Would You Rather...Be a Louse or a Wimp?

I’ve got this kid in my class, as all teachers do, who’s basically a good kid, but every now and then he gets a little squirrelier than he should.  My sense is that he wants to do the right thing, but sometimes he just can’t help himself, and sometimes he just gets caught up in what the “naughty” kids are doing, and instead of doing something different, he chooses to go along with them.  But basically, his heart is in the right place and I truly think he means well.

Lately though, things have started to escalate and I’ve been wondering if it’s time to contact his parents.  He’s starting to really rush through his work, turning in “slip slop” as I call it, and his behavior is going downhill as well (during our recent field trip to the Post Office he was one of the four kids I had to keep in my “hand-holding rotation” because he just couldn’t keep it together).

Whenever I find myself in situations like this I always ask myself if the student’s behavior is such that I would want to know about it if I were the parent.  Last night I decided that yes, I’d want to know, and that yes, I would, in fact, email his parents today and let them know.

Let me back up just a teeny tiny smidge here before I continue.  Remember how just the other day I was feeling nostalgic for letter writing, and how I told you how dear I hold all my cheesy high school letters I have in my garage…you know, the ones written on notebook paper?  Well…

Today, the very day that I’m going to contact this kid’s parents, he marches in with a huge smile on his face and guess what he’s got in his hand?  You got it…a letter!  And guess what kind of paper the letter’s written on?  Yep again…notebook paper!  And guess who the letter is for?  Righty-o…me!

And here’s what the slightly-crumpled, written-on-notebook-paper letter said:  “Dear Mrs. J, I like you being my teacher.  I like when you read to me.  I like when you let me have extra recess.  I like you being my teacher.”

It’s got hearts all over it; in fact there are hearts within hearts, and he’s even drawn an adorable frog at the bottom with a huge smile on its face. 

So now what am I supposed to do?  I really do need to inform his parents of his behavior, but I’m going to feel like a total louse if I do it today.  (Mind you, lots of kids give me little notes and pictures and such, but this kid has never done anything like that before.)  Why, oh why, did he have to do it today?!

It’s like he’s read my mind…and my blog!  I suppose it won’t hurt if I wait one more day to tell his parents, will it?  Hey, better to be a wimp than a louse…that’s what I always say!