%&$#@& lazy parents !

I am mad.

Want to know why? Because teachers are paid less than babysitters, per child, yet are expected to "do" everything for them, and are later blamed for everything "wrong" with them. God forbid the parents take any responsibility what-s0-ever.

My email to a parent:

Hi Michelle,

I wanted to let you know that Tamon spent about 90% of the morning today working in the office.

I had to remind him to start the morning's work (up on the board) several times. By 9:40 am he was again talking to his peers, and there was nothing on his desk. When I asked him if he had finished the work, he told me he had, and so I asked to see it. He then spent about 5 minutes "searching" in his desk, muttering about where did he put his workbook.

Recognizing a stalling tactic when I see one (he knows I am quite forgetful, and was no doubt hoping I'd get distracted by some other student and not come back to him!), I asked him if he had really done any of the work. When he admitted that he had not, I sent him to complete the assignment in the office for the remainder of the period, plus recess. After recess I had a student deliver the next assignment (science) so that Tamon could work on it without interruption. He came back to the classroom around 11 am to join us for the rest of the music rehearsal (we have a recorder concert tomorrow morning).

I hesitate to demand an "apology" from him; such a course of action on my part is unlikely to inspire any sincere response. I will, instead, leave it to your discretion as to whether he ought to fulfil some kind of task over and above the actions I took today.

I hope that the rest of your day / week goes well, and that Tamon will come back tomorrow with a more positive and cooperative attitude.

Many thanks,

Pistâche

Her reply:

I have already heard from Tamon that this happened today. I ask that you assign him additional work that he can do at home. If he cannot focus and respect the time provided at school, then he will have to spend his free time after school working on classwork. I think a report or essay on a topic related to current classwork would be appropriate. I will tell him to expect this assignment from you and I will tell him that I requested you to provide it. In addition, he will lose all video game privileges until school is out for the summer.

As for further punishment related to camp, I told him that I was taking this behaviour into consideration and that I am not making my final decision with regards to his attendance at this camp until Friday.

Thanks.

Basically, she couldn't be bothered to discipline her own child, and I get to do the dirty work for her. Funny how a person who won't even take the time to do her job as a parent can have no qualms about telling me how to do mine as a teacher!