Third Grade Moms

Before the end of my second year, I was pulled into the office by the interim principal.

"You're going to be the third-grade team leader."

I was admittedly disappointed; I'd loved my year in fifth grade and hoped to do it again.

It must have shown on my face, because she added, "I needed someone who's been at the school before; your two partner teachers are new. I also needed someone who I knew is a strong teacher."

So in August, my things were moved from the portable outside into the main building, and I met my partners, Ms. T and Mr. I.

Despite my worry about moving down to 3rd, I found myself delighted with my team. Both of them were from Puerto Rico, ready to take on the challenge of continuing to expand the dual language program. I taught English Reading, Ms. T taught Spanish Reading and Science (in English), and Mr. I taught Math, Social Studies, and Health in Spanish. Our classrooms were clustered together at the end of the hall, so students didn't have far to go to switch from one class to the next.

I was nervous about being a team leader so early in my teaching career, but those two showed me absolute trust and support from the start. Ms. T became my first "school mom." We worked so closely together to align our lessons - she and I alternated between whole-group instruction and small-group instruction - that she started looking out for my well-being overall. She even picked up on when I was stressed out.

"What are you stressed out about?" She asked one day out of the blue.

"Hm?"

"Your allergies get worse when you're stressed out. You've been doing more sniffling and sneezing lately."

When I laughed at the realization, she said, "You think I'm joking! I'm your mamma up here, and I don't want your mom to be wondering why I let you not take care of yourself!"

What made it even funnier was that we also joked that we were the sister-wives to Mr. I, especially when students tried to get over on one of us by asking one of the other two, like we really were their parents. We had really great chemistry and everyone was on the same page when it came to keeping the students in line while also having fun.

This would be the thing that helped us when their actual parents started wanting to get their way.

I learned very quickly that our parents had a specific mindset. They were the inaugural class of the dual language program, and as such felt entitled to a certain type of treatment for their students and themselves. Our newly appointed principal was inclined to do whatever it took to keep these families in the school - even if it meant going over the heads of the teachers.

One of our students - R - was special education - she had a specialized plan for learning to support her, and regularly was pulled out of class to receive instruction on her level. Her parents were higher-ups in the district, and it was made known on open house night that they would be...active.

Here's the tricky thing about students with IEPs (individualized education plans); if you as the teacher are not diligent in following the plan and giving scaffolds to the student to help them complete work, then you can get into legal trouble. However, no amount of scaffolding can save you from a student who just doesn't want to work.

While R was just as sweet as can be, she didn't complete a single assignment. No amount of help, prompting, graphic organizers, or extensions would get her to complete her work. I checked in with my partner teachers, and they said that they had the same problem. This meant that it wasn't that R didn't like reading, she just didn't do the work.

Homework would sometimes be returned, but it was obvious when a child had done it as opposed to their parents.

In addition, she was regularly dropped off at school well after breakfast was over; this meant that we had to give her time to actually eat, taking away from her time to complete assignments in class.

At parent/teacher conferences, we shared our concerns with the parents. They asked if we had been giving her accommodations, and we all showed documentation that we had. They said they'd encourage her to do better.

When the end of the quarter came and she received Ds because she had little to no work turned in, her parents were upset. As a unified front, the team stood behind our decision.

Once they realized that we weren't pushovers, those parents started hounding us. Checking in to make sure we were doing what we were supposed to do (even though she continued to not complete work). Having the principal meet with us countless times.

I met with the principal one-on-one after the third quarter, when she'd again received Ds on her report card. "Would you consider changing her grade to a C?"

I blinked in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, we can't fail students with IEPs. We have to make sure that we've given her accommodations..."

"Which we have." I pointed out.

"And if we bump her up to Cs, it still shows that she's struggling without her failing the grade. Talk to your team and let me know your decision."

Even though it was very clear what I was expected to do, I wasn't here for it. Neither was the team.

"Why would we change her grade?" Ms. T asked in confusion. "It would be one thing if she'd at least tried, but all we have to show are pieces of work with her name on them."

"I thought it might have been the Spanish, so I even tried teaching her the math in English, and she still wouldn't even try." Mr. I said.

"So we're in agreement. We're not changing anything."

I emailed the principal and was annoyed to see her response. "We're going to move her up to a C, based on the evidence we've received. Please work together to ensure that she does not receive a D for the next quarter."

Surprise, surprise. She got another D.

The Principal and I had another meeting, specifically about my class, and I again told her that she had not turned in any work that would justify giving her a C. She asked me to set up a time for the team to meet with her to discuss it.

"Discuss what?" Ms. T said when I told her. "They're just going to change it anyway!"

The same day that the request was made, at dismissal time, the principal came and asked when we'd be able to meet.

"I don't see that being beneficial," I responded calmly.

She seemed surprised at my pushback. "I'm sorry?"

"We've already met with you as a team the last time that this happened, and we haven't changed our minds. So it doesn't make sense for us all to meet with you again."

Now she was downright stunned. "Well...I think we're going to go ahead and change the grade."

"If that's what you feel needs to be done," I replied and returned to dismissal duties.

"I'm so proud of you!" Ms. T exclaimed when I told her after dismissal. "You put your foot down!" A big deal, because everyone who knows me knows that I'm a very passive type of person.

This was not the only time that our grades were overwritten. A student in my class decided to not walk the five steps from his seat to the turn-in basket to turn in his test. I asked him where it was, and he couldn't find it. So he got a zero. I was told that it was my responsibility to make sure that assessments were collected, and I responded that he also had a responsibility to make sure that he followed our procedure and turned in his work.

His mom (and aunt, a lawyer), went to the principal, and his grades were overwritten.

Time and time again, parents would complain when they didn't get their way from the teachers, and time and time again, grades were changed to suit the parents' wishes.

There were some parents who were incredibly kind and supportive; unfortunately, they've been overshadowed in my memory by all of the shenanigans. I decided long before the year was over that I couldn't do another year there.

Somehow I ended up at another Spanish dual language school; there, I encountered a whole new set of shenanigans.