Teaching...and Parenting

I have a new student. He doesn't love me yet (and by love me I mean does what I tell him to do)....but he will (insert evil laugh here). No, really, he's had a rough life and will take a little work I think. But he seems malleable.

I just heard on the news that a teacher in our district poured liquid soap down a student's throat. A student in special ed. I guess I can't threaten to wash anyone's pottymouth out with soap anymore, huh? That was a joke. Seriously, teachers, what the fuck? You're not his mama! Boundaries, ethics, appropriate behavior...any of that ring a bell?

As I walked through a co-worker's classroom today, I heard her criticize a student for saying "Me finished." This student is 4, an English Langauge Learner, and has said almost nothing the entire year, resulting in a referral for a speech evaluation. I'd say "Me finished" is a fucking bad-ass sentence with subject-verb agreement, proper use of past tense, intent to communicate, meaning in context, and intelligibility. But hey, what do I know? Fucking general ed. teachers.

And finally, one of my favorite teachers is teaching an afterschool class called Tasteful Literature. She reads books and bakes treats to accompany the literature. She complements this with lessons about language structure, colloquiallisms, and comprehension. I taught this class with her last semester. She made a cookbook for all the kids to take home at the end of the class. Those kids STILL talk about it and say "hola maestra!" in the hallways. That's teaching.

And now for the joys of parenting...this week, my Offspring's P.E. teacher told me he was a really nice kid and that she saw him being a solid, quality, lifelong athlete; his basketball coach said he gave more effort and positive attitude than anyone on the team and that he always brought it; another basketball parent told me he thought he was a really nice kid; and I got a note saying his art was picked to be at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and there's an artists' reception this weekend. What more can you ask for?