Dear Ms. X

Thank you for sending home a note with my child today (see below) providing information about the end of the school year. In addition to learning about some upcoming events I learned several new, and troublesome, pieces of information.

For example, I learned that classroom behavior in your room has become out of control, and students are unable to “hold it together,” in your words anyway. I must ask- does this come as a genuine surprise to you? What antecedents for such a shift in behavior might be considered? Perhaps the fact that testing is over and motivation to learn has likely decreased, for all stakeholders? Or maybe it’s the change in weather, the simple dynamics of the summative months of school, or, possibly, a lack of engaging pedagogy given the situation?

Would you like some support or assistance from your principal regarding this situation? By chance he can offer some strategies for classroom management that you have not yet attempted. Or maybe he can step in and you can shadow teach. Another (crazy) option might be to speak directly to the parents of those children not following the rules, rather than invite a contentious debate about behavior at home between family members, although it is a rather invigorating way to spend ones dinner hour.

Let’s be honest, the parents who actually read that note are, quite frankly, either unlikely to be the warrens of said progeny, or if they are ever so fortunate enough to be informed of their child’s misbehavior through public and group shaming strategies, are foreseeably unlikely to take action as a result of receipt of a passive aggressive complaint from their child’s teacher. Well, at least not the action you are hoping to incite, in any case.

Another interesting nugget of information came in your informing any diligent note reader that 23% of your class has failed to regularly turn in reading logs. Wow. That can be interpreted as a level of “mastery” for reading logs at 77%- a good solid “C” average. This stellar number generated for an assignment which is neither backed by good science nor has sufficient evidence to support its continued use. Real shocker there, isn’t that?

Am I articulating my confusion here sufficiently? Based on the message you offered today, you are upset that almost a third of your class hasn’t turned in a weekly assignment for the entire school year, yet you have waited until the last two weeks of school to let anyone (well, actually, everyone) know about it.

Let me ask you- have you found any correlation, whatsoever, between a students’ reading level and number of submitted reading logs? I’m going to wager a guess the answer is “no,” humbly based on my own twelve years teaching experience, and the fact that my child (apparently) rarely turns in a log herself yet is an above average reader.

Speaking of new news, I would like to point out that I was never made aware by you of the lack of my child’s submitted logs. Not on report cards, not during our fifteen minute rant sessions (oops, I mean conferences), and not via personal contact. Instead, I learned of it, like I do most things, from my daughter, when she explained to me that she had been spending her recesses with her behind parked on a bench, rather than playing, because she didn’t turn in her reading log.

What a surprise that was- to learn that a school which places value physical fitness would offer such a “consequence” for not submitting a piece of paper documenting the number of minutes my child remembered to record while she was busy actually engaging with quality text. How very odd. If its submission were of such critical importance one might think you may have let parents know, directly, of the sincere urgency in returning documentation of the painful experience known to caretakers everywhere as “homework time.”

Speaking of homework, my understanding is that this archaic practice is designed to be an extension of the learning that occurs in the classroom. This means, theoretically speaking of course, that it is meant to be practice of skills learned during school hours. Not novel information, and not something requiring additional and extensive lessons to complete. That’s just my experienced and research-based approach speaking, however. My bad.

Given that my eight year old spends six hours of her day, which is almost 50% of her daily waking hours, on the school site, working hard to learn and “make her teacher happy,” as it were, I would expect that her assignments outside of class might be simple, brief and of very little impact on her classroom performance nor a reflection of her level of successful “effort.” Apparently I am mistaken. A lack of “diligence” in this endeavor may in fact garner her a loss of right to participate in the fun events offered as a reward for learning in the next two weeks. Here I thought the reward for hard work was learning, when it is in fact, obviously, pizza. My mistake, again.

In sum, Ms. X, I am saddened by your note. I appreciate the time and energy you have spent with my child this year and do not doubt your deep-rooted love of learning. I agree that student behavior must remain acceptable, and that learning must continue to occur in these final weeks. That is the goal of schooling, after all, to develop a love of learning and to learn many and great things. I do, however, most sincerely hope you will spend some time in reflection regarding the tone and intention of your note, your purpose as an educator, and consider the educational soundness of such practice. Should you require individual or direct support for my child in particular, please actually contact me anytime via phone, e-mail, or, gasp, in person.

Sincerely;

Frustrated Mom