So he gets even more annoying yesterday. Asks me to stop down in his office so he can talk to me about my article in the school newsletter. Let me post it here and see if you can figure out what he wanted to gripe about BEFORE I tell you. Because I had NO CLUE when I went down....
"Students in Mrs. Erdahl’s classroom spent the third quarter reading Science Fiction and Horror stories. The class encountered ghosts, madmen, mystery, and even a few murders! The focus of the unit was on mood, tone, and foreshadowing. We also practiced writing short answer and extended response questions for the 8th grade Reading Achievement Test. We are now beginning a novel about the Underground Railroad entitled The House of Dies Drear. Students will be reading this book through March and the begin-ing of April in prepara-tion for a field trip to the Freedom Center in Cincinnati. "
Any idea yet? Okay, it was over the word "Horror". He was worried that parents would be upset that the kids are reading these stories. He would have preferred I just said "Science Fiction". I told him that they were two totally separate genres and that horror was a recognized genre. He basically said he would prefer I lie (he didn't say lie but that's what he meant). I told him that I got the word from our textbook. The book that was BOARD APPROVED. He said, "Well I'll need to see it. Make sure you show me where it says that in the textbook."
The whole time we were having this conversation my mouth was practically hanging open and I couldn't stop thinking, "Are you kidding me???????" It's become quite the joke with my team. While I'm slightly paranoid that it will get back to him that I am joking about the situation, a HUGE portion of my could care less if he hears it, because that's exactly what it is- a HUGE joke.
This man needs to retire, and soon. Oh, and I DID prove it to him. I photocopied the page in our book where it named Edgar Allen Poe as the father of the horror story.
5 comments:
Oh my! He needs to retire or get with the program. Shouldn't he know what the curriculum is???
You gotta love it when you can prove in black and white that someone is wrong. Especially when thier point is so ridiculous.
Besides, ask the kids what they have an interest in reading and i'm sure "horror" would be on the list (they're 8th graders for crying out loud!). In my opinion, anything that gets kids actually reading should be commended!
What I find most amusing about this situation is that he actually wanted you to lie about the board approved curriculum! Unbelievable!
Glad you got to prove him wrong!!
How far is your boss from retirement? And I'd think that if parents had any problems with their children reading horror stories they would've said something.
Another issue i take with this, is if parents have the nerve to call over the newsletter it makes me question what they know about their kids. Shouldn't they already KNOW that their kids have read this stuff?
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