of decorum when facing a failing grade on his exam. He was removed from my class and his dad showed up minutes after dismissal.
This dad was clearly upset that his son had been kicked out of my class and he wanted an explanation. The student had accompanied his dad, I presume to watch his dad take me to the cleaners, so to speak. His posture demonstrated that he was expecting something akin to a Roman gladiator taking on a worthy opponent.