So just yesterday I posted about how my life was going to get easier. This broke down into 2 major parts. 1. I was finally given permission to fail a student who totally deserved it--she hadn't done any homework, nor had she taken the midterm or final exam. Getting the permission to fail her was extremely exciting, since it felt like there might be some sense of merit in this school system. 2. I got my class assignments for next term. They are all upper level, and none of them involve working with Pee Mam (who makes my life a terrible adventure in what bullshit will randomly appear each day).
Problem 1
Welp, today everything fell to pieces. I was told that while I was allowed to give the girl a grade 0, I would have to give her a retest at the beginning of next term so that she could get a passing grade. Why, you may ask? Because it is school policy. While this is irritating enough, it got significantly worse when Pee Mam (back from her seminar/vacation) got wind of it. She immediately called the girl's mom to school so we could "solve the problem." And by solve the problem I mean they could convince me not to give the girl a grade 0, even for the 2 week break until she gets a retest. They actually called me out of one of my final exams to have this conversations (not one, not two, but three phone calls).
When I got there, I was sat down with this woman and Pee Mam. It took a while before I realized it was the kid's mom. They then proceeded to explain to me that the girl had missed the final because she was sick. Well, what about the midterm? Or all of the other assignments she never did. Their answers were nothing but a string of excuses. Did she know she had homework? they ask me. Well, I would certainly assume so, since I wrote it on the board, said it out loud, reminded them, and the other students turned it in. They assured me that while she was bad in the beginning of the term, she was being a very diligent student now! Yeah, not in my class--our midterm was only a couple weeks ago, and she just skipped that and never did a makeup test.
Bottom line is the kid did nothing for my class and both the mother and Pee Mam wanted me to pass her anyway. I kept trying to explain to them that passing this girl wouldn't be fair to the other students who actually had done all of the work, but they just ignored me. It would have been easy to stand my ground against just the mother, but I kept getting bullied by Pee Mam too. "We must find a solution to this problem," she kept repeating. What sort of solution do you want? The girl blew off my class, and she should fail. It isn't right that she should get a free pass now that the term is over.
But the relentless bullying was not to end, and it got more and more intense as the conversation progressed. At last I broke. I agreed to let the girl take the final exam next week. If she passes, I will give her grade 1, and no higher. The mother seemed satisfied by this, and thanked me as she left. Pee Mam, on the other hand, thought that I should allow the girl to get a higher grade than 1. What a load of shit. The kid should fail, there is no way in hell I am giving her anything other than the bare minimum passing score, and that is only if she passes the final. We will see. Needless to say, I am feeling pretty awful right now. So much for my morals.
Problem 2
The next issue concerns my classes for next term. I thought I had it all figured out--a nice solo teaching schedule with M3, M4, and M5. Well, Pee Mam has other plans for me. She is ok with me doing solo teaching for M3 and M5, but she won't let go of me as a co teacher for M4. According to her, that would be too many class hours if I did M4 solo, since M4 meets several times a week. The obvious solution is that I do solo in M4 the same way I do solo in every other level--I teach 1 or 2 periods a week, and a Thai teacher does the other sessions. We cover similar material, but do it separately. So this "too many hours" excuse is a total load of crap. The real reason she objects to me doing M4 solo is that she doesn't want to lose a co teacher. Having a co teacher means that she can disappear to all parts of Thailand for her "seminars" with no notice, leaving me to cover for her. This is exactly why I can't work with her anymore. She leaves school, never having told me anything, and doesn't tell me what she wants taught. She constantly throws me into the classroom with no handouts or preparation. She will change her mind on topics the morning of a class. It is the most stressful work environment possible. I can never adequately prepare for those classes, so I feel like an idiot and my students suffer. I just want to be left alone so I can actually teach my students, rather than basically substitute teach for Pee Mam whenever she decides to disappear.
So now I am really worried. She is going to the sciences head to demand that I stay as a co teacher...I would rather die. I have already gone to Pee Neat to ask for help, and the conclusion is that we will go to the sciences head again this afternoon. That way we can make our point really clear--that it would be better for me and for the students if I were allowed to solo teach.
And the kicker? Pee Mam has decided to add an extra class of for me. So each week I have to sit and teach the teachers English language for the classroom. I have said I will teach one of these a week, but she was like "oh, I don't know, it will be hard for all the teachers to arrange their schedules for that. Maybe we do one every day." HELL NO. So I am also being dragged into the extra classes. Which I am going to make into extra class, singular.
Anyway, as you can see, things have deteriorated a bit. I am just trying to hang in there. Only 2 weeks and a day until Andrew gets here. I need it very much.
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