Monday, May 15, 2006

To Request or Not to Request...

That is the question.

To me, teachers are a lot like Obstetricians. Every single one of them has a following of people who love them and critics who'd be happy if they never had to deal with them again.

I would not say that I was overly impressed with the two of three first grade teachers we've had thus far. Trisha's teacher wasn't bad, but very strict and very CLEARLY does not like little boys. J & J's teacher was, well, horrible. (For us). Lots of people like her. I thought she brought out the worst in my boys and they had a very tough year with her. She is extremely sarcastic. Here's an example: At P/T Conference, she said that she has a very hard time motivating Jaden. I asked her what she's done to help him. She replied, " I call him names. He'll tell me to stop calling him names, but I tell him I'm going to keep calling him names until he finishes his work." Does anyone else find that as horrifying as I did? There was a lot of talk and a lot of prayer about pulling them out and homeschooling them (that's how damaging I thought she was being). In the end, things did turn around and by January, I think everyone got along fine.

So, now here's the dilemma. I certainly DO NOT want Ryan to have her. I would prefer him to have the third teacher who is nurturing. But, do I make a request? Do I become THAT kind of mom and request a teacher? AND, does requesting a teacher indicate that I do not trust God to match Ryan with the teacher that he needs?

Since we are getting a new principal, I have no idea whether or not this principal will even honor requests. The current principal did not honor any one year and honored them all the next. If I request and the principal decides not to honor requests, then I am guaranteed not to get the teacher I want. And, if I say I'm going to leave it up to God and Ryan gets the most horrible teacher, what do I do then?

Decisions....Decisions....

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! Such a dilemma. I do remember one year when I just KNEW one of my children would have more success with one teacher than the other. It was my only request (especially since I worked in the school!). I put my request in with a prayer, knowing that if it didn't work out the way I requested, it would be a strong signal to pray more than I'd expected to - including asking the Lord for options.
Love, M

Anonymous said...

With Ryan being the most resilient of the kids, I don't think you have to worry as much about teachers. But maybe you'll be in Michigan by then, anyway!