Holden's teacher, old Spencer, is reminding him of the string of schools he's flunked out of. Pencey Prep is simply the latest in a long line of academic failures. The problem is that Holden simply doesn't care. He's got other things on his mind. His brother's death. His dysfunctional family. His love, Jane. His sister, Phoebe.
My wife got a phone call from my son's kindergarten teacher this afternoon. She told my wife she's "at a loss" with my son. He's not listening, not behaving, not following directions. Mind you, it's only the second day she's had my son in class, and she's already at a loss. She's not sure if my son has the "maturity" for kindergarten.
He's been going to school for two years already. He was a leader in class last year. My son's former teacher told us he was "more than ready" for kindergarten this year.
I have been a teacher for over 20 years at the university level. I've had my share of difficult students. I can't think of a single time in my entire teaching career that I've written off a student on the second day of class. In fact, I go out of my way to insure that my students succeed. That's what good teachers are supposed to do, preschool through grad school.
I'm trying not to be defensive. I'm trying to give my son's teacher the benefit of the doubt. I'm not doing a good job at either. I told my wife that I'm going to give this situation about a week. If we get another phone call like the one we received this afternoon, I'm going to make some phone calls myself.
If you can't tell, I'm a little worried about this situation. I allowed my daughter to go through a year of elementary school with a teacher who was difficult, to put it nicely. That was a mistake. I will not make the same mistake again.
Saint Marty has his son's back.
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| At a loss |
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