Well smack my ass and call me Sunshine.

Hey- here's a joke for ya.

Q: What does a teacher do at a parent teacher conference?
A: Nothing!
Hahahaaa...isn't that a hoot?!?

Yes, last night was parent teacher conference night. It's funny, because I found it odd that Jaysen's teacher would send home a form stating that she wanted to hold a conference with me, but he's never in her classroom.

I bit, and checked the box that reciprocated my desire to conference with her.

As my scheduled time approached, I reviewed my list of questions I had for Ms.GenEd. Mr.Sub and I had agreed previously to meet after my conference with Ms.GenEd. Ms.GenEd called me in the room. To my surprise, I was met by not only Mr.Sub, Ms.Music,Ms.Speech, and Mr.Gym. Needless to say, I was a bit confused since I had just had an update from Ms.Speech and Music last week.

I asked Ms.GenEd if I could meet with her separately, I didn't want to take up all of her time, and there were some things I needed to discuss with her. She, of course, said "no, we'll do it like this".

The conference began with updates on how Jaysen is doing in Music, and the other teachers began talking amongst themselves about what avenues to try, what works for them, how he reacts to this or that...I was not aware that this was a team meeting. In my opinion, they should have scheduled a more appropriate time to discuss these things, not cut into my conference time. Whatever.

So I turned to Ms.GenEd and asked her about Jaysen's seating arrangement. Remember, the table in the corner of the room? She told me he was assigned by the team, to sit there. I asked why, to which she replied "so he could escape quickly if needed". Oh? "Would that be a quicker escape than that desk...say... right there?" and I pointed to a kid's desk right next to the door.

She became dismissive, jumped up and announced that she had another parent waiting. I told her that was fine, but I still wanted to talk with her and that I would wait. She said she was booked up for the whole night. I said that was okay, and I would be willing to wait if she could spare 15 minutes once all of her conferences were finished. She told me "no, not tonight".

(Did I mention that I am considering nominating her for Teacher of the Year?)

What kind of teacher initiates a parent teacher conference, then refuses to conference with the parent?!?

Ugh.

I did get to meet with Mr.Sub after that whole time-wasting-ordeal. He had some really positive things to say, and also some really frustrating things. When he focuses, Jaysen is doing fantastic. He is working circles around the other kids, and Mr.Sub has to find work to keep him occupied and on task. The problem is, being Mr.Sub, and not Mr.Teacher, he is under Ms.GenEd's direction. Mr.Sub informed me that he has the ability to take Jaysen farther in his education, but can't because Ms.GenEd won't provide him with farther assignment. So, he keeps Jaysen busy with rote work, stuff that he has already mastered, and worksheets that he's done before. Mr.Sub stated that this is frustrating to him, because if the other kids were producing the same amount of work, they'd be in 5th grade.

I asked him if he or Ms.SpEd had any input into Jaysen's report card. He said no, and he didn't understand why. Jaysen hasn't been in Ms.GenEd's classroom, and she is not qualified to assess his progress in anything. He didn't see how she could evaluate any of his academic anything. According to Jaysen's report card, he's working consistently below grade level. Mr.Sub totally disagreed.

He also said that he didn't know what Ms.GenEd's issue was. He explained that it's not the kids in the classroom that are against Jaysen, it's her and the parents. Ms.GenEd doesn't want Jaysen in the classroom because he's "disruptive". Mr.Sub said that

I e-mailed Ms.GenEd this morning to ask her to reschedule, and e-mailed the principal and sp.ed supervisor for some explanations. We shall see.

Oh- Jaysen's previous Resource Room teacher? Officially out. She was asked for her resignation papers this morning.

I am just baffled at the ridiculousness of the whole situation.
*sigh* My life...she is so exciting.