Scott will be rolling his eyes that I'm fired up enough to blog about this. But if I don't write it down I will stay bitter for far longer. This is my release.
Announcement 1
"Dear Parents,
Normandy School Open House will be on Tuesday, August 24, for you to meet your child's teacher before school begins...This is a time for parents and the teacher. Please do not bring any children to the Open House. You may bring your child's supplies so they will not have to carry them on the first day of school...."
Announcement 2
"Dear Parents,
...You can help your child transition to school by attending the Kindergarten Orientation on August 26. A parent or guardian must attend with the child and provide transportation..."
IN MY WORLD...."open house" means "please drop in while my house is open from this time to that time". It does not mean "show up at the start time and listen to me deliver a presentation based on my one page agenda".
IN MY WORLD..."orientation" would be the correct descriptive noun used to indicate there will be a lot of important information for you to understand in order for your child to succeed in this classroom.
Disclaimer - I do not fault the teacher, who is very sweet and didn't seem to care that we walked in 30 minutes after the start time. It's the school that called it an Open House.
So...is there some secret code in Bay Village that I am not aware of? Because how is it possible that I was the only one that didn't understand that Open House meant "you will be here from 5:30 - 6:15 or you will look like an ass in front of the parents of your child's future classmates?"
I am not off to a good start, so I will be making up for it be volunteering for all sorts of nightmarish duties.
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ReplyDeleteSo at least say you didn't mean to delete me so it doesn't look like I wrote some horrific comment. : )
ReplyDeleteFor the record, you volunteering may just backfire as I have a vision of you yelping some expletive at an inopportune moment...
Good luck!
Yes, Denise's comment was deleted by mistake in an effort to delete my own comment...I can attest to the validity and appropriateness of said deleted comment.
ReplyDeleteThanks -- BTW I asked what "open house" would say to people at work today and they agree with you.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, dear parent, to the world of bureaucratic bullsh*t that be our education "system."
ReplyDeleteIt's your cousin here. As a teacher in another district, all I can say is that if there's a lack of communication between the teachers, administrators, and whichever person is responsible for posting the announcements, this kind of screw-up will happen. I agree that an Open House implies "come when you can," and that's how our building does it. However, in my old district, it was the same messed-up situation that you encountered.
ReplyDeleteI just hope that people realize that in some places, the system does work, kids do learn, and there's not necessarily any more BS than you'll find in any other institution. Some of us work our tails off in this vocation, and it is discouraging and disheartening to know that people feel the way Charlie does despite our best efforts and the frequent successes many of us have had. It's especially discouraging after working from 7:00-3:30 today and then coming home to grade compositions and work on lesson plans for two and a half hours tonight.
Sorry if I'm coming off as overly sensitive; I just wish people wouldn't make sweeping generalizations and derogatory remarks. After twenty years in my profession, I'm awfully tired. Charlie, if you're ever in Amherst, Ohio, you are welcome to come visit my classroom and witness my junior high students working hard to master reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. I think you would be pleasantly surprised. Plus, our cafeteria ladies serve a mean toasted cheese sandwich.
D - Thanks for making me feel better.
ReplyDeleteCharlie - I'm sure there will be many more posts to come.
Katie - And that is not to say that Bay isn't great and teachers don't work hard. They obviously have a top ranked school system and I know the girls will get our money's worth. But when I look like an ass...I have to make others look like an ass! That is my M.O.
Katie: Please accept my apology when I say that I have the utmost respect for you, the teachers, the men and women in the trenches and at the bottom of the food chain. I thank you for your dedication, ideals, and hard work.
ReplyDeleteMy problem, and I should have stated it, is with the layers of bureaucrats above you at the district and board levels. These are the "thinkers", the re-inventors of the education system, the memo writers who justify their existence by writing memos.
This is oversimplification I know, but there's only so much I can say in a blog comment. Again, I had no intention of upsetting you.
Charlie: Apology accepted, and the invitation is still open. Anna: I had to laugh at your description of your M.O. Also, I wish I could be a fly on the wall at the first Normandy PTA meeting! (You did volunteer to be president, right?)
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