Cry For Help







Received this letter from a teacher friend.  She could be working anywhere in the USA.  Money should be spent helping this teacher and these students instead of spending it on VAM.  I'd like to see the people pushing evaluations deal with the situation she is in.

Dear Friend,

 I have a conference Thursday morning with a parent. My head tells me that less is more (as in listen don't talk), but I know this will get interesting (terrifying, difficult, painful - pick a word). First it is called for 7:30 - or when school has started and someone will have to come cover my class in order for me to go.

Second - the kid sounds reasonable. He isn't, but he sounds reasonable.
 He is convinced that I only write up him and his friends because ethically I cannot tell him about all the other write ups. To say nothing about it being none of his business. He doesn't grasp that most of what he wants to know is none of his business.
 He has told me in class that he is my boss. My son visited at one point (to talk with the Juniors about preparing for life after HS) - and finally told him that he had never seen anyone be as rude to his mother as he was being. (This is not like him as he knows I can handle myself)
 He and a buddy went to administrators a dozen times at the beginning of the year to complain about me (can we call it as it is? Threatening my job) - I wrote them passes each time because it was a relief to the entire class that they were gone.
 I taught his older sister a couple of years back (no problems, darling girl) so hopefully his mother isn't going to come in with a chip on her shoulder. She wouldn't return my calls for the first month and a half. He said (in class) that she wasn't talking with teachers this year.
 This is an incredible waste of time. The boy and his friend have done more to make me question why I ever went into teaching than any other incident I have experienced. I am starting the process now to change schools because I will not work with them again.
 So, how do I survive the conference without stressing out more than I am already? He takes too much of my time in class and outside of class. I am having difficulty putting him on the shelf when he is not in front of me and ignoring most of his behavior when he is in front of me.

 Everything is about him. I can be writing myself notes and he is in my face (or reading over my shoulder) to see what I am writing. I am so stressed about everything (as in not just him) that I have to write things down to remember. (since last spring I am taking medication for stress .blood pressure .) And very little of my life involves him (from my point of view, not his).
Oh, did I mention that he is in the class from hell. I called 9 parents the first day of school because that class is unlike any I have ever been in. Not as a student, parent, sub, teacher - never have I seen a group like this. They failed 9th grade math. They are convinced they got the teacher fired. They cannot grasp that after 10 years of history in this school it will take more than one group to get me fired and it will cost the district a lot because I am documenting everything.Of the 98 referrals I have written this year (the two classes of repeaters, not the other two classes) he has 11 and his buddy 10. I will be writing up a dozen today (and calling their parents for talking during a test. again.) so my total will be way over 100 referrals in 3 months.

 Keep me in your prayers - send my positive thoughts - and any advice you might have.