[Detector]

With all the recent attacks by school kids going postal I have tried to imagine what could be the cause. I know a lot has to do probably with home issues, but I heard this story and was appalled that we allow this grade of teachers on the payroll.

A student at the Middle School got his test paper back with an A and was very excited. He was so excited he jumped up and down and said "WooHoo!" when the teacher saw him she approached him and angrily asked what he was so happy about. He said he was happy because he got an A. She grabbed the paper from him and said it was a mistake and marked the A and F and made him set in the hall while the rest of the kids had a party.

When the parent approached the teacher to ask why her kid was punished she said it was because the kid was happy about receiving the F. The parent showed the teacher where the A had been changed to an F and said her son thought he had gotten an A not an F and thats what he was happy about but it didn't matter to the teacher.

I hear this incident may be taken to the superintendent or higher but I doubt it will make a difference. Now I can understand the mistake in the grade on the test but I just don't get the lack of tact in correcting the mistake. If this kid was prone to going postal I could sure see where this could trigger a retaliation from the student. How many innocent bystanders could also be hurt from this teachers obvious lack of caring?

The reason this story hit home with me is because I had a similar situation but it was handled totally differently.

In Junior High I took a test and the teacher made a mistake and gave me an A. I was very excited, and surprised, and the teacher seeing this approached me and saw the mistake. She explained that a mistake had been made but told me if I had a 15 minutes, she would give me a chance to earn that grade. She went through each question I got wrong and made sure I understood how to arrive at the correct answer. Once she felt confident, and myself as well, that I could get that A she left the grade as it was.

Not only did I really feel she cared about me as a student I was encouraged to do better and did so. It also made me feel better about myself. I've heard that infamous teachers excuse for not wanting to help of "He could do a lot better thats why I punished him." and "He's not doing as good as he has the potential to do." This is nothing more than an excuse to keep parents from going postal.

A good teacher has the ability to bring the potential out of a student. Some of the teachers are there simply for a paycheck but they seem to forget just where that paycheck comes from.