BTW, in defense of the teacher, my mom claims she heard Saturday morning on the radio that those early reports of the "A" grade were incorrect--the papers were not graded. That really does explain a lot, although as someone pointed out, I made my comments assuming the kid was in a regular-division class.
My kids? Well, it's just one of those groups. Low-income parents and several who are well known for putting little to no effort into education. 5 of the 17 kids have IEP's (that means they tested low enough to require special plans for special ed accommodations to be made) and several more should. I have:
"Johnny"--Probably should have been retained. Little to no reading comprehension--literally. Can focus but requires effort he rarely invests. Can write but is near illegible, shows no knowledge of the use of sentences, paragraphs, etc. Invented spelling. Speech is badly slurred and near incomprehensible. His mother is well-known around the school since she works there. She was always strange, married young, Johnny's father died in prison a few years ago. She recently told Johnny, and us, that he "USED TO have reading problems" because he got bifocals last week and she feels he no longer has a problem.
"Angela"--Angela was born in the US but her parents are Mexican immigrants who don't speak English. Her sister is fluent in Spanish and English, but Angela speaks Spanish badly and English with no accent. She appears to have the ability to do some reading and math work, but again, her spelling is invented. She spells the long "i" sound the same way every time, for instance, but she spells it "ae." I thought this was a holdover from Spanish but she can't write Spanish. She puts forth NO effort and is openly defiant when asked to do so, generally misses at least one day per week, and can apparently manipulate her parents at will since they get all info from her and her sister. She has never attended one school for more than one year as she was moved from Kali to Mexico to Texas, back to Mexico, and so on. Doesn't look like she'll be here long either, and so the parents are just not concerned.
"Devon"--Typical boy, cares only about football (gonna be a pro someday
) Very little attention, very disruptive behavior. Wouldn't be so bad except that his mother gives him NO supervision--often I run into him around town after 8:00 or 9:00 at night, and he's never been with a parent or adult yet. I wouldn't have TRIED that when I was 12.
"Ashley"--Probably should have been retained in 5th. Check that--SHOULD be in all-day special ed but there's no such thing anymore. Unable to write legibly or coherently, very little reading comprehension, some auditory but not much. Has an aide who helps out in Science and Social Studies, but doesn't do much good. Goes out of class only for math. Not a troublemaker, but constantly rocking, chanting, or swinging her arms as "comfort tics." Hasn't been picked on so far in class but makes me cringe to think what they say behind the poor kid's back.
"Michelle"--Defiance personified. Has already told me that she can do all the work but will not because she doesn't have to. Knows she will not be retained because she didn't meet the standards in 5th and her mother bullied the principal into passing her over the teacher's head, then told Michelle what she did. Chronic cheater, chronic liar, fond of threatening to have me fired. Hasn't figured out they don't pay me yet.
Probably a B- student ability-wise, but has told me she didn't have to do her science homework because it's only one subject and you have to flunk three to be retained.
These are only a few but this is getting pretty long and it's late. I should be in bed. I will say that these are the worst with one or two exceptions. I do have some average to good students. I have one outstanding boy but he's moving away this month.
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Don
"Its not criminals that go into schools and shoot children"
--Ann Pearston, British Gun Control apologist and moron
