Well another day in the life of a student teacher...gurr. My biggest issue is my pack of girls w/attitude (GWA). I had another "incident" first thing Friday with 2 of the GWA pack. I was taking attendance and noticed two boys were not in their assigned seats. I politely said "johnny and james, i need you to switch seats" it was really no big deal to me. Then the 2 GWA started with "They shouldn't have to move, why are you..."

I reply, with great restraint, and NO attitude "this doesn't concern you guys."

They both continue "Well, you can't just move..."

Now I calmly say "I need you both to step into the hall and we'll talk about this in a minute." They give me lots of attitude and march out of class.

WHY do they even care, they are NOT friends with these boys, they don't sit near these boys. I guess they just want to run my class. Of course my MT has had to step over to cover another class. Interesting that both times they had these out-bursts they wait until my MT is out of the room.

So, I peek out and send them to my MT's room, where she promptly tells them their behavior is NOT o.k. I talk with them later that day and make my expectations very clear because obvious they are NOT clear on what I expect (you can read about that conversation in the letter below) . I also decide to call their parents, because I want to put an end to their overblown attitude and outburts in the classroom.

One of the Mom's was not happy when I called. She knew nothing of the incident, humm if I'm such a bad ass and out of line, wouldn't dear little janey come running home and tell mommy right away? I guess she thinks it's managing my class with an "iron fist" if I don't want her dear sweetheart to argue with me in front of the class about the SEATING ASSIGNMENTS OF OTHER STUDENTS (the boys said nothing about it by the way). GWA's Mom told me that obviously the students don't "respect me" if I'm having all these problems. To which I reply I'm only having these kind of issues with FOUR girls. I have had no respect issues like this with the other 136 students! Sure they may talk a lot and harass each other and make little jokes, but none of them feel the need to be disrespectful in class.


So I sent a email off to my MT, because now we have to have a team meeting with this mother. Who complained the last time that we spoke that her precious little girl has fallen in with a bad crowd and her grades are slipping and they're "worried" about her. So, I guess they don't think that part of this transformation might include a crappy attitude toward teachers?


Teaching Team,

I just spoke with Janie's Mom. She wants Ms. X to contact her Monday a.m. to schedule a meeting with the team. She doesn't understand why I am the only person having any issues with Janie. She thinks that I am managing my class with "an iron fist" and the kids don't like it and don't respond well to me . She also says that from our conversation today that she "wouldn't respond well to my tone either" I think this was in relations to my re-telling my conversation with Janie, which went something like this:

"Janie, I just want to be clear with my expectations of your behavior in my class. You are welcome to ask me anything, or comment on anything relating to science. What I do need is for you to raise your hand before talking in the class. I am also open to discussing concerns you might have regarding YOU and your situation. I'd be happy to schedule a time to talk with you. But I am not willing to talk with you about decisions I make regarding OTHER students. Also I need you to raise your hand and not just speak out in class"

I don't think she liked the "tone" I used when recounting this story. The last time when I talked with this parent, she immediately said something to the effect of wanting to meet with me and "the Principal", but after I talked with her and told her my version of events, she seemed supportive. She also admitted that Janie has started hanging out with a new crowd and her grades have gone down and they are concerned about her (I hope I'm getting the parent right here).

Today when I called, she didn't seem happy and I was nervous so it wasn't a great start. She also didn't know anything of the incident. I had told Janie on Friday I would be calling her Mom this weekend. Janie was obviously nervous about that because she approached me a couple of minutes later and asked what I would tell her Mom when I called. Yet, Janie didn't tell her mother about it. I would think that would be a red flag to Ms. Y (Janies Mom) , if her daughter didn't even mention it...

O.K. over all this is very stressful and I'm sorry I'm having to drag the team into it. I didn't comment on the feelings of the team, but it seems like I'm not the only teacher to have any issues with Janie?? She wanted to meet with Mr. Principal, and I recommended that she first meet with the teaching team as you have obviously had a lot of experience with Janie...If you guys need any more information, please let me know

Your Student Teacher :)