I cannot even begin to tell you how my heart runneth over today... with pride for my Princess.
As I had written in the post titled Princess And Her Middle School Momentum, my daughter has had some struggles in this "tweenie" stage of education. But things had been looking up. We were quite hopeful... until...
For the last several weeks, she has come home from school with tears in her eyes and proclamations of how horrible her day had been. She has been struggling with a particular assignment, handed out bi-weekly, by her English teacher. Low grades on this assignment have brought down her overall grade, thus causing her great disappointment and frustration. But come to find out, the grades have not been the only source of her torment. It turned out that this teacher has had some very unprofessional things to say to my daughter that, in my opinion, are nothing short of bullying. Telling her that (and I quote) "Children who are just now coming into this country are getting better scores than you.", and making a snide comment about her "work ethic".
Now, if my daughter were a lazy student, and wasn't even trying to contribute, I wouldn't have been so upset. But this child has been a straight A student in every subject, throughout all seven years of elementary school (that includes pre-k). She has always been praised by students and faculty alike for her level of respect and her friendly demeanor. She does her homework nightly, she studies for tests, she is a voracious reader, and she is often online brushing up on her math skills through the site, Kahn Academy. She does not deserve to be criticized in this manner, and so I wrote an email to the school psychologist with my complaint about this teacher's highly unprofessional attitude toward her student. To quote Pink Floyd (which is quite an odd thing for me to do)... we don't need no dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Well, several things have happened since that day. First, I have tutored my daughter in this particular bi-weekly homework assignment, and her grades have improved. I have not heard back from the counselor, but the teacher has not had a single nasty thing to say since. And then...
--Princess came home today and told me, in a very casual passing, "I gave Ms. So-and-So a hug today."
--I responded with a very inquisitive, "Why??"
--"Because today is the last day of school before Winter break, and when we go back in 2014, I want her and I to start on a fresh clean slate."
Hallelujah! Could she have been any more wise and wonderful in that moment? I think not! I wrapped my arms around her and showered her with much deserved praise. Alas, someone has been paying attention to the lessons I have been spewing all these years! I am vindicated!
