Someone from another school, reading this blog figured out who Terence really is. This person came to the conclusion, from reading this blog that I really hated Terence. This is not exactly true. Hate is a very strong word and there are very few people in this world, that I have met, that I actually hate. I don't hate Mr. AP and. I don't hate ex-Principal Suit. Strongly dislike would be a more suitable term.
Let me explain the beginnings of my problems with Terence. I know, he is retired and I should let it go but the blog posts are still around and my feelings need clarifications. I don't even strongly dislike a person without justification.
It all started a few years ago when Zvi, stole a final exam. Zvi was a poor student who did no work. He never wanted to take advantage of his resource room status so I never sent exams to resource room early. On the day of the exam, he came to me and asked for the exam so he could take it early. Not wanting to be in violation of the law, and being in the trailer far from his class, I put the exam in a sealed envelope, signed my name across the seal and told him to bring it to his resource class. This was standard practice at the time. His teacher would open the exam, supervise him while he took it and then return it to me later on in the day.
Something did not sit right with me so when I finally had a free period I found the other teacher involved. Zvi never came to her with the exam. I went to the dean's office to report the exam stolen. After many hours and many confrontations with Zvi, he returned the exam to me, in an envelope with a forged signature across the seal. It was so obviously forged. My name was spelled incorrectly.
I took the unopened envelope to Terence. I was sure Zvi would be severely dealth with. But alas, that was not so. It seems Zvi had a very pretty mother who knew just what to say to win Terence over to her side. Zvi was let go with a slap on the wrist as he promised to toe the line from now on.
I tried to pursue the incident. Terence tried to turn the whole thing around and blame me. He claimed I should never have given the exam to the student in the first place. (Now resource room teachers are being inconvenienced because I will no longer give exams to students, even trustworthy ones). Not wanting to be guilty of a misconduct, I let the issue go.
A year later, Zvi did the same thing to another teacher. Terence looked at me and said "Don't say I told you so." I looked at him and repeated those exact words.
And so began my dislike affair with Terence.
5 comments:
We used to call Terence "Mr. Wink and Nod". Zvi's father, who I met, seemed extraordinarily uninvolved for a father whose kid was a petty criminal. I knew Zvi as a kid I had to watch like a hawk. Terence was a sucker for a pretty face, so Zvi "got over" on Terence through his mother's smile. What a sleazy way to treat what was at the least not only cheating but a theft as well. No wonder you had such dislike for Terence. He discredited absolutely credible teachers if he didn't want to deal with a problem. But that's what Terence got paid the big bucks for, as an AP. I also feel that Terence was a bit of a racist, and Zvi, being white, got away with something he might not have gotten away with if he was tan or black. I think Zvi disappeared from the school a month or so after the next incident with a test in resource room. He never learned anything from the incident with your exam because there were no consequences. Terence did not do his job and left you twisting in the wind.
OK, I teach in Fl. and have seen a few administrators come and go. It seems to me that the smart ones realize the plain and simple truth that they will most likely have to deal with the teachers long after the particularchild has moved on. As with most issues, IT JUST DOESN'T PAY TO PISS US OFF!!!
Anon-
Although you describe Terence as being a tad bit racist and say that Zvi might have gotten away with something because he was white, although I am not familiar with the situation or school, the rest of the School Security Staff (if the school I work at is any indication) would probably be completely the opposite, turning a blind eye when minority kids did something wrong...so to bring it up is rather petty
I have to agree that race should never be an issue. Kids should be disciplined or rewarded for what they do, not for what race they belong to.
So did Terence get a date from the mother?
Wow using the school as a dating service. I tell you these DOE adminstrators are so "professional"!
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