OK, let's begin this post with a qualifier. In the long career of a teacher, there are thousands of great students and parents. Interacting with these hardworking, well behaved kids and their sensible, cooperative parents help a teacher maintain her sanity. And when the OBCs get together we reminisce about them with conversations that sounds like this...
"Ya'll remember Tameka; she was the sweetest girl"
"Yeah, she graduated from LSU and lives in Lafayette. I loved her mama too.
Remember how she helped us every year with the Christmas Bingo?"
or
"I ran into Charles the other day. Ya'll remember when he stole those Snickers?!! Well
he is a gastroenterologist in Baton Rouge and has six children!!"
"Bless his heart! He turned out to be one of my favorites."
BUT, it is often the not so well behaved students and their not so well behaved parents that become the stuff of legends......
The first year I taught in south Louisiana, I was hired to teach English/Language Arts even though most of my experience was in Math and Science. I was quite nervous about this, but determined I could do the job. At the end of the first grading period it was time for Parent Teacher Conferences.
Jake was a ringtailed tooter (North Louisiana term for child who misbehaves). He was a possede' (Cajun term for a mischievous child). And he had a "D" in my class. I introduced myself to his parents and started the conference with as many nice comments as I could muster and then began to talk about his grade. Immediately, his mama launched into her offensive!!!
In her frontal assault, she told me that Jake had never had trouble in English. In, fact, he was always on the Honor Roll so there must be something wrong with my teaching. She "heard that I was really a math teacher."
She out flanked me by saying that Jake was usually a very well behaved, studious child and that my lack of classroom discipline must be the cause of his "playing".
And in the decisive attack on my rear guard, she finished with, "Jay says none of the kids like you; you can't even pronounce their names!"
I was DEMORALIZED!!! I quietly closed the door behind her and sat down at my desk. As I sat there thinking about how I was going to convince my husband to quit his new job and move back to North Louisiana, my door slowly opened and Sherry, Polly, Margaret, and Lillabet (the founding fathers of the OBCs) came in with big smiles on their faces and twinkles in their eyes.
"We saw Mrs. Arcineaux leave your room.......how did it go?"
"Oh, ya'll, it was awful! I thought I was doing OK teaching English, but I'm not.....not if
an Honor Roll student has a "D" in my class."
There was a moment's hesitation...... then they burst into laughter!!!! "Oh, bebe, come with us", and they took me down to the office where the children's permanent records were kept. Sherry pulled Jay's file and opened it up for me to read.
Honor Roll, my foot!!!!! Jake had failed English almost every year!! In fact, a "D" on the first report card was an improvement for him!!! His conduct record was even worse - he was a serial offender; constantly in the office for all manner of infractions!!!
"How could she sit there and I lie to my face?!", I asked.
"Boo, she has always lied to take up for her son; that's why he is the way he is."
I learned several lessons that day. One was to have more confidence in myself and the other was how important the support of friends, especially new friends, can be.
Au revoir mon ami,
Shelli
The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.
~Aristotle
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