Father knows best

There's a first grader I work with in the general education setting. Let's call him "Doug". He is highly distractable and often impulsive. On Thursday, though, he decided to add shouting and outright defiance to the mix.

It wasn't long before his behavior chart went from green, to yellow, to orange, to blue, to the dreaded RED.

My mild-mannered co-teacher got out her red pen and wrote his father a note with exclamation points! Serious trouble indeed.

On Friday, we got a note back from dad that simply said: "He's just being a kid." [Hold on a minute while I catch my breath in the face of such overwhelming parent support....]


In addition, he sent a strip of paper to school with Doug. It had two words written in green marker:

LISTEN
BEHAVE

He told Doug to put the paper inside his desk, that way it would help remind him to have good behavior.

OOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!! YOU MEAN THAT'S ALL WE HAD TO DO? A SLIP OF PAPER IS ALL HE NEEDS TO CURE HIS BEHAVIOR?!?! WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT?

My co-teacher and I looked at each other and wondered whether we should laugh or cry.....

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

boys will be boys.

Megan said...

LOL wouldn't it be crazy if that DID work for all kids, and all this time that's all we had to do? You could just make desks with "Listen. Behave." painted on the tops.

Joey Lynn Resciniti said...

My kid's mom asked me on Thursday, "how did she do today?" I said it was okay but that the kid refuses to do her work.

Mom says, "oh, that's normal."

I guess you have to laugh. Crying just isn't a good option.

Another kid in the class has been doing a lot better because his mom said she'd take away his video games if he brought home another sloppy paper. Better than a slip of paper I think!

Shell said...

LOL Why didn't you think of that?

luv2teachmath said...

Wish I would have thought of that! You need to tell that man he's a genius!
Erika
Wild About 2nd Grade

Rachel said...

Oh no way. Just no way.

I would have been kinda sorta livid.

I'm the "don't rock the boat" person, so if I finally comment on a child's behavior, you can bet it's because I think it is past anything like "normal". GAH!

SharleneT said...

And, how did Daddy know that Green was a good color? If my daughter ever brought a note home from the teacher for misbehaving, she'd still be trying to work out the intricacies of catching her saliva in a cup... And, that's why children misbehave because "they're just being normal." Sorry. Normal is paying attention to the rules of the situation you are in and not assuming the world revolves around you.

Sarah said...

So frustrating!! I hate when parents don't back you up.

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