My friend makes "Pig Candy" at his wine bar [link] and it is delicious! Thick cut bacon with a mapley flavor. So tasty!

You should market that cure, Cindy.

I think I have a switch on my iHome alarm clock thingy that needs to be switched for DST. Good thing I know where the owner's manual is, that's the only one that really needs to be correct right away. It'll be kind of a fun experiment to see which of my timekeeping devices change on their own. I know some do, normally.

Re: Evil Teachers

The thing is? I'm not that teacher at all. (Not to say that you all think I'm beating kids in the closet, but this is a hot button for me.) I'm the teacher that kids come hang out with during lunch. I'm the teacher that sends flowers to her kids in the hospital and gives anyone with a reasonable excuse a reasonable extension. I bend over backwards to make my students feel valued, and I work my ass off to make every lesson and every paper a meaningful experience for them.

Here is the series of emails (names deleted, of course), that led to today's kerfuffle:

Parent Letter 1

Hi Kristin,

[Student] talked to me about her final and was completely disappointed.  She walked out of it feeling very confident and spent days preparing for it.  Can you please send the final home with her so her dad and I can review it.  I do believe she will be coming in to talk to you about it.  Thanks, [Parent]

My Response 1

Hi [Parent]-

It was such a tough trimester for her, I know. Sigh[...]I wanted to let you know that the biggest problem was quite simply that she didn't use a single direct quote from either [book] or [film]. They were allowed and encouraged to bring in a page of quotations to use as support. She had some good basic ideas, and had she supported them with direct evidence, her essay would have been in the B range.

I would really prefer if we could find a time when you and/or your husband could come in so that we could look at it together. Would that be possible? Thanks, Kristin

In the meantime, I talked to my principal, department head, and other 9th English teaching colleague. Colleague read and graded the exam and gave it the same thing I did. Principal and department head backed me up and said definitely not to send the exam home, as it's against our policy regardless.

Parent Letter 2 (note the lack of salutation)

We talked about the direct quotes and I read your instructions and they said the quotes were optional. [Student] went back and forth on whether or not to use quotes and since they were optional and she had her material researched she chose not to use them.  Let’s talk, [Parent]  PS  [Parent's husband] has the flu and I don’t want to wait for him to get better so please make a copy or better yet make a copy and we can all go over via conference call.  Thanks.

My Response 2

Dear [Parent]-

I'm so sorry about the misunderstanding we seem to be having. I'm not sure where the confusion is about quotations being optional in the instructions, but I'd be happy to look at them together with you. In addition to what was written on the exam itself, however, we did discuss the necessity for relevant, specific support during the last review day, and I told the students directly that quotations would be necessary to truly substantiate their arguments. One of the main skills we were working on this past trimester was the use of quotations--why they are so important to ground one's argument in the text, how to select them, and how to integrate them into one's own commentary. One of the skills I was assessing in this final was each student's ability to use textual support to prove her thesis. The main reason [Colleague] and I gave the students the exam ahead of time was to allow them to prepare their thesis and list of quotes. In the exam preparation letter that every student received, I re-emphasized this point by instructing, "[Your prepared outline] should consist of a thesis statement/explanation (1-3 sentences) and basic subtopic outline with the cited quotes you plan to use."

Just to be absolutely certain of myself, however, I asked [Colleague] (the other 9th grade English teacher) to read [Student]'s essay today and to score it. He gave it the same grade, so I'm confident that I am being consistent with grade-level standards.

I very much would like to meet with [Student], you and [Parent's Husband] about the exam at your convenience and am happy to go over it with you in detail. However, I checked with [Principal] and [Department Head], (continued...)

LOVE!

( continues...)

and we all feel that it is essential that we meet in person rather than over the phone--I want to be able to talk face-to-face and to explain any questions you may have in person. [Principal] added that [School Name]'s policy is not to send home exams due to their sensitive nature, but to instead discuss them here at school.

I truly am not trying to put you off--I hope you know how very much I care about my students and how much I want them to succeed. [Student] is a wonderful girl whom I've enjoyed getting to know this year, and I am committed to helping her. I am so sorry that [Husband] is sick, and I also understand that you want to meet as soon as possible. I hope that there is a way that we can reach a happy compromise.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding as we work through this situation.

Best, Kristin

I HAVE SPENT HOURS DEALING WITH THIS SHIT TODAY. IT'S A FUCKING 70, FOR CHRISSAKE!

Yikes. My parents were the "You got an A? Do they give out A+?" type, so that sort of back and forth is completely alien to me. Also, I think our interim grades didn't count for as much as they do over here. It's not like I had a GPA to maintain, or anything.

But that sounds like quite the travail, Kristin.

I have agave! And gluten-free flour and xanthan gum. I mocked Colin when he told me his GF baked with those things, but now I'm curious.

I'd intended to make gluten-free brownies tonight, and agave oatmeal bread tomorrow, but all bakage may be put off due to random headache.

Oy. Have to go back to the LAPL site. Not only was I a day too late to pick up my ILL, I had to pay a $1 fine for missing it. So I went into the new, crazy-houred, library to give them a dollar. Pfft.

The thing is? I'm not that teacher at all. (Not to say that you all think I'm beating kids in the closet, but this is a hot button for me.) I'm the teacher that kids come hang out with during lunch. I'm the teacher that sends flowers to her kids in the hospital and gives anyone with a reasonable excuse a reasonable extension. I bend over backwards to make my students feel valued, and I work my ass off to make every lesson and every paper a meaningful experience for them.

I know that. That's why I started my post with saying you're a great teacher. There are good and bad (and mostly mediocre) everythings -- doctors, lawyers, cops, mothers, teachers, scientists, street sweepers, priests, writers, actors, cooks, waiters -- you name it.

I just couldn't get over the parent having the nerve to protest a test score. I'm always so much, "Oh, well," about it on the outside (even when, on the inside, I feel like something was unfair -- because life is unfair, and that's a part of learning, too).

I have agave! And gluten-free flour and xanthan gum. I mocked Colin when he told me his GF baked with those things, but now I'm curious.

I saw Colin in a Lifetime Movie that TiVo grabbed, this week. It might be the first Lifetime Movie I've ever watched. He was adorable and did not get the girl, which suprised me, but made the story better than I'd prejudged Lifetime movies in my mind.

Thanks. Cindy, I know you didn't think that.

I'm just saying that given how many crap teachers there are out there, why is this parent giving me such a hard time? WTF does she expect to gain from having a COPY of the damn thing? Is she going to take it to another teacher and get a second opinion or something? Isn't it more important that the student review it with me? It all comes down to living in a society where everything is negotiable, even a grade.

I think it's just that you've destroyed her self-esteem.

Everyone gets a trophy, an A for just showing up, a brownie, and a hug.

Every child is special, and every special child deserves an A.