I Am Not Alone

This story was respectfully stolen from Suzanne, my neighbor's sister. Suzanne is a writer, athlete and mom. As you can clearly see, I am not the only mom whose little voice is telling her all is not right with the world. Her son Henry is struggling in the 6th grade and below is an email Suznne sent to her sister Cynthia about Henry and correspondence with Henry's teacher.


Okay. 6th grade has been a rollercoaster of: honor roll / struggling to pass / honor roll / struggling … you get the picture. We just got a little “progress” report in the mail from Henry’s math teacher – “progress” being an interesting choice of words. In my fury and frustration (not at the teacher, but at Henry) – I write an email to the teacher asking for some specifics – what work is missing, etc … Basically, I asked her how he gets out of the hole he has dug for himself.

Below is the first paragraph of her response:

Suzanne - I share your frustration, and I am quite at a loss as to strategies for Henry. Just 2 weeks ago, he was given the entire class period to complete 2 Open Responses, but he stated he didn't have time to finish them. When I collected his work, I noticed he had spent the time drawing toilet plungers on his paper!

I almost spit coffee all over my computer. I love the appropriateness of it all … he’s in the shitter, school-wise … why not draw plungers to help himself get out of it? I have ZERO idea how I am going to talk to him about this, cause I cannot stop laughing!

Suzanne WebGirl, BikeClicks.com