There's Always One...

...rotten parent in the class.

Tonight I received a phone call from a parent. She told me she was Marcus's mother and wanted to ask me about a misbehavior mark he received in his planner Friday during my class for "talking during a quiz."

She told me that Marcus said he was saying "thank you" to a girl who had picked up his pencil from the floor for him. I told her that he told me the same story on Friday, but I still marked his planner because the policy is "absolutely no talking during quizzes." I told her that I review this policy with the students before every quiz, and did so twice Friday since we took both our Science and Social Studies quizzes for the week.

She told me that she tries to teach her son good manners at home and couldn't understand why I would get him in trouble for having good manners. I told her that it wasn't because he has good manners but because he was talking during a quiz. I have my policy to prevent cheating and maintain the integrity of my tests. My insistance on standing firm in my policy did not make her happy.

She then started to raise her voice, getting very loud as she made reference to an earlier incident where her son received a mark for talking very loudly in the bathroom (all 8 boys in the bathroom received a mark). That's where the conversation took a weird turn.

She said, "If things like this keep happening, I'm coming up there and I'll be ready to blow someone's head off!"

What?! Are you kidding me?!

I told her that I'd gladly discuss the incident with her but only if she stopped raising her voice and making threats. I would not continue a destructive conversation, she has no right to attack me over the phone (or in person for that matter).

Well, she continued raising her voice and only got angrier. Everytime I attempted to explain myself, she would angrily cut me off and start yelling more.

After 5 mins of being berated, I told her that I was ending the conversation. She said that she was sure I wanted to end this conversation (mocking me) but that she'd be coming to school first-thing in the morning to discuss this with the principal. I told her that I looked forward to discussing the matter more with her and the principal "in a calm environment." She said fine and hung up the phone.

I couldn't help but scream an expletive after hanging up with her, which all my roommates heard and came to my room to see what I was screaming for.

Now I've had to take an hour and a half out of my Sunday night planning to take care of this, emailing my administrator so that she knows what's happened.

I just can't understand it. Are you serious? Marcus is pretty well-behaved, save a misbehavior every now-and-again. He's received two marks since the first day of school and both times his mom has made a federal case out of it. Really?

How am I suppossed to invest her in his being successful in my classroom if she wants to blow my head off?

I guess we'll see tomorrow when she comes to school.