The Last Person.....

[Carol]

Yeah... welcome to my world. I send home progress reports with grades and missing assignments; she signs them, and never indicates that she's noticed he's missing 30-50 assignments and his grade is a 44% (<60% = F)... and he missed school Monday, with the excuse that "my mom worked the night shift and no one woke me up, and I don't wake up to alarm clocks, so instead of coming late I stayed home". This boy is 13 years old, and he didn't understand why this was not a valid excuse.

Wow....... Just....wow.... Sometimes I'm amazed that there are people like you in this world trying to make some kind of a difference

 

[Kacey]

Wow....... Just....wow.... Sometimes I'm amazed that there are people like you in this world trying to make some kind of a difference

Thanks! And now... back to (ugh) grading... I'll check in when I've gotten through a few more papers. 1 more hour to go!

 

[fnorfurfoot]

Good Evening everyone.

 

[MJS]

Thanks! And now... back to (ugh) grading... I'll check in when I've gotten through a few more papers. 1 more hour to go!

Well, I suppose we can always look at the bright side. Just think of the extra $$ you're making tonight. BTW, how many parents have come in so far?

 

[MJS]

Good Evening everyone.

Whats up!!

 

[Carol]

Good Evening everyone.

Hey FFF!

 

[Kacey]

Well, I suppose we can always look at the bright side. Just think of the extra $$ you're making tonight.

We don't get extra money for this - we're on salary. We do, however, get a day off sometime in May, as this takes us over our contracted hours; in addition to 4:30-8:00 tonight, it's also 3:30-7:00 tomorrow...

BTW, how many parents have come in so far?

4

 

[MJS]

We don't get extra money for this - we're on salary. We do, however, get a day off sometime in May, as this takes us over our contracted hours...

I see.

4

Thats really a shame that more people cant take the time to spend just a few minutes talking about their childs progress.

 

[fnorfurfoot]

Whats up!!

Bored. Going between watching Deal or No Deal, sitting with the computer, and doing a puzzle.

 

[Kacey]

Thats really a shame that more people cant take the time to spend just a few minutes talking about their childs progress.

I agree - and as I was telling Carol, the parents who do show up are not the ones who we really need to talk to - because as a group, the kids whose parents show up are better behaved, pay attention better, and do better - because their parents, as a group, are paying attention at home.

I had a 3-year staffing (every 3 years we redo the assessments and determine if the child still needs special ed services) today, with a parent who rescheduled once because the child in question was home sick on the orginally scheduled day. I reset the date for 10 days forward at her request so she could arrange to get time off from work... when she didn't show up, I called her; she was at work and had totally blanked on it. I told her we could reschedule again, or we could discuss it over the phone. She jumped at the chance for a phone conference - although she did say she's coming to conferences tomorrow - but we can't hold staffings during conferences, it takes too long and it's not fair to the other parents - most kids have 6-7 teachers so they just go around to each teacher; to tie up a complete set for 30-40 minutes out of 3 1/2 hours isn't fair to the other parents. I'm waiting to see if she actually shows up or not...

 

[MJS]

Bored. Going between watching Deal or No Deal, sitting with the computer, and doing a puzzle.

Yeah, I hear ya. My night is going be very slow. Having a good laugh watching American Idol and surfing the web.

 

[MJS]

I agree - and as I was telling Carol, the parents who do show up are not the ones who we really need to talk to - because as a group, the kids whose parents show up are better behaved, pay attention better, and do better - because their parents, as a group, are paying attention at home.

I had a 3-year staffing (every 3 years we redo the assessments and determine if the child still needs special ed services) today, with a parent who rescheduled once because the child in question was home sick on the orginally scheduled day. I reset the date for 10 days forward at her request so she could arrange to get time off from work... when she didn't show up, I called her; she was at work and had totally blanked on it. I told her we could reschedule again, or we could discuss it over the phone. She jumped at the chance for a phone conference - although she did say she's coming to conferences tomorrow - but we can't hold staffings during conferences, it takes too long and it's not fair to the other parents - most kids have 6-7 teachers so they just go around to each teacher; to tie up a complete set for 30-40 minutes out of 3 1/2 hours isn't fair to the other parents. I'm waiting to see if she actually shows up or not...

Its no wonder why some of these kids do so poorly. They see how enthused their parents are about their education, so they probably figure, "Well, if my parents dont care, why should I?"

 

[fnorfurfoot]

Yeah, I hear ya. My night is going be very slow. Having a good laugh watching American Idol and surfing the web.

What's killing me is that I usually snack when I'm bored, but I started dieting last week so I'm trying to be good. Water, water, water. I WANT SOME CHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kacey]

Its no wonder why some of these kids do so poorly. They see how enthused their parents are about their education, so they probably figure, "Well, if my parents dont care, why should I?"

Oh, I agree completely - I can tell, with 95% accuracy, whose parents are paying attention within 5 minutes of walking into a classroom, just by watching how the kids behave.

5 minutes left!!!!!

 

[MJS]

What's killing me is that I usually snack when I'm bored, but I started dieting last week so I'm trying to be good. Water, water, water. I WANT SOME CHIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time to substitute the chips with fruit and all that healthy stuff.

 

[Kacey]

Time to substitute the chips with fruit and all that healthy stuff.

Where's the fun in that?!?!?!?!?!

 

[MJS]

Oh, I agree completely - I can tell, with 95% accuracy, whose parents are paying attention within 5 minutes of walking into a classroom, just by watching how the kids behave.

5 minutes left!!!!!

I wish I had 5 min. left. I have 2hrs. Have a good night!! That 5 min is going to fly by!!!

 

[MJS]

Where's the fun in that?!?!?!?!?!

Thats the problem...there is no fun in it.

 

[fnorfurfoot]

Time to substitute the chips with fruit and all that healthy stuff.

I think I'm just going to work on will power and ignore my hunger. It's 10 p.m. here so it's not a good idea to eat anything this close to going to bed. In fact I'm probably just going to go to bed now. I can't think about food if I'm sleeping.

 

[MJS]

I think I'm just going to work on will power and ignore my hunger. It's 10 p.m. here so it's not a good idea to eat anything this close to going to bed. In fact I'm probably just going to go to bed now. I can't think about food if I'm sleeping.

Have a good night.