Friday, February 09, 2007

I can see clearly now



Look at that magnificent sight. Blue sky and sunshine, for the first time in weeks. It warms me to my core and permeates my being. It makes me happy and positive.

It also means that I can catch up on the big pile of washing that I didn't do while it was raining!

Our cyclone watch came and went, as these things are wont to do. We were glad for the rain and glad when it stopped.

A new motor is being shipped from the US for my sewing machine. I have also resolved that I will buy another, bigger sewing machine. I'm excited about it.

My mum has had her first laser surgery and the procedure was more minor than she initially thought, her second will be done in three weeks. Three weeks after that she should be able to travel.

Our family appears to be restored to health and my car air conditioner should be repaired on Tuesday.

I still have no explanation for the death of a beautiful little girl, but each day the family will grow stronger. Thanks for your kind words for the family. Tomorrow my sister will release pink helium balloons in the local park in a small ceremony.

On another note...
My son started high school last week. He is a beautiful boy. He is quiet in a crowd, he will walk away from people who are being silly and he has never had a bad behaviour report in his whole school life. I have never seen him be nasty or vindictive. Today a teacher gave him a detention. WHY? Because during a keyboard skills lesson he went back and made a correction to his typing.

He has very good keyboarding skills. A lot of the children in his class do not. He said the teacher was going slowly and he had finished, so he went back and corrected a mistake that he could see. He was told to report to her at lunch time to explain his actions. Is that reasonable? What will happen if some one does something really serious? It sounds like something from a Charles Dickens novel.

I think that some teachers are very tough on kids in the first weeks just to make a statement. This appears especially true for boys in the early years of high school. I hate that philosophy. It is asking them to respect through fear. Needless to say My Pete and I are going to the school on Monday to make ourselves known. I don't know that it will make any difference but I will feel better for it.

Our son is a very clever boy, but he doesn't always 'fit' school. That is OK, I know that he will do well in life because he is genuine and personable and passionate. I don't believe that school defines you as a person. I know that the person I was at school does not represent me now, so I know that our son has lots of time to grow. I don't expect him to be perfect, but I do expect teachers to be reasonable in their dealings with him!

12 comments:

meggie said...

Oh Tracey, I felt for your son, & for you. Our son hated injustice, & that is what that sounds like to me, about the keyboard nonsense.


I was the mother tigress, & would always support him, so good for you.

I am glad you are feeling better, & things are looking brighter.

nutmeg said...

I'm glad to read that some things are "reversing" in your favour.

What is wrong with going back to correct something? I don't get it. Some "rules", especially at school, are rather confusing; they don't tend to mimic the real world. If you typed something and saw a mistake would you send it out anyway? I don't think so. (My comments and blog would be an absolute fright if I didn't!) In this way, rules can be counter-intuitive. I think you are right in making yourselves known at school. It would be interesting to know if the correction of mistakes was expressly "forbidden" - because if not, the teacher hasn't a leg to stand on :-)

My float said...

Great, just what your son needs, a stupid and petty teacher. There are so many good teachers in teh system, and yet the stupid ones always make themselves known through their actions. The keyboard issue is just plain dumb.

I know your son will work out a way to deal with this teacher. He sounds smart and wonderful. He'll succeed despite these kinds of people. I'm still shaking my head!

Bec said...

Reminds me of the time, early last year, when my daughter got zero marks for a maths test (Year 3) because she answered every single one of a page of 20 addition questions wrong. Her teacher called me to let me know, she was so concerned.

So what did she do? I asked.

She multiplied the numbers instead, apparently, the teacher said.

Got every one of them right, in the more difficult multiplication. Totally failed the addition. The teacher said she thought she needed a remedial class.

They're mostly like that. It is SO not fair. Hugs to your boy!

Anonymous said...

I hate stories like this but sadly they are so familiar. I also had trouble with a teacher with my son - let yourself be known. It doesn't always work but I think there is something to be said for showing your kids that you are there for them and that you support them. Good Luck!

Tracey Petersen said...

Meggie: In justice is the word! My son will take any consequence that he deems just, but he is always willing to stand up to an injustice.
Nutmeg: it does seem to be a rule for a rule's sake. Maybe a power trip.
My Float: you are right. My son is a pretty resilient little guy - he will find a way to deal with her.
Bec: REMEDIAL??? good grief she misunderstood the instructions, poor dear. Maybe they were poorly delivered.
Di: I have made myself known to teachers before. They respond differently when they realise that I know my children very well and I hold them to a high standard of responsibility.

Aunty Evil said...

I suppose it's an early lesson in life that he gets to deal with morons, but it could have also gone in a negative direction if he wasn't a good and strong character, that is, in the future he could look at it and say "oh why bother"...and doesn't the world have enough of that type already?

The teacher should be congratulating him for realising his mistake and wanting to fix it.

Good for you mother hen, go get em!

kirsten said...

Yes, absolutely go get 'em. I've also found that teachers respond differently when they know that the child has a parent who will go into bat for them. And they do seem to overreact at the beginning of the year...

kirsten said...

ps I'm in town next week. Do you want to come over for coffee?

molly said...

florida is ranked pretty low on education and we've run into some prizes. Feel bad for him when he was just being conscientious...go get'em TP!

Stomper Girl said...

Honestly! A detention for that?

If she really was unhappy, then a little chat about protocol might have been in order, but full-blown punishment is totally over-the-top. Hope your chat goes well.

Your son sounds like a really nice young man. I hope he can rise above such idiocy!

And I also hope that your washing is now up to date!

LBA said...

Silly teacher - I would have jacked up too. How petty, and at the start of the year, I think more soft explanations are warranted, especially fo something as simple as this .. ridiculous !!

Bec's story about the CORRECT multiplication in an addition exam is equaly as ludicrious. Ahem - I mean, 100% wrong - surely they would look at past grades and assume a mistake was made ?

I used to 'dob' on my sister's 2nd grade teacher for being a moron to my mum ( she couldn't spell for crap ! ), and I would always look over my sister's work. I was 13yrs old at the time.