Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#140259 02/25/05 01:53 AM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 33
M
MELT Offline OP
newbie
OP Offline
newbie
M
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 33
My friend Milo told me that I should start posting my teacher experiences here because during the last year only two teachers posted in this section of A Word A Day and so it won't matter if my stories are uninteresting and trivial.

Yesterday my third grader Michael, who is a sweetheart, turned in a writing assignment about upcoming events.
He wrote, "I'm so excited, my birthday's gone."

I said, " Michael, you are excited because your birthday's gone?"

"No, No, Miss Thomas, I meant coming, Miss Thomas. My birthday is coming!"

So then I came home and baby sat my three-year-old innocent granddaughter who said,
"Grandmother, you are beautiful! Have you lost some fat?"

Kids. We must teach them adult language.





Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526

Reading and writing - the sine qua non.

I wrote a long letter berating one of my older daughter's teachers (debate) and spoke to the math principal about her geometry teacher. Since that time I have written two letters in direct praise of my younger daughters teachers (that included indirect praise of several others). I have also written an email in praise of 3 of my older daughter's teachers - including the debate teacher whom she previously had trouble with. I also wrote separate emails of praise to her English and French teachers.

Oldest kid's writing skills have clearly atrophied since elementary school, but while she has been completely brutalized in her English class, her writing ability has shown dramatic improvement since the beginning of the school year. I credit the English/History combination of the IGCSE program (and particularly the English teacher's refusal to knuckle under to parental pressure). I also credit the debate teacher for making her learn to focus.

When I think they're screwing up, I write to them. When I think they're doing something particularly well, I write to them. I assure you, they much prefer the latter. I don't praise them for doing average or marginal work - not my kids and not their teachers.

I also wrote a letter to the school board recently and a follow-up letter to the school board chairman who had responded to me.

I share these letters with my kids. Sometimes they're shocked and fearful about how teachers will respond to my criticisms, some of which are pretty harsh. But what I've noticed is that they usually respond pretty well, if I'm frank and clear about what I see as problems.

I get annoyed when I send in a praise letter and I get a stock response like "well, we're proud of our teachers here ... blah blah blah." I spend a lot of time on each of those letters and when I send them, I'm trying to convey that this teacher has gone far beyond the call. As I'm not a person to give praise for nothing, I expect to hear that my letter has gone into the teacher's permanent file. I know they don't have a lot of leeway on salaries, but some of the teachers I think are really good are the ones that other parents have problems with - I just want it to be part of their permanent record that at least one parent greatly appreciates what they're doing.

k



Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Well, I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

It seems to be a rare occurance tough, because whenever I've written a letter of praise, people seem to be exceptionally surprised.


====================================================

Melt, why do you thing your student said gone instead of coming.


Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Z
Zed Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
Z
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Kids. We must teach them adult language.
My 5 year old neice was eating pancakes with my Mom one morning and said "Grandma, you're a good cook." Just before Grandma could thank her she added "'cos you make what I like. Mommy makes whatever she wants."
Kids, you tell them to be honest but...


Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 33
M
MELT Offline OP
newbie
OP Offline
newbie
M
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 33
BelMarduk, if I had thought that Michael's comment was a deep-seated psychological cry for help I wouldn't have shared it here as an amusement. Simply put, he wrote "going" instead of "coming".

Today LaRico, who is a gifted student, said after I told my 3rd grade class of fourteen girls and five boys, that we could go on a field trip to the Children's Theater to see 'Ferdinand and the Bull' for only $3.00. "Wow!",he said, "I'm gonna go beat up a first grader and get me $3.00 'cause I just love 'Ferdinand and the Bull!"

I was amused, but the fourteen girls giggled.



Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.

My sister, who has been a kindergarten teacher for many moons, has a fund of stories which she will happily regale you with after a couple of wines.

The one of these that I like the best is about "mat time". The kids all sit on a mat and everyone briefly tells the others about something that happened in the last day or so. The parents are usually standing around the walls at this time, waiting to take their little bundles of horror home ...

One day, a four-year-old boy used mat time to state "My mum told my dad to 'Fuck off and never come back' last night. And he did!"

Mum, of course, was standing there, presumably wishing that the earth would open up and swallow her ...



Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 676 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5