Big Changes, Part 2

Read Big Changes, part 1 here.

Recently Connor's classroom was assigned a long-term substitute, which of course was causing the behavior issues in his classroom to escalate. Connor had been coming home telling me how awful it was, and he even wrote a paper describing some of the incidents that occurred, including a child that threw his heavy book bag at the substitute and another child that kicked a fellow classmate in the privates. Jeff and I read Connor's written account and kind of looked at each other in surprise. 

Connor in his classroom (Dec 2012)

A few days later, I was in Connor's classroom for a Junior Achievement session. Before the kids came into the room, I encountered the substitute who was visibly shaken and telling me about the terrible behavior of the kids that day. I was a little nervous but assured her that we could get the kids back in order once they returned from Art. I was wrong.

As the kids came back into the classroom to take their seats, I attempted to get everyone's attention and corral them towards our floor circle so that we could start our Junior Achievement lesson. There were many well-behaved children in the room, but I was floored/shocked/appalled at the behavior of the others. They were out.of.control. Fighting, screaming, whining, kicking, cursing, and completely ignoring both myself and the substitute teacher. The sub was in tears and wanting to leave, and by the end of my visit, I was shaking with anger and disbelief at the complete disarray and chaos of the classroom.

I left the school that day overwhelmed with disappointment and regret because it finally dawned on me that I've left Connor in this horrible situation all year, despite his telling me over and over how bad it was. I was only in that classroom for 30 minutes and couldn't believe what I saw; Connor has been dealing with it for almost 6 months. My emotions went into a tailspin and I felt like I had failed him as a parent!

I informed the school counselor and assistant principle about the situation, and they began taking steps to rectify the classroom issues. However, it was just the last straw for us. I immediately withdrew Connor from the school and decided to keep him at home until we could figure something else out. In God's perfect timing, Jeff and I reached a deal on another home in Katy that very same day.

Connor spent a week at "home school" which included trips to the library, his favorite.

Jeff and I are extremely relieved about getting Connor into a new school, but we are also dealing with a ton of stress and disappointment. We are truly crushed about having to leave our house and community.

"Heartbroken" is the word I use to describe how I feel about the entire situation. I spent about a week in a constant state of tearing up over every little thing. I had a heart to heart conversation with Connor about everything and told him that I was so sorry for not really addressing his classroom issues before, but that after I witnessed the classroom behavior, I truly understood how bad it has been for him all year. His chin quivered and his eyes teared up and he said, "I know, it just really stinks." It broke my heart into a million pieces. I hugged him and explained that those behaviors I witnessed in his class were unacceptable and not the way we expect for our peers to act, and that his new school would be completely different. He teared up again because he said he would really miss one of his school friends. I said, "It's OK to be sad," and then we actually cried together as he buried his head in my shoulder.

Stay tuned for Big Changes, Part 3.