Question
Hello John and crew -
I recently took a position as a Spanish teacher at a middle school, and I must tell you, the hardest thing to deal with by far are the parents.
I have a great example: I give little sentence writing assignments (worth 5 pts) and they are due at the beginning of class before the bell rings. If they don't make it into the basket, they are not accepted and the children receive a "0". I've trained the kids as much. And I even remind them to put them in the basket as they walk in the door.
Several parents have called me to complain that their child did the work, but I wouldn't accept their papers. When I explain my system, they push back. Tonight one of them said that her child cried that I wouldn't take her work. I told her, yes, I know some children get upset, but they hand in their work right on time the next assignment. These assignments won't make or brake their grade (and her daughter was receiving an "A"), but this mother said that her child was on a "504" plan and was allowed to turn in her work late because she has "attention" or "focus" problems.
I find this outrageous. The girl is doing fine in my class, and aside from being a little spacey (perfectly normal spacey), I don't see a problem. I was even more flabbergasted to find out that this woman was a teacher. In retrospect, I missed my opportunity to ask her if she accepts late work.
I've also had a father write a nasty e-mail (cc to my vice principal) to me because his son missed an A (in the first quarter of school) by one point and was crying. I ended up giving the point, because, honestly, who needs the headache of fighting someone like that. P.S. their son is the biggest slacker.
I also teach a journalism class in the evening and can tell you that this type of behavior carries on into college. But, there I am allowed to give them an "F".
My question is, how do I handle these parents without getting really upset? I actually HAD to accept the student's late work because of this dubious (in my opinion) "504" plan.
Best regards,
Dominique Mayorga (please don't use my name or they'll come after me).
P.S. We do NOT parent this way. It's our children's own fault if they don't get it in on time.
