Mom To The Rescue

Well, I helped make a change for Andy's class, but I wish it wasn't at the expense of someone else. Several posts ago I mentioned that Andy's teacher was put on bed rest during her pregnancy. It appears that she is not going to be coming back, so the school was looking for a long-term replacement. They were looking for somewhat who was certificated (what a weird word). That means someone who has all the teaching credentials - not just a substitute. It appeared that they found someone who started last Monday. That afternoon Andy came home looking terrible and telling me how awful the new teacher was. I didn't agree with a couple of the things Andy said the new teacher had done, but I figured the class and teacher would adjust to each other in time. When I went in on Tuesday, it was awful. Not only was this new teacher short-tempered with the children, but with me, too. I thought she treated them unfairly. I won't go into all the gory details here, but let's just say that she is a better candidate for a military academy than elementary school. Those poor children were miserable. This class has been through a lot already this year. In November one boy's mother was killed in a car accident. This was hard for a lot of the kids because for some of them it was their first encounter with death, and with it being the mother of one of their classmates, it was especially difficult. Andy took it hard himself and it brought up the discussion about who would take care of him if something ever happened to me, like it did to the other boy's mom. I'm sure it made a lot of the kids think of things like that. Then there were several snow days which were a lot of fun, but totally threw off any school schedule they had! Andy is very much a creature of habit, as are most children this age - it provides stability and a sense of security, I think. Then when school resumed, their teacher was gone - then they found out that she wasn't coming back. As if all this weren't enough, last week they had the state testing to deal with, which is always a pressured time for them. I thought that these children needed to be given a little slack - not to be coddled or let them slide in their work, but just shown a little tolerance in light of what they had been through in the last few months. If this new teacher knew anything about this class's circumstances, she sure didn't show it. By the second day the children looked absolutely beaten. They seemed miserable. It upset me on Tuesday to see them like this. I came home and told Jerry everything and I began to get upset as I was telling him. He got furious and wanted to pull Andy out of school right then unless something changed, but I thought we could try to talk to the principal about our complaints since during the course of the afternoon I had found out that it wasn't just me who was having a problem with the new teacher. I wrote the principal an email Tuesday evening and spelled out everything that I was unhappy with. I have to say that Andy's school is blessed with the best principal I have ever known. She is very approachable and a definite people-person; not just someone who sits in her office and makes rules. She is involved in every aspect, and always has a kind word or smile for students and parents alike. Anyway, I admit that I was upset when I was writing the email and by yesterday I was kind of wishing I had not been so hasty in sending it. Oh, my opinion of the new teacher hadn't changed, and Andy was still miserable, but I just felt that I was kind of hard on the principal in my email. Well, last night the principal called me to let me know that they had found a new replacement, and that the current teacher would not be returning. Apparently I was not the only one who complained and it seems that she even rubbed some of the staff members the wrong way! I apologized for the tone of my email, but she said no apology was necessary - I was just speaking my mind. I told you she was a great lady! She said that she was very positive about the new person coming in and that the children should have a much better time starting next week. If truth be told, I'm kind of glad the drill sergeant won't be there on Tuesday when I go back in - I was a little intimidated by her myself, and wondered how miserable she'd make me if she knew about my complaint! Well, I feel good that Andy's class will have a nicer teacher, but I do feel kind of bad for the unkind one. She seems like a miserable person, and I'm sure being ousted from a job she thought she had until June can't feel nice, but I really hope she figures out a way have a better disposition with children. I have learned something, too. I will sit on an email a day or two before I send it!