Opposition Teacher Pt 2

Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with negative emotions. Anger, frustration, confusion, you name it and I may have experienced it at that time.

To express that ANY child wanting an education was beneath receiving it was downright shameful in my opinion. I knew I had to do more than be angry to remedy this situation. I reached out to other parents and counselors who reminded me of an important fact that I was forgetting. My son’s IEP was law! As long as it was locked, or agreed upon and signed by all in attendance, it was equivalent to classroom law! What a relief it was knowing my son would still have his opportunity. Both of us were up for the challenge, which was good because it was far from easy. Weekly tests, essays, projects, and oral reports were the norm in this classroom. History and Spelling became two of his favorite subjects. The fact that historical dates and the spelling of words never changed made them easy things for him to remember. Once he had something memorized, it was with him for life! Oral reports and essays were not as easy for him to complete. As I have mentioned before, one of his problem areas was verbal communication. To help with this issue, he and I would practice his oral reports while standing in front of a mirror. This paid off tremendously! Once every word and sound was put to memory, he had no problem reciting it in class.

Unfortunately he would lose points for his handwriting as it was terrible at that time. He would also lose point during the verbal question and answer period that followed each student’s oral report. Even with the point deductions, he still received a passing score on these assignments. Along with a stellar memory, my son possessed another very important quality that seemed to be lacking in his generation. He had the ability to behave himself! My son was becoming a person who preferred order, stability and schedule over chaos. For example, if there was a substitute teacher in the class, he would usually be the only student choosing to behave.

The rest of the class would be unruly. His self-control was one way he ended up turning that teacher from a non-believer into a cheerleader! Not only was he well behaved, he came to school every day prepared and eager to learn.

He was a teacher’s dream come true. He definitely passed the 4th grade, but not before showing one opposition teacher how NOT to judge a book by its cover.