So I stopped by Kinzville Academy today to surprise Ms. Stripes with a bunch of flowers as a thank you for being such a great client. Ms. Cowoline directed me to her class and as I waited outside for her to dismiss the kids it seemed like a very different Ms. Stripes than the one I knew was in that classroom. It sounded like Sparky dropped his hat on the floor and Ms. Stripes accused him of doing it on purpose to disrupt the class. When Sparky tried to explain that his hat fell off when he bent over to pick up his pencil, Ms. Stripes told him that for speaking back to her he was going to have to stay in for recess. Then when Nibbles tried to explain that she saw the hat fall off, Ms. Stripes told her to stay in too.
When Ms. Stripes came out and saw me, I guess the shock on my face was apparent. She invited me to come for a coffee in the staff room and explained that although she may sound tough, she has to be firm because she is new and the kids wouldn’t respect her if she wasn’t tough.
I asked Ms. Stripes if she would mind me being honest with her and she said of course not. Then I told her that I thought the kids would respect her if she treated them with respect. I said I thought that kids responded to fairness and honesty, and that if Ms. Stripes showed the kids the Ms. Stripes that Elwin and I got to know so well, the kids would be sure to respect her because she is kind and decent.
Ms. Stripes tried to explain to me that kids aren’t supposed to like their teacher and that if she is nice, they will misbehave and take advantage. Then I asked her if the kids in Miss Daisy’s class like her and how well do they behave? Ms. Stripes thought about it for a moment and then said that Miss Daisy’s kids love her AND they are the most well behaved class in the school.
I asked if Ms. Stripes thought that might have anything to do with the fact that Miss Daisy makes her lessons fun and enjoyable so that the kids actually WANT to be in her class and are engaged with learning. Ms. Stripes said that I had given her a lot to think about, but that she owed me a thank you because being so hard on the kids all the time was taking its toll on her. She felt like she wasn’t being herself.
We said goodbye then. I really hope that I got through to her. She is so nice – I wish the kids could see her as I do.
Nice, Hailey! You worked the problem out. :)
Hmm.
Aha! I *KNEW* something was up!! Way to go, Hailey!!
Well said, Haily! —- ke8o :)
Excellent job, Hailey! You could have a second job as a counselor! I agree with you. Both Ms. Stripes AND her students would enjoy school more if they both changed their attitudes towards each other.
Thats sweet! I hope she’ll be more like miss Daisy now! -mycatGinger
Teachers these days… This is one of the reasons I’m homeschooled. I can’t believe she actually said they aren’t supposed to like her. When I went to school, I loved my teachers. They were just like Miss Daisy. But sadly, in my homeschool group now, I have a tuter who is just like Mrs.Stripes. She’s so stirct. Out of the classroom, it seems like im her favorite in the class, but in the classroom…. She favors my friend. She has very sloppy handwriting and I have much nicer handwriting, and my tuter said she has very clean and nice handwriting. And she said that I have very sloppy handwriting. She even yelled at me for saying I don’t like the way we have to do our math(The way she wants us to do it is by using 1 side of the page for 5 problems, and there’s 30 in each lesson. I’ve done 30 lessons, and I’m already halfway through a 150 page notebook.). I hope they both actually realize that you don’t have to be strict about learning. RavenClaw :)
I can not believe it! Ms.Stripes was so nice. I hope now she understands that her students will respect her if she is kind ,caring and listens to what her students have to say. I however think maybe because Ms. Stripes does not live close to family that is the way she was treated when she was young. I wish that this talk would make things okay but her class will need to adjust to the new and improved Ms. Stripes.
good job Hailey!
I’M SO HAPPY! I can’t wait to see what the students think of this new Ms. stripes! WOOT WOOT!