This particular parent is unlike any other I have ever worked with. I think she must be bipolar. I know at some point she mentioned a head injury in her past- from roller derby... (yeah that inspires a good feeling).
In any case it is the yearly review for her child and I' m not really sure what to expect...
My first experience with this parent occurred three years ago, and it wasn't pretty. Without going into detail, suffice it to say she came out the winner, because she had me ejected from the meeting because I dared to *GASP* tell her the truth and contradict something she *thought* was in her child's IEP. (Individual Educational Plan) She *thought* that every teacher & therapist that her child was working with was *supposed* to email her weekly with an update on how her child was doing. Unfortunately that was NOT the case. Only the student's special ed. teacher was required to do that.
And anyways WTF lady??... it is April and you wait till now to say anything???? I mean if it was my kid and I *thought* teachers were required to email me weekly I would've been on the phone in Sept. and not waited till mid April.
But I digress...
This parent will literally yell and scream in a meeting with 13 professionals if she does not get her way- this tends to put people on edge-(ya think?) and it causes principals & supervisors
Since our initial meeting I have learned that this woman runs either hot or cold- either she hates your guts or she loves you. Right now I *think* she loves me...last I heard she had it in for another teacher. (Hey at least I am off her shit list...)
Funniest thing happened at the following years IEP meeting... Mom said she was having a real problem with communication with her child... I asked if it was anything I could help with? Evidently the student(who is a teenager) had an argument with Mom.. and told her to "Fuck off".
As I maintained a straight face (but God was that hard)I said, "Well you were concerned that *student* was not communicating like a "normal" teenager... not that I condone the language, but the response was a typical teen aged response you might hear during an argument".
This kid is now my personal hero. =)
*UPDATE*
I waited to post this till after the meeting... I am still alive-
*Mom* acted normally for once... no screaming etc. Most of us sat waiting for the other shoe to drop- but that time never came. I looked @ the teacher mid way through the meeting while the parent was talking to another teacher and whispered that things were going way too smoothly. Then later *Mom* made a comment about remembering to take her meds today.
*Light bulb*
AHHHHHHH... she must be on some good stuff.
OMG!!! She also sounds a bit like 'borderline personality disorder' with the intense hot/cold stuff. I dont envy you having to deal with her. Wow, how do you relax after a day like that? Sometimes I like to have a long shower and change all my clothes. I feel like I have washed off the difficult person and de-contaminated myself (LOL). Then I can put the experience behind me...
ReplyDeleteWow. Wish I had known that parents can get away with that kind of stuff when MY kids were younger. I was under the distinct impression that we parents weren't allowed to do that. I was always super polite at teacher conferences.
ReplyDeleteWell, if this isn't a big high five for prescription drugs I don't know what is. And if I'd have know that I could have screamed like a crazy to get my way, I would have tried it long ago. I always go with that whisper thing...remember that commercial?
ReplyDeleteThat should teach me: Note to self - scream and yell when I don't get my way!!!
ReplyDelete;-)
I have the utmost respect for anybody that works in the educational field. I volunteer for our non-profit Chinese school, and I cannot believe the things that people would say about the volunteers! Hello? We are not getting paid.