And the teacher says....

Last Friday Brandon's school held an awards ceremony for the students for 1st quarter.  Thanks to my new job I was actually able to go for the first time.  They have always had these ceremonies on Thursday's at 1pm.  Seeing how I process payroll for a living and people always want to be paid on their scheduled check date of Friday, I have been unable to go.  Brandon goes to a special school for kids with behavioral issues.  The entire class body is quite small, maybe 50 kids for both elementary and middle school, a smaller amount being in middle school.  At first they had all the elementary school class skits and presentations.  Then they went on to do Honor Roll, Straight A  Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, and so on.  Lastly they did classroom awards.  In the elementary school every child got an award.  Most improved handwriting, most inquisitive, etc...  In middle school they only gave awards to three kids in Brandon's class.  Brandon was one of the only kids that did not receive an award.  Normally this type of thing doesn't bother me, but this time it did.  If elementary classes did across the board, and the elementary and middle school has the same ceremony dates and times, I think the middle school should do the same.  I sent the teacher an email with my thoughts about this and he responded to me about the awards ceremony and also about the spitting incident on Monday. 

My Email:

Hello Mr. Connor,

I have been thinking since this afternoon's awards ceremony.

I think it is wonderful to show encouragement and reward academic achievements for the students that have worked so hard for it.  That being said I feel that all classes should be held to the same format during an awards ceremony.  All kids are not straight A students, or have perfect attendance, etc.  I know this because I am the parent of one of the kids that does not have straight A's or perfect attendance.  I understand that these achievements must be earned and not every child earns such an achievement.  I know that disappointment is a part of life and I know that not getting these achievements is important to build character and make people want to work harder.  But when I see the elementary students each get a classroom award for most improved handwriting, most inquisitive, etc. it shows that although not honor roll or straight A's that there teachers are seeing the good in what they are working towards.  For the middle school to not follow this format is upsetting.  Brandon did not get ONE award when if not all, almost all, of the other students received something for their achievements.   Seeing how the kids that go to Oak Park are up against great challenges, more than a child without a behavioral issue, wouldn't it be beneficial to their delicate self esteem to acknowledge something great about all the children?  Brandon is a great reader, and a good helper, and has improved his foul language along with other things that are important to him and our family.  It would have been fantastic to come to an awards ceremony and see a look of pride and a smile on his face and to encourage him to work even harder in the 2nd quarter to earn maybe honor roll, or an award for community of caring.  I try to look at things from his point of view, and can see him hoping inside that one of those awards were for him.  I know that I had my camera ready to snap a picture when his name was called.  I guess that what I'm trying to say is that if classroom awards are being done for all students in some classes, they should be done for all students in all classes. 

I hope that my feedback will be considered for future award ceremonies.

Respectfully,

Julie Davidson

 

His Response:

 

Ms. Davidson,

 

I definitely understand your suggestions  for including everyone in the awards recognition, and I will definitely consider them when time for our next awards ceremony is coming up.  While I don’t necessarily believe in providing awards across the board, I do see them as a possible motivator to do better.  I would like to see Brandon strive for recognition in one of the areas that you mentioned, and would be happy to coordinate with you on a behavior of concern that we could target.  While he may not be a straight A student now, he is a very capable and intelligent student, and would like to encourage him to live up to his potential.   I will be more mindful in the future when choosing awards.

 

As far as his current behavior is concerned, I know you received the information about his behavior towards me today.  It started when he was off task, and was talking and being disruptive throughout math class.  I tried to talk to him, include him with our discussions, and encourage him to participate.   I finally decided to send him to time out when he continued to be disruptive, and crushed up the assignment we were working on.   He used inappropriate language towards the class, and spit towards me when he was leaving.  I am continuing to adjust my approach to see what works with Brandon, and was not sure why my approach today resulted in this behavior.  I try to keep students in the classroom when possible, and only when the disruption affected the rest of the classes ability to focus on the lesson did I decide to send Brandon to timeout.

 

Thank you,

 

Joseph Conner

Middle School Math and Science