My End Of The School Year Letter Inspired By Ana Navarro

Ana Navarro tells it like it is. She ripped him a new asshole and I await Trump's reply. She reminds me of an under appreciated part of the Education System that is seldom mentioned and that is the parents who are most often Mothers. Thank you to all the Mothers out there who have spoken to their kid's teacher more than the usual two or three times a year. So if your will forgive the length, this is my end of the year speech to you all as you go off to enjoy the glory that is Summer Vacation.

I would not like Ana Navarro for my Mother but as a teacher she is the type I loved the most. They didn't take any shit and she is the same. This is how you speak to a kid making trouble in class. She chews her kid out and lets me see it in real time.

Most parents meet their child's teacher twice a year. At night. When the school makes time for it and we all sit in the gym like cattle and have that talk about your kid.

I preferred the classroom version because I can show folks my data and when they see why their kid is not doing well they usually just promise to make him do work or they chew them out but in a way that lets me and them know that in their family, being a chatty slacker is not going to fly. Then she would give me her phone number which I wrote next to his name in my mark book so that I could call when he needed a refresher on the smack down she put on him today. I was the last of his teachers she saw that night and she had about had enough. Now I say this not to praise her yelling at her child but she said all she needed to say in about a minute. She took one breath the whole time she was talking to him and he was looking right at her. It had an impact. I only threatened to call the number once. Started to talk to the kid more about things he's into and reward his progress which was significant.

He was a good student because his Mother kept track of these things because she wanted to see who was teaching her child and how her child was evaluated. She wants to see the numbers and records of work done and mark received and that is what will save your ass as a teacher. HARD DATA. Written in INK in a little ledger that includes the raw numbers. Then I always make the offer to let the kid make up all the work that they missed but that offer ended after the weekend. I had all the handouts or page numbers or whatever else they needed to get the work done. Plus is was a pain in the ass that ruined the kid's weekend. Choose the crime. Choose the consequence. Doctor Phil taught me that.

Okay. That was a long rant which I hope no one read. If you are a teacher, thank you for your blood and sweat and youth and sanity. I your are a parent - parent your kid. Get into their live and their faces and when you get a chance, visit their teacher before the school year begins. You got an opportunity to really give your child a gift that will last a lifetime and serve them well - a good education.

Or you could abandon your little wolves to the snake pit that can be Junior and Senior High School and see how that works out. Not a judgement, just an observation.

And to the students. No excuses. Do the work. Just try to do the work no matter how stupid or pointless you feel it is. Treat it like a game that you can ace. You can ace it because you have had a lot of practice at this school thing. Good grades will give you more freedom with your parents and more chances to mess up with other things. Good grades you can shove in someone's face if they doubt your effort or intelligence Do more work in class so you have less to do on your free time. Don't waste your time with pointless shit. Now is a time you can re-invent yourself. Try not to be bitter though I know how good it feels. Be the smartest kid in the room. How?  Figure it out yourself how to do that, Braniac. And don't be a dick to someone else just because you can be.

Okay. End of lecture. Enjoy your summer.