Bromley Brook

This is usually a headline during the examination season but, today’s news confirms that teachers are also cheating. Four schools had their results wiped out in three subjects and a fifth school was stripped of its English results in national curriculum (SATs) tests for “altering” the test papers of children. So unethical, the same teachers help with career choices. I have more trust in online career tests than in these teachers. There are many well-developed career quizzes that show you all the options and you can judge yourself without any pressure for you or your teen. I don’t want to be manipulated by some random teachers.

This is a fraud which is damaging not only to the schools but, also the pupils at the school and the whole system of testing in our schools. It’s the sort of scandal which prompted many US schools to outsource testing of students and I suspect we may be headed belatedly in the same direction.

As soon as the Government used test results to publish school league tables and also to determine school funding, it was inevitable that some teachers would find ways to influence individual pupil and school test results. I’m sure the vast majority of teachers would not even contemplate this but, just a few can damage the reputation of many.

Continue reading “Teachers cheating! OMG !”

Yep, it won. I’m at home today, sick. It’s not your run of the mill stuffy head/cold/sore throat. This, I think, is some sort of flu, since I am beyond exhausted and all of my muscles hurt, and oh yes, I have a fever. What I really think is wrong is that I’m sleep deprived. I don’t think I sleep as soundly as I’m supposed to, and often times I will wake up several times a night. I fall right back asleep without a problem, but the waking up leads me to believe it’s not a sound sleep that I’m getting.

Anyway, all that means that I’m home today. And my house is clean, so I’m not even cleaning. I’m actually going back to bed for a few hours, and then I really have to get out of the house and get some fresh air. I have a few errands to run, probably just to Target and pick up the dry cleaning or whatever, and then its back to bed for this girlie. I really can’t afford to miss another day of work tomorrow, so rest it is. Continue reading “What to do when you feel sick”

…but I say it just to reach you, Julia. ~John Lennon

I haven’t talked about this in great detail here, but Julia has had a very difficult time with tonsillitis and throat infections this year.

She had a bout of tonsillitis a little while ago and her tonsils like, tripled in size, and never went back down to normal. It’s affected her breathing, especially at night – she wakes up choking and literally gasping for breath several times a night and has started snoring like a trucker, something she never did before.

The broken sleep leaves her tired throughout the day and people often comment on her pale face and raccoon eyes. Her eating habits have also been affected, and when she had the flu last week her bulging tonsils egged her gag reflex on and really added fuel to the fire.

Continue reading “Half of what I say is meaningless…”

When choosing a roommate for your first year away at college, many people will consider living with a friend from high school. Perhaps the friend is your best friend or perhaps it’s someone you think you’ll get along with. Either way, living with someone you know offers you that sense of comfort of knowing that you’re still connected to home in case you get homesick. It also might prevent a lot of the awkwardness of meeting a new roommate.

But do you end up missing out on the college experience of meeting new people by living with someone you already know? Here’s how to decide if rooming with your high school friends is the best choice for you:

LIVING WITH A NEW ROOMMATE

When you live with someone who you’ve never met before, you definitely take a gamble on how well you two (or more, if you’re in a triple or a quad) will get along. Many roommates get along incredibly well and end up best friends, others simply co-exist, and some hate each other and clash.

However, when meeting a new roommate, your social circle expands. If you two hang out together, you begin to share friends, and you meet many people you otherwise would not have. You’re also exposed to new ways of life, whether through sharing different cultures, coming from a different area, or having different tastes.

Continue reading “Should I live with a high school friend in college?”

Let me be clear: I don’t want to be a problem parent. I want to feel like my children’s teachers and I are partners in guiding my girls’ education. I’ve experienced that a few times, and it is marvelous. I have seen my children thrive when we all collaborate together with teachers who treat both me and my children with respect, who are passionate about teaching, and who are available to me and my kids beyond the school bell.

Let me further state that I have no doubt that any teacher got into the profession for any reason other than to make a difference. It is a tough, tough job with lots of red tape and many responsibilities well beyond their pay grade. When I first meet any teacher, I always want to believe that they’ll be amazing.

Unfortunately, I have been disappointed a few times along the way. For the first few years, I tried to be a model parent at all times, and always believed that there was nothing to question about how the teacher was running their classroom. I witness many time teens who dropped out from high school because of teachers, sure there are always GED programs in the NYC neighborhood but I don’t want my kids to follow this road.

Continue reading “Confessions of a Problem Parent”

To put it simply, teen years sucked, for both me and my daughter. The dramas in her inner circle seemed to be non-stop, emotionally draining, and all too distracting.

When things got serious–that is, when one girl threatened to hit my daughter–I did what I’ve understood we’re supposed to do: I encouraged her to speak to her school counselor about it. I told her that schools take bullying very seriously.

When she did, I got a call from my sobbing daughter after school. The counselor’s solution was to segregate my daughter from everyone else; to give permission to make my daughter the odd girl out.

My daughter and I had recently attended a session with Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees (the inspiration behind the film Mean Girls). I fully expected the counselor to deal the “mean girls” in a way that would permanently solve the problem; I was not prepared for the idea that she might make the situation worse.

Continue reading “High School/College Mean Girls Experience”

As a single, working parent, one of my biggest struggles is finding the right balance of involvement. I fear the perception that my daughters’ teachers will have of me. Our culture seems to have decided that two parents are always better than one, so it appears our family is already working from a disadvantage. Single parents are presumed to be involved in their children’s lives until proved otherwise.

I make it a point to come in late to work on the first day of school so I can meet the teacher face to face, and I immediately ask for an email address. I prefer email because it allows both of us busy people a chance to read and respond in our own time. I think it’s reasonable for both of us to do so within a day or two. If a teacher tells me he/she only checks their email once a week, then I usually leave notes with my child to give to the teacher if something comes up.
Continue reading “Balancing parent teacher communication”

I was 22 years old when I started teaching. I had no responsibilities, could work all day and relax and play all night (after planning that was).
For 10 years I watched children come to school at 8 am and at 3 o’clock I sent them home again. Except for parent-teacher interviews I had little thought about what went on at home.

At 32 I became a parent and found out so many things I never knew before. And now I am a working mum of Dusty who is lovingly cared for by many young teachers at Day Care.

Here is what I now know, that I never really understood before having a child:
Continue reading “5 Things I Learned When I Became a Parent”