Celebrating Women...for the Real World
Friday, June 03, 2005 Getting a "Good" Phone Call-From School?

My daughter (she's almost 15) brought this to my attention. You see, she is the middle child, the only girl between two boys. She is a very bright, conscientious student worried about her GPA, and she only just finished her Freshman year of high school. She was able to maintain all A's & B's with the only C being in Spanish III which is an honors class. She was on the JV soccer team and not only joined two additional clubs, but participated in their events as well. As you can see, I'd say she's a very well rounded student.

Her older brother (they are 18 months apart, only one grade difference in school) would be classified as, for lack of a better term, your classic jock. He is Mr. Football dating the cheerleaders and invited to every party that goes on. He has the ability to make A's & B's (he was on the honor roll all through elementary until he discovered girls in 6th grade), but he is content on getting C's & D's because, after all, that's passing. I harp on him about college and his reply is usually "don't worry, I play football".

To get to my point, one of his teachers last year did everything in her power to make sure he passed her class (he's quite the charmer). Again, the only reason he wasn't doing well was his laziness. He didn't feel homework or projects were important. This teacher liked him so much, she would give him extensions of time to turn in projects without reducing his grade. She even started teaming him with other students to work on projects knowing that most likely, he would talk his team mate into doing most of the work (I see a future in politics). His teacher and I got to know each other quite well as she called me weekly with updates on his progress. The end of the year exam came and what does my son do???? He aces it! Got a 90 on it which brought his grade up to passing. She called me so excited and couldn't stop telling me how proud of him she was.

Along comes my daughter. She gets this same teacher. She turns in ALL homework, completes ALL projects making at least a 95 or higher on each, she never makes lower than a 90 on any test or quiz throughout the year, and was the girl who always helped the "underdog" (she feels bad for the kids that tries hard and still doesn't "get it"). Not only did she ace the end of year final, she made a 101%. Did I hear from the teacher, at all? Noooo. My daughter in her infinite wisdom said "I should have done poorly, then I might have at least gotten acknowledged". This got me to thinking, and she is correct.

In summary, this is not meant to put teachers down as I appreciate everything this teacher did from my son, but, as parents, teachers, care givers, etc., we need to take the time to give credit when credit is due. Don't assume that our children know how proud of them we are!

Posted by Sheri & SuZan :: 8:31 AM :: 3 comments

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