To the teacher who gave my daughter a C

there's something you need to hear

Today my daughters teacher reached out to me because I’d expressed concern over her progress report. You see, Holland has 99s and 100s in every subject across the board. Every subject, that is, except math. 

In math, she scored a 72. That’s a C flirting with a D. My kiddo is in 2nd grade, y’all. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that grade. 

So I emailed her teacher, expressed my concern, and asked what in the world was going on. And within 24 hours she responded. 

Turns out, Holland is not interested in math. Not even a little bit. So when numbers are up on the board, my daughters attention goes everywhere else. To the unicorn book she got from the library, her friend that is two desks over, the rubber band around her wrist, the cheese stick in her lunchbox.

My compliant, precious, perfect little girl. The one who listens to every single word I say at home. She is my rule follower. Yes ma’am and no sir. This explanation was shocking to me.  

Was she really not listening during math? When every other grade she has was nearly 100?

You better believe I emailed that teacher. 

YOU KNOW WANNA KNOW WHAT I SAID?

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Dear Ms. M., 

Thank you so much for sharing this insight with me. I know you are able to observe my daughter in an environment that doesn’t exist at home, and your insight is so valuable to me. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to support your teaching efforts. Our family will work on reinforcing the importance of following classroom rules.

Sincerely,

Mary Katherine

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Y’all, bring a teacher is hard. My daughters classroom has twenty something kids. And this teacher was thoughtful enough to provide very specific insight into my daughters personal learning struggle. I could have been offended. Feigned disbelief that my precious angel would ever act such a way in a classroom. I could have spun a narrative that the teacher was the problem. I could have marched my butt to the front office and demanded an explanation for the grading disparity 

But I trust my daughters teacher. 

Because who works that hard, for that many children, with that many criticizing eyeballs, for what is probably an offensively low paycheck?

I’ll tell you who. A freaking saint.

Be kind to your children’s teachers. Listen to their feedback. Their eyes see things that ours do not, and their insight is invaluable.

Today, I’m thankful for teachers. And for another opportunity to teach this little monster about listening ears.