I really didn't want to spend another day griping, but today was yet another irritating day! OK, I can't make you sit through another day of my whining! On to other things...
Well, a bit of good news today. I found a transfer slip in my mailbox this morning for A.W. You may remember, she's the little girl who's been driving me crazy with her bossy attitude and generally spoiled behavior (see Finally Friday). I have a feeling that the confrontation I had with her mom last week has a lot to do with her transferring. Her mom had picked her up late just about every day since school started, usually after 3:00. By that point, I had already sent her to the office, and was gone before her mom came, so I didn't get a chance to talk to her about getting to school on time for pick-up. Luckily for me, the office has a policy about late pick-ups, and basically, after 3 late pick-ups, a student can be dropped from the program. Because, AGAIN, I am not the free babysitter!! Now, if I actually enforced this policy, I wouldn't have any kids in my class. (Hmmm, why is it I DON'T enforce this?) However, there are times that it comes in handy. This happened to be one of those times.
Now, let me backtrack for a minute. One morning during the first week of school, A.W.'s mom brought her to my door at about 8:15. Mind you, school doesn't start until 9:00, so I couldn't imagine why she was there. She proceeds to tell me that she's going to send A.W. to breakfast, and where can she go after that? Uh, wherever it is YOU are!! I let her mom know that she can not just leave her there, that her mother was responsible for her until 9:00, and that she was going to have to stay with her. Well, her mother didn't like that very much. Did I miss the memo about providing free babysitting before school, as well as after?!
Anyway, now mom is picking her up late every day. Like I said, I usually left before she got picked up. Well, last Tuesday, just as I was locking my door and heading to the office to drop off A.W. and another little girl who hadn't been picked up yet, her mom comes strolling toward my door. So, I say to her, "You do know that after 3 late pick-ups, A.W. can be dropped from kindergarten, right? School ended almost 20 minutes ago." She just looked at me like I was crazy. So, I reminded her that the policy was very clearly written in the handbook she was given on the first day of school. Because I could tell she never read the damn handbook (that I spent hours typing out for my parents!!), I explained to her that we can have such a policy because kindergarten is not mandatory in Illinois. I think that's when it sank in, because her attitude changed, and she got a bit "pissy" with me. Naturally, because I was already annoyed with the situation (this was at least the 6th day she was picked up after 3) and it was the end of a long day, I was more than a little unprofessional and ended with, "I stopped getting paid 20 minutes ago." Was it necessary? No. Did it make me feel better? Hell, yeah!
The next day, her mom was at the door at 2:30 (15 minutes early!) and when I opened the door to put out the sign-out sheet, she practically shoved her way in front of the rest of the parents. Then she pointed to some woman, and told me that from now on, she would be picking up A.W. I haven't seen A.W. since.
She was absent Thursday, Friday and yesterday. When I sent my attendance sheet to the office yesterday, I attached a note letting them know this was A.W.'s 3rd day out, and asking if a transfer had come in for her. They said no, but then, low and behold! There was the slip this morning! She actually transferred to a charter school down the street from us. I was told by another teacher that the hours there are from 8-3:30. I hope that's a better fit for her mom's schedule ;-)
I forget to share a cute moment from yesterday. I was DIBELing D.B. yesterday (c'mon, that's sounds perverted, right?!) and when we got to that crazy part where they need to use a word in a sentence, I gave him the first word, 'happy.' His answer, "Happy means when you see your mom." Aww! The last word I gave him was 'cried.' "Cried means when your mom leaves." How cute is he?
Another positive for today --- no students tomorrow!! It's our first Teachers Institute Day! Let's hope I'm not in such a foul mood when I get home tomorrow.
Quote time:
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ---Alvin Toffler
2 comments:
Wow. I get all frantic and calling the school if I THINK I'm going to be late by five minutes. And we're on the honor system; no punishments for late pick-ups.
Lex's school bus drops him off at my school every day. He gets out of school at 1:45, and the bus usually drops him off by 2:10-2:15. If he isn't in my room by 2:20, I'm on the phone with his school. I can not understand for a moment how people can be so unconcerned about their children!!! Is it simply because they know we'll take care of them until they show up? Technically, we are fully within our rights to call the police and have them handle these children as "abandoned." But who the hell is going to put a child through that trauma? How do these people not see what they're doing to their children emotionally? Can you imagine, at 5, feeling like you're not important enough for your mom to come and get you?! Ugh, it's so unbelievable!!
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