i am beginning to get intensely annoyed with my son’s teacher. on one hand, i don’t want to be the annoying parent who is constantly bugging the teacher, but i am also nearing the end of my rope.
it’s always little things, but they are starting to pile up, and get worse, and eventually a little thing will turn into a big thing. like today. today was supposed to be my son’s “ready to read” club. i pick him up from school later than a normal school day. well, last friday E and i decided to walk into the school to wait for K instead of sitting in the usual pick up line outside with the rest of the cars. right now, i am very thankful that i did, because included in the dismissal announcements was a reminder that there are no “ready to read” clubs next week due to the holidays. had i not decided to walk my daughter into the school that day, i would never have heard that announcement. i would never have known to pick my son up at the normal time. i kept asking myself why they wouldn’t send a note home or something…. and then, i discovered the note stating the cancellation of the clubs in my son’s backpack today. i go through his backpack every day to look for notes just like that, so i know he didn’t get it on friday. right now i am very, very irritated at his teacher for neglecting to send that note home at the appropriate time.
it’s not just this one time either.
K came home last week, and told me that he had to turn in his turkey family project by tomorrow, and that it’s already late. turkey family project??? he never brought home a turkey family project. like i said, i go through his backpack and his papers every day. the next day his teacher gave him another one that he was able to turn in late, but damnit i am sick of things like that happening! especially when it hurts my son.
also…
apparently, i was also supposed to bring juice to the classroom for a Thanksgiving snack time, and presentation that K’s class will be doing tomorrow. i got a “thank you” e-mail today that his teacher sent to all the parents for the juice they sent in. ??? i had no idea i was supposed to bring anything. furthermore, i had no idea there would be a Thanksgiving program in his school tomorrow! i had to e-mail her myself and ask for the details. worse? K told me that tomorrow he’s supposed to dress up like an indian for the presentation. that’s the first i’ve heard of it, and i’m not going to send him to school in an indian costume (that we don’t have anyways) without some kind of confirmation from his air-headed teacher.
his air-headed teacher who not once, but twice held students after school for their ready to read clubs on a tuesday. the club is on monday. that day, when he didn’t come out of the school with the rest of the car riders i started to get worried about him. i had to go to his classroom to find him, and explain to his teacher that the club is on monday, not tuesday. i’m sure she would have figured it out eventually… the bus riders hadn’t been dismissed yet, so most of the kids were still there. once all other kids were dismissed i’m sure another would have explained it to her- or another one of the parents looking for their kid when they didn’t come out of the school.
in another situation, i was unable to go to the parent orientation because i don’t have a babysitter for the kids, who were discouraged to go, as it was late at night. i contacted her through e-mail and asked her if it was really necessary, and she set up an appointment for me to meet her after school and pick up the information that we missed. when we got there (at the time she set up) she had totally forgotten we were supposed to be there. she continued with the orientation anyways, and ended up missing a dentist appointment she had that day. well, i think she missed it. she couldn’t remember if it was at four thirty, or four o’clock.
and then…
last friday after i picked my son up from school, i asked him how his day was and he started tearing up. i asked him what was wrong, and he told me that he lost his class today, and it scared him. i asked him what he meant, and apparently the teacher let him go to the bathroom, then LEFT with the class. she just completely forgot about my son, and went to a different classroom without telling him where they were going, or waiting on him. another teacher found him crying in the hallway. i told him that if he ever gets lost again, he can go to the front office, and they’ll find his class for him. i’m glad i told him to do that, because today he got lost on his way to the computer lab, and instead of sobbing in the hallway, he went to the office and asked them to help him. they did, and he managed to have a good day.
is it just me, or is this teacher a mess? don’t get me wrong… i think she is a good teacher. my son is learning a lot in her class, and i know it can’t be easy to get 20 students and their parents on the same page. but something as simple as dismissing the students at the proper time and sending home information before it becomes a moot point seems to be something she should be capable of doing.
unfortunately, i don’t really see a solution to the problem. it’s not like she’s doing this stuff on purpose, and for all i know K could be leaving half the notices in his desk during dismissal time… but that doesn’t make it any less irritating.
thanks for listening to my rant… there’s a whining monkey hanging on my leg right now, so i suppose i should go feed it or something. 
peace out.
OH and one more thing. apparently “he’s supposed to practice his lines, which were sent home in his gator folder”. right. the empty folder that she sent home last friday? the EMPTY folder i got home today????? GAH!