Mika had a rather bumpy week. On Monday, she received her first "pink slip" in class (she forgot to bring back her homework folder with her signed weekly report). I happened to have dropped by her class to sort work (put them in their respective cubbies) and noticed she was in tears. As I left, they were going to recess, so I stopped to ask what was wrong. "I GOT A PINK SLIP!" she sniffled and wailed, at the same time. "Oh... what did you do?" "IT WAS FOR MY WEEKLY REPORT!!!" More sobbing, but I heard it - the underlying accusatory tone, the unspoken, "Mommy, this is your fault!" As a mother, this makes you cringe with guilt.
When her teacher came out of the classroom, he explained that she hadn't had her weekly report, or it hadn't been signed. "Really?" I asked, looking at Mika. "I could have sworn I signed it". Then I shrugged and looked back at the teacher, "Well... I guess she'll learn then, won't she?" And walked away.
In case this sounds harsh, here is the school policy. By 3rd grade (which is what Mika is in), they are assumed to be responsible. If they forget their homework at home, I can't bring it in for her. She MUST become responsible for her own actions. I like this! I felt a little bad, though, if I hadn't signed it... but there was NOTHING to stop Mika from double-checking her homework folder on Sunday night. That is her responsibility.
But much to my surprise, when I picked Mika up from school, the first thing she said to me was, "I'm sorry, Mommy" and when I said that turning in the homework folder was HER responsibility, she immediately responded, "I know, Mommy". You could have knocked me over with a feather! I was so surprised and yet very pleased and proud of her - for admitting her mistake and owning up to it. We looked around the house and couldn't find the folder for quite a while, but finally did - and there was the signed (whew!) weekly report inside. All she had to do (to rectify the mistake) was to write why she got a pink slip (which she had already done) and to get my signature. Her pyramid piece was put back up (her "work ethic" piece came down for the day, which cost points for her table) and all was well again. She didn't even lose any recess time (which is why I THOUGHT she was bawling) - but apparently, she was traumatized by getting in trouble and having her pyramid piece down. On the bright side - I don't think she'll ever make this mistake ever again. The lesson (we hope) hit home. :) After all, that's the only good that can come out of a mistake - learning from it.
Unfortunately, she made another mistake on Wednesday. She came flying out of her classroom to meet Marika and I, wailing again and in tears (yes, this girl cries about everything). I'm scared and thinking that something really terrible has happened - what did she do now? Was somebody mean to her?! And then came the explanation... "I FLUNKED COUNTING MONEY!!"
You know, I don't enjoy being greeted this way. It's not pleasant at all. I finally get out of her, that she has flunked the counting money topic on Study Island (software testing), which they worked on during class. I told her we had to go see her teacher. She said "NOOOOOO!!!!" Okay, you can't bury your head in the sand and hope the problem goes away. "Listen, kiddo - we have to find a way that you can study the material so you understand it. I need to talk to your teacher to find out how you can do this." She reluctantly led me to her teacher who explained she could work on Study Island (computer software linked to their school website) and the scores would be updated at school.
Now, you would think this would be all very fine and dandy, but imagine my shock and horror when I realize that she has been having Study Island assignments from the first week of school (although the teacher wasn't there for first 2.5 weeks) - and has always told me that she didn't need to do it at home, that she did it at school. Now, that part is TRUE but as I scrolled through her weekly scores, I was horrified to see that although most scores were good (high 80's to high 90's), there were a few weeks where her average score for the topic was in the 70's. All Mika saw was, "Topic Completed" and thought she was done.
It turns out Miss Mika didn't understand why she needed a higher average. She's been getting letter grades since second grade and we all know that letter grades are what eventually leads to tracking (although getting into the GATE program does help a lot). Not only that, but getting a score in the 70's tells me that she doesn't really understand the concept fully - which is the most important thing of all.
Now, you would think this would be all very fine and dandy, but imagine my shock and horror when I realize that she has been having Study Island assignments from the first week of school (although the teacher wasn't there for first 2.5 weeks) - and has always told me that she didn't need to do it at home, that she did it at school. Now, that part is TRUE but as I scrolled through her weekly scores, I was horrified to see that although most scores were good (high 80's to high 90's), there were a few weeks where her average score for the topic was in the 70's. All Mika saw was, "Topic Completed" and thought she was done.
It turns out Miss Mika didn't understand why she needed a higher average. She's been getting letter grades since second grade and we all know that letter grades are what eventually leads to tracking (although getting into the GATE program does help a lot). Not only that, but getting a score in the 70's tells me that she doesn't really understand the concept fully - which is the most important thing of all.
I also couldn't understand why she flunked counting money, because we've been giving her an allowance for quite some time and she has had no problem whatsoever counting it and figuring out how much she needs to buy things. However, as soon as she tried to solve the first computer problem in front of me ("If Bob buys a book for $14.38 and pays for a $20-bill, which answer described the kind of change he could get?" and then there are 4 choices with different denominations... they are not obvious answers where they give you the simplest change, but more complicated combinations), I realized why - she wasn't using any scratch paper. As soon as I gave her some and instructed her to use it, she got almost every problem right.
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