Elementary school-themed rant

[MorningGlow]

:grr:

Okay. MG Jr. was out sick this past Monday and Tuesday. I expected to see some makeup work in his backpack today, and there was. Fine. Great. One of the papers was preparation for a spelling test. On Monday he was supposed to write the words out three times each. On Tuesday he was supposed to put the words in alphabetical order. Today he's supposed to write the words as I read them out to him. Tomorrow he's supposed to review them in preparation for a spelling test on Friday.

No problem. Except for one thing.

THERE IS NO LIST OF SPELLING WORDS IN HIS FOLDER.

I have no idea what words he's supposed to be practicing. :banghead:

Caveat: He does have a list of "this week's words", which he usually brings home, but the homework sheet has room for eight words, and there are only five "this week's words". So I have no idea if these are the words he should be studying.

How hard can it be for the teacher to include a little note to bring me up to speed? (This has happened before.) This is first grade, and the teacher has been in the classroom nearly 30 years. As a former teacher myself, I expect a little more clarity from a veteran like her.

So we will be practicing this week's words today, even though we don't know if it's the right list. In the event it's not the right list, I have sent a note to the teacher asking for a little clarification--as well as a one-day reprieve for the kid's test, so we can practice over the weekend. Sheesh.

:rant:

[Kali]

1. no way to contact other than "kid delivery?"

no phone or email/website? Even our backwards small town school had e-mail for the teachers...

[MorningGlow]

2. She does have a list of spelling words on her Web page

but I still have no idea if they're the ones for this week's spelling test. :shrug:

[carlyhippy]

3. she should have included a list of the words

mother of a senior here, have been there before...I have been of the belief that if he has been home sick and didn't have the words to study, then he should be able to take the test a few days from now, that way it's fair to him. Maybe if you know a classmate's parent, call them for the list.

[MorningGlow]

4. That's what I'm thinking

It's like when a kid is absent, all the teacher does is put all his papers in a pile and then shoves them in his backpack the day he finally shows up--no explanations.

Then again, this teacher isn't big on instructions. Some of the homework he had to do over Christmas break (he had homework over Christmas--a lot of it!) was called "my word families". There was a picture of an object at the top of a page and 10 lines beneath the picture. No instructions. I didn't know if he was supposed to identify the object and write the word 10 times, or if he was supposed to write it once and then change some letters to make nine other words. So as a compromise I had him write the word five times and then write five new words in the remaining spaces. The teacher circled the five identical words and wrote "okay" on the packet. Mama MG FAILED!
:rofl:

[femmocrat]

5. All teachers have email, even the 30-year veterans.

As a veteran teacher, I highly recommend contacting the teacher.

[MorningGlow]

9. I did; no answer n/t

[kwassa]

6. Email the teacher, with a CC to the principal

That will get results, says this teacher.

[femmocrat]

7. Why go to that extreme?

She hasn't even heard from the teacher yet. Give the teacher a chance to "fix it" first!

Why get the principal involved? It will waste the principal's time and get the teacher in hot water--- and is probably unnecessary.

[datasuspect]

8. if it was me

i probably would have been drunk and caused a scene. the local police would probably be called.

[MorningGlow]

10. I'll call you if I need you!

:hi: