End of the Semester Blues

Current mood: grumpy

For those of you who have been following along, you'll be glad to know that the kid showed up all four days. Yes, his mother tried to get me to give her son even more time to turn in his work (can you believe?!), claiming her printer ran out of ink. I said no and, miraculously, she showed up with his work in hand today at 3:15 p.m, as agreed. It's been quite the week but, in the end, I think the student and I have reached an understanding of sorts. BTW, she had to tell the little cherub to say thank you to me.

I still haven't heard from the mortgage lender whether my escrow is going through or not. I do know that the title company cashed my $1,000 "earnest money" check. I'm taking that as a good sign.

So, today, I finished giving the District-mandated End of Semester Exam. The testing window closes tomorrow (Friday). Ernie told us specifically, per his boss, that all testing must be completed by then. This includes any makeup testing. Of course, I have to be the one who gets an e-mail from a parent telling me that her son is "sick" and can he take the final next week? I e-mail her back telling her about the District testing window, etc. I also tell her that since her son has a D- in the class, missing the final would most assuredly cause him to fail at the semester.

So what does she do then??? Instead of e-mailing me back to ask if there is anything we can do, might I be able to find out if exceptions can be made, etc., the woman calls the Head Counselor and claims that I'm refusing to let her little darling take the final! Whereupon the counselor gets so worked up that she walks halfway across campus to ask me about it (instead of simply picking up the phone and calling me). Thank goodness I have a good reputation at the school, because if it's anything that people in the main office hate, it's fielding angry parent phone calls. They will find ways to fuck with you if you cause them any extra work. Ask any teacher and they will tell you the same.

This is also the time of year when students will out and out lie about why they are getting the grade they receive. "What am I missing"'s and "I didn't know what I'm supposed to do"'s and "I have to get a good grade so I can play sports"'s abound. I am so generous and so flexible it's pathetic, really. I allow my students to redo any assignment that they got a D or an F on, and let them rewrite D and F essays to earn up to a C-. Can you imagine how much extra work that causes me?

I honestly wonder how it is that people still continually blame teachers when a kid doesn't do well. The truth is, high school is hard work. Level up, kids, LEVEL UP! If I provide you with a rubric that tells you exactly how you will be graded on an essay...hey, I don't know, maybe you should FOLLOW IT! If I say that the minimum length requirement in order to be considered for grading is 750 words, don't turn in 700 and act surprised when I give it back to you unread. If I say that the absolutely last day I can accept an essay is the day before you decided to turn it in, don't be surprised when I give you no points for it. I mean, really! It's not like you don't know how to count or read a calendar!

Hmmm...I guess I just had a little rant right there!