Horsing Around
The twins are good math students, but they are sloppy math students. Yes, I can say that. I'm their mother, and I'm not saying anything that they don't already know. Because of that sloppiness, they make mistake after mistake, and seldom take the time to fix them. Both girls usually know what they are supposed to do with a math question. Execution of that question is, well, what I question. Therefore, the girls (along with a few friends) have been heading in to school early on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to spend some time with their math teacher. They enjoy the early morning time with her, and have found it beneficial. I, too, have found the time to be helping. Their confidence in their ability to do math has grown.
Yesterday when I came home from bringing Aaron and Melina to piano and singing lessons, Zoe confronted me in the kitchen.
"Mom, I have to tell you something," she said.
The look in her eyes told me much of what I needed to know: they held a level of discomfort that wasn't normal for Zoe. "Okay, what it is?"
"Well, this morning, Mrs. S. had to be called out for a meeting. So we were left in the room by ourselves..."
I could only imagine where this was going. What had the girls done?
"And so we were talking about horses and our friend started galloping and then we did, too. We galloped around the room." Zoe maintained eye contact with me the entire time. I felt good about that fact.
"Well," I said. "And what happened?"
"Mrs. S. came back in, we got in trouble, and we're banned from coming in early for a while." Zoe didn't cry, but I could see a tiny tear hovering at the corner of her eye.
"How long is the ban?" I asked.
"I'm not sure."
I could see every side of the situation easily. As a teacher, I can appreciate the fact that you want to maintain calm in your classroom and that if you leave the room for a moment or two, the children inside should remain seated. She's coming in early to help these girls. They disrespected her. As having been a 12-year-old girl, I understood how one might see a friend and decide to do what she's doing. Why not gallop around the room and have some fun? As a mother, I had two things go through my mind. Yes, the girls made the wrong choice. They should not have horsed around at school even though school was not in session. But if you're going to get in trouble for something, I am thankful it was for galloping around the room. There are so many other instances that could occur in middle school, right?
I told Zoe I was proud of her for telling me. I knew that it was difficult for her to get the words out. Talia admitted that, even though I'm not a yeller, she thought I might yell at them.
"Why would I do that? The punishment is two-fold," I said. "First, Zoe had to find the guts to tell me about this, which she did. Thank you again. And now, you need to work harder on math all on your own."
They both nodded their heads in agreement and told me they planned on making apology letters to take in to Mrs. S.
When Tim came home, he said to the girls, "If you never got in trouble, we'd question if you were okay." I'm not sure the girls understood what that meant, but I think he's right. I also think that we've learned a lesson about behavior at school: the teachers don't tolerate much anymore. But discussing that topic is for yet another post.
Yesterday when I came home from bringing Aaron and Melina to piano and singing lessons, Zoe confronted me in the kitchen.
"Mom, I have to tell you something," she said.
The look in her eyes told me much of what I needed to know: they held a level of discomfort that wasn't normal for Zoe. "Okay, what it is?"
"Well, this morning, Mrs. S. had to be called out for a meeting. So we were left in the room by ourselves..."
I could only imagine where this was going. What had the girls done?
"And so we were talking about horses and our friend started galloping and then we did, too. We galloped around the room." Zoe maintained eye contact with me the entire time. I felt good about that fact.
"Well," I said. "And what happened?"
"Mrs. S. came back in, we got in trouble, and we're banned from coming in early for a while." Zoe didn't cry, but I could see a tiny tear hovering at the corner of her eye.
"How long is the ban?" I asked.
"I'm not sure."
I could see every side of the situation easily. As a teacher, I can appreciate the fact that you want to maintain calm in your classroom and that if you leave the room for a moment or two, the children inside should remain seated. She's coming in early to help these girls. They disrespected her. As having been a 12-year-old girl, I understood how one might see a friend and decide to do what she's doing. Why not gallop around the room and have some fun? As a mother, I had two things go through my mind. Yes, the girls made the wrong choice. They should not have horsed around at school even though school was not in session. But if you're going to get in trouble for something, I am thankful it was for galloping around the room. There are so many other instances that could occur in middle school, right?
I told Zoe I was proud of her for telling me. I knew that it was difficult for her to get the words out. Talia admitted that, even though I'm not a yeller, she thought I might yell at them.
"Why would I do that? The punishment is two-fold," I said. "First, Zoe had to find the guts to tell me about this, which she did. Thank you again. And now, you need to work harder on math all on your own."
They both nodded their heads in agreement and told me they planned on making apology letters to take in to Mrs. S.
When Tim came home, he said to the girls, "If you never got in trouble, we'd question if you were okay." I'm not sure the girls understood what that meant, but I think he's right. I also think that we've learned a lesson about behavior at school: the teachers don't tolerate much anymore. But discussing that topic is for yet another post.
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