Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Frustration (or I Wish They Would Think)

Doing the mind-boggling (yes, it is mind-boggling at 1 AM) work of preparing Ricki’s materials for school can be SO frustrating. For example, when:
1) Today I called the “Ethics” teacher for her lesson plan for tomorrow. It turns out there is a test. It’s a shame I didn’t know. It’s even more of a shame that Ricki will barely have any time to review the material. And above all this means that I will be up late preparing the test. (It’s not for nothing that I stay awake to all sorts of ludicrous hours…..)
2) Yesterday a regular class was cancelled and a student teacher taught. Is it too much to ask that when this pupil hands in her lesson plan to her instructor a week in advance, that I could get a photocopy? I need the main points of the lesson to enable me to prepare the materials Ricki will need. Otherwise she will probably obtain scant benefit from that hour of instruction.
3) The teacher did not have time to prepare her lesson until the night before, which I understand. But understanding will not compensate for the fact that Ricki could not be primed for that lesson.
4) The last one is one of my “favorites”. Thank G-d it rarely happens. I stay up late Sunday night, preparing materials for Ricki, The next morning, groggy-eyed, I arise in order to be sure that Ricki will get to school on time. Then, whether for good reason or not, the aid comes late. (Let’s judge her favorably, and say it is always for good reason, as I am sure it is.) The end result is that the hour I prepared the materials for has come and gone, and Ricki has sat in on a class not meant for her. For what was I up late the night before?

These are, thank G-d, not frequent events. And I am sure, that with all the good intentions in the world, they WILL happen at times. Teachers are human, after all (despite doubts on this point by their students). They sometimes are tired, ill, or dealing with unusual circumstances. I just want to keep these kinds of slip-ups to a minimum.

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