New teachers for Megan

Our kind girl is making a major change in the last half of third grade because of the unkindness of a teacher. It has been a tough decision and it was not done lightly. 2nd grade was a great year with lots of learning in a positive yet challenging environment. Megan was still having difficulty with reading though. We ended Megan's 2nd grade year with a conference and her teacher assured us Megan would be placed in 3rd grade classes that would fit her personality and educational needs. We got the assignment before school got out and were happy. We put the teacher issue aside and began the process of doing a psycho-educational assessment to see if Megan had a learning disability.

We scheduled the assessment for September and then we got a letter right before school started that due to increased enrollment they had to rearrange the class assignments. Megan wound up with completely different teachers. We were concerned about the math teacher, Mrs. Smith, who is known to be harsh and intimidating, but Megan started the school year smoothly, liking her classes and doing well. She complained about how Mrs. Smith spoke to kids but Megan is a good student and got through the classes. Megan's assessment process went well and we discovered Megs has a learning disability, and a few areas that are well above average. Megan handled the process and diagnosis so maturely. I think it helped to know there are lots of intelligent and gifted people in the family that also have a LD. She was one of us and was looking forward to whatever needed to be done to become a confident reader. 

Megan got strep throat in November and missed 2 days of school. Math class went downhill from there. Mrs. Smith began making comments to Megan in front of the class about her missing sooo many days and she blamed any error or topic Megan didn't understand on the absence. Megan came home confused as to why Mrs. Smith was exaggerating her days off and feeling responsible for not understanding lessons. We thought this would pass but instead intensified. Mrs. Smith began warning other kids that their performance would slip like Megan's. Months later "slipping like Megan" was still a common class phrase. 

All along Megan was uncomfortable with the way Mrs. Smith spoke to the children around her and this became more pronounced as trouble vs. favorites were established. Megan was dreading having math class, worried about minor details, cried at bedtime, and it impacted her grades. The lower Megan's grades got the meaner Mrs. Smith got. Jim and I both determined that Mrs. Smith is a bully and uses her authority to bolster herself, and when a child doesn't understand something it must be their fault. She belittles kids regularly and it was clear to us that Megan shouldn't be subjected to her meanness.

We started the IEP process for speech and reading, to see if she qualified for services in school. Megan was tested again and scored well above average for math aptitude. It certainly wasn't matching her performance. So we began the process to move Megan out of the negative math experience. The classroom environment needed to change.

Megan and I met with the principal to discuss the class. It is difficult to talk to the principal because it feels like she puts spin on every statement. Megan represented herself well. At the end of the meeting the principal Said she would meet with Mrs. Smith. She asked Megan if she could explain what made her uncomfortable to Mrs. Smith. Megan said she would go to the meeting as well so things got explained correctly. I was really proud of Megan and impressed that she seemed to know that the principal might not accurately represent her. They met and went over some changes to make Megan more comfortable. Megan knew if she left Mrs. Smith's class her whole schedule would change and she might not have the reading teacher she had grown really fond of. After the meeting the only change that seemed to happen was Mrs. Smith avoided commenting about and to Megan. After two days Megan recognized that Mrs. Smith wasn't really going to change. We got back to the principal and requested to change teachers.

The administration made a quick change to have the new schedule in effect for the start of 4th quarter. All of her academic teachers changed, so there is a little transition to get used to the new routines. Megan braced herself for change, she was worried about a number of unfinished projects but with a few emails to teachers we worked out the details. I am pleased with her new teachers and excited that they are encouraging, welcoming and also have high standards. The shock hit when we found out that Megs would have a different recess. She was seeing her best friend only at recess and now not even that. Megan was so sad about that part.

We are now in the 2nd week and I couldn't be prouder of Megan. She is amazing, and so willing to sacrifice and do the work to do her best. The pain of not seeing her friend was lessened by her friend's mom who set up a regular weekly play date.  Megan did qualify for speech therapy to get those "r" sounds and she also gets to see the special educator to work on some reading skills. Megan is now surrounded by professionals who seem to have a genuine affection for her and are thrilled to work with her. There may be mean people out there but God has blessed Megan with more good people in her life, and a resilience that is inspiring. 3rd grade will end on an upswing.