Bronwyn Harris, Author

Stephanie 's dad called me yesterday to let me know that she got a 4.0 in her first trimester of 7th grade and to thank everyone who is helping her get to the leadership forum in Europe by donating... specific thanks to Doug, Lindsay, Chris, Lynn, Carrie & Jason, Laura, and Alex (and some others who wish to remain anonymous. You guys are awesome and every little bit helps! This is a girl who will NOT waste the experience - she's amazing. One person expressed concern that the organization does not set up an easy tax-deductible way to fundraise - I think, honestly, it's because most of the kids don't have to raise funds. I think the fast majority of them just have their parents write a $4500 check and they're off. Stephanie's dad is taking extra fights (professional boxer) and working tons of extra shifts to try to pay for this, which is why I'm trying to get people to help. If you are someone who has always wanted to help public education and doesn...

The last set of report cards are due today - whether or not I'll actually have them finished today is a whole other story. Besides, after last time, I'm not likely to take my evaluator's comments that seriously anyway. For that to happen, she'd have to 1)let me tell the truth, 2)not just cross out entire sections without telling me why or how to make it better. Unlikely. So, I'll probably get lectured again about how I don't reflect on my teaching, which would make me a better teacher, and probably a better person. That's my problem. I don't reflect on my teaching!

Other comments Ms. Evaluator crossed out (didn't say why they weren't OK, just that they're not ok): Amani is good at math, although sometimes she gets sloppy and says she doesn't know something even when she does. Ann is a good writer but doesn't like writing very much. Lucy needs to be careful about taking her frustration out on other children. Lamar contributes a lot to class discussions because he thinks on a very high level. (?) Jessie understands concepts quickly but gets really upset with herself if she can't do something perfectly the first time. TJ likes math best but is also improving in reading. (???) Let me make it eminently clear to all worried parents out there that all report card comments had many positive remarks as well as specific recommendations. Apparently, though, it is unacceptable to imply that the child might be anything less than perfect. Is it because I'm white and most of these children are black that it is so offensive to ment...

Today, she requested that I " re-due many of the comment cards" on my report cards and turn them in to her by the end of the day [How many of you caught the misspelling that she repeated five times? Also, anyone have an idea when I'd have time during the day to "re-due" half the report card comments?] She also said that I don't use "positive words and phrases" and need to work on "building a positive relationship with our community." She did the annoying "we" thing too - like when nurses say, "How are we feeling today?" She says, "In building a positive relationship with our community we need ot use positive methods to express our concerns." Give me a break. Every single one of these parents has my cell phone number and feels free to use it. They drop in to check on their children and check on me. They invite me to their churches, bring me food, tell me whom I should marry, and cry to me about having to put ...

The administrators circulated a memo saying that they have heard our concerns and that they would move the report card due date a week later. Wow. That, my friends, is unusual.

Or Lack Thereof. Report cards are due sometime. I'd tell you when, but I don't know. To quote Lindsay, this is a "no brainer. It should have been on the calendar from the beginning. Duh." I agree. But it wasn't, so we just have to sort of guess that it's been a long time since report cards, so they must be due soonish. The administrators decided to be "nice" and give us an hour to work on them today so we wouldn't complain about them being due. We still don't know when they're due. This free hour was created from sending the kids home an hour early, just for today. So, on Friday at 2:30 they passed out notes saying that dismissal was at 2:00 one day only, this Monday, Feb 26. The flaw in this plan was that any child who was absent on Friday or whose teacher didn't check their mailbox at 2:30 pm didn't get the note. Now, getting the note the Friday before would be bad enough. Parents work, have commitments, arrange fo...

Report cards come around way too often. OK, maybe they really only happen three times during the school year, but they sure feel like they're always looming over my head. It doesn't help that the report cards are huge (17 ¼ x 11 inches - too big to work on at a coffee shop, on airplanes, or at my desk) not even counting the separate comments section. Nor does it help that they are made of four layers of "carbonless" paper, which means that every time I fold them or lean on them, let alone make accidental marks, I have to correct four copies. The main problem is that I am not at all convinced that any of the parents read the report cards, or understand what they mean if they do read them. Some of the fields are measured in numbers (1=Far Below Grade Level, 2=Below, 3=Approaching, 4=Proficient, 5=Advanced), some in symbols (check, plus, and minus), and some in initials (EA=Early Advanced, and so on. And there's a lot of fields to be measured. All of the repo...