Venting...Ranting...Something

I started a post today about my cats. The ones that have come to lay on my keyboard not once, not twice, but three times today alone. They accidentally sent one half written email and published two drafts to this blog. I was feeling a little like scorning my feline love, until...my children got home today with their progress reports.

So, in a major change of subject, let the teacher bashing begin...

My oldest son is smart. Smart is in fact something of an understatement. My son is brilliant. I don't say this because I am a proud Mommy, I say this because it is true. Therefore, you might think that he would be a shoe in for the Honor Roll...NOT! You might think that I'd be able to devote more time to helping my younger, less brilliant kids with school work...NOT!!!

My prodigy's problem is that he is as lazy as he is smart. I spend copious amounts of time trying to get him to do homework. The first nine weeks went well. He brought home straight A's. Good times. Then came the progress report for the second nine weeks. He was sporting an A in Conduct, but B's, C's, and D's in everything else. I called the school and had a meeting set up with his teachers, the guidance counselor, and someone from the administration. In the meeting I explained (yet again) that my son's biggest problem was motivation, or lack there of. I asked why his grades were so low. I found out that my son wasn't completing his classwork and that he had missed five or so homework assignments. Homework is 10% of his grade, classwork is 40%, and tests account for the other 50% of his GPA. His test average in every subject was an A.

Okay, so I told them that I would try working harder with him to get the homework done. Then I asked why I wasn't told that he had stopped doing classwork. The admin rep suggested that the teacher send home weekly progress reports (computer printouts) so that I could stay informed. I was provided with exactly ONE weekly progress report. I emailed his teacher and I let her know that I was very concerned about my son's grades, but that I understood if the weekly progress report was not convenient, but I asked for her to please contact me via email or by phone if there were any more problems in class.

The second report card came out and he brought his grades up, there were only two B's. I wasn't really thrilled with his grades, not because they aren't good grades, but because for BB they reflected a serious lack of effort. He promised to do better this nine weeks. I have noticed that he has spent more time doing homework, and I helped him with the Science Fair Project From Hell. I was actually feeling pretty confident about this report...heh. He brought home a C in Math and an F in Social Studies. He also had a Scholarship Warning for...failure to do classwork.

Hey Teach, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot babe? When you didn't respond to the six emails I sent you asking about BB's progress I figured no news was good news. When I dropped off Valentine treats for the class, you just smiled and said thank you. What exactly is it that you are doing when your class is working that you don't notice who is on task and who isn't? If you were doing your homework, then you would know BEFORE the week that grades come out who is doing what they are supposed to and who isn't. Would it kill you to contribute in some way to helping me make this school year a successful one? There are things that I would much rather be doing than playing Homework Nazi. I do it though, even though I don't want to, because it is my job. Now, how about you do your job? Which is, in case you didn't know, to help make sure your student does his job.