MY KID'S TEACHER

My Kid's Teacher | May 4, 2003 | Luis Gonzalez

[Luis Gonzalez]

Just before going to bed tonight, as I kissed my oldest boy good night, he perked up and reminded me of the note his teacher had sent home on Friday. I assured him that I would read it, and tucked him in.

I knew that the note was about the upcoming School Book Fair, he attended his first one last year, and it was a great experience for him. It was the first time he was trusted with money to spend all on his own.

He is a First grader with Third Grade reading skills, I was an avid reader as a kid, and every time I see him sitting with a book on his lap, I feel like I'm walking on air.

I went downstairs and looked for the note, I wanted to see what was expected of him, and how payment for the books would be handled.

I have copied the note word by word below, the note written, and sent home, by the person who is teaching my boy to read and write.

I have left the particulars out for obvious reasons.

I am sending the note to Tallahassee, and asking for this teacher's removal.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"The only reason they don't make you buy the books, is that you might read them and that wouldn't do."

This thread is a goldmine.

[Jhoffa_]

No kidding..

My first thought was: "Tell her to take the tissue money out of the school condom fund.."

[Luis Gonzalez]

That's pretty much a picture of any blind date, isn't it?

[El Gato]

My best friend, who happens to be an English teacher at the University of Toledo, does not discourage Ebonics outside of the school. He says, "As long as you're in my class, you're going to write properly; however, if you wish to use Ebonics outside of the classroom, that's fine with me".

Seems OK to me. The University isn't their mother, nor their nanny. They can enforce standards in school activities, especially in class and classwork, but outside the "womb", they don't have any authority. I suspect your friend figures that the kids, once they acquire some reasonable skill in written and spoken "standard" English, will figure out on their own that there are times to speak Eubonically, and times to speak properly. If not, well as I said, he's not their nanny.

[Xenalyte]

Are you impugning Sergeant Eureka Phish Pue? (Read it aloud.) She's quite the worthy adversary. (Most creatures - goblin, troll, elf or even human - would have had a very hard time just staying upright as long as she did, before that punch landed.)

She did destroy my lovely green-and-gold caftan, though, for which I owe her some serious pain.

[VermiciousKnid]

This happens all the time in the NYC public school system. The supplies are collected at the beginning of the year and "shared" by those who don't have them.

Sometimes, the supplies are even "shared" by students at OTHER schools. For example, my grammar school alma mater is in a fairly wealthy neighborhood in NYC. ALL the children bring in everything you could possibly need by way of school supplies. So what do they do? They collect them all and send them to ANOTHER school to be "shared."

It's disgusting.

BTW...Way back when, I went to public school in NYC. This did not happen in my day. When I was there, you were required to bring in such things as your notebooks, pencils and maybe a ruler. Everything else -- crayons, paints, construction paper -- was supplied by the school (oops...I mean by the taxpayer). No "sharing" went on except by choice, and in fact, if you forgot something that you were supposed to bring in, you might even get marked "unprepared" for the day. How times have changed.

[VermiciousKnid]

Gal,

You might be interested in this article:

http://www.newsday.com/features/ny-p2cover3260385may01.story

Regards,

[Luis Gonzalez]

LOL!

[Xenalyte]

For the record, that's a real turtle shell her shield is made of - her boys found it in the bayou, with bits of turtle still attached. It's had about a hundred coats of liquid glass applied to it, and I still managed to knock two spines off during our first fight.

[nopardons]

My dear Luis, you've nailed her with her own words, and the most beautiful concoction of your own. What a magnificent refutation !

BRAVO !

[nopardons]

New York has a test, which I found so simple/easy, in the '60s, that I was shocked. I understand that today's test has been dumbed down very much farther, and still, STILL more than 50% fail it.

[nopardons]

NO, tomato isn't; she said so, quite early on, on this thread.

[nopardons]

No, we don't ! I'm a woman. :-)

[nopardons]

I did it at home; unbrainwashed the kiddo. Well, she never really did get " brainwashed ", becuase her father and I reared her the right way. I just agreed with her, that the prof was a stinking Commie and she knew better.

Because my daughter went to private schools all of her life, it really wasn't until she hit college, that she had Commie profs.

Since you are fighting against this, in lower grades, I DO have a few suggestions. Keep every shred of evidence and then take it to the principle, get every single parent,in your child/ children's class/es that you can, to ban with you and go as one HUGE group to complain. Never, NEVER go in alone; you'll be told that it's YOU and you alone, who have a " problem ". If you get nowhere with the principle, go to the school board.Also write letteres to your local paper and enlist others to do so to. Tell everything, including the teachers giving the children a hard time !

And the best thing to do, is to continually teach ( not in a teachy way, but as conversation )your children, at home, what you want them to know about. Make them watch the news and talk about it with them. Make elections exciting for them .

Hope this helps some. FREEPmail me, and we can delve into this farther.

[nopardons]

Shine your " light " on that first sentence again! The word " on " should be IN . You can't have a Book Fair ON a room.

You say " ran ", when it should be RUN ? Just becuase you and others speak incorrect English, doesn't mean that it is okay to do so. Neither is it " okay " for a first grade teacher to set such an abysmal example for her students. How are they to learn what is correct , when their own teacher doesn't know ? And yes, people still do judge others on the way they speak and write.

Oh, and go back to DU, dear, your ilk is NOT wanted here !

[Freedom2specul8]

This may have already been posted. Do you know if she had a 6th grade helper who might have written it? Of course, there is absolutely no excuse for not proofreading.

[DLfromthedesert]

There is a series grammatical error.

[nopardons]

tsk, tsk, tsk !

You can't take it, dear; but you sure can shovel it out and for no valid reason.From your first post onwards, you've done exactly what you have claimed I did. I responded to your garbage; at least I had/have a valid reason. You name call, impugne, bait, and flame. The ONLY person to agree with you, on this thread, is a troll from DU, who doesn't speak correct English and can't see patently obvious errors and misstakes in the posted note from the teacher. LOL

I'll talk/reply to whomevver I damned please. You don't own nor run this forum. You're a newbie, with nothing worthwhile, whatsoever, to add to this site. We've all got your number, dear, and find you to be all the names you've called others and them some. And, to use your own words to Luis, about his thread : YOU SUCK !

Now, be a dear, and run along. ;^)

[Freedom2specul8]

"There is no excuse for hiring people to teach English when the person has absolutely no credentials to do so"

I completely agree.

[potlatch]

notices from teachers and the school district which contained misspellings and horrendous grammar errors.

Keep copies of all of them. At some point, write a 'Letter to the Editor' of your newspaper, describing the worst of these errors. I have found that letters on the editorial page can be very effective!!