Dear Parent,
I am sorry to hear that your child is overwhelmed by the spelling list I sent home on Monday. In class, your child does not seem discouraged or frustrated when we practice our spelling words. I know that students can react differently at home than they do at school, however I am completely astounded that his or her reaction is as drastically different as your led me to believe it was. It does not help me teach your child any better to hear that the frustrations at home exist. In fact, it tends to indicate to me that the method you are using may contribute to the frustration, but I digress.
In addition to the puzzling frustration, I am perplexed at your timing when you tell me about said frustration. What is your intent in telling me this on Thursday, the day before the spelling test? Do you think this will cause me to change the spelling words for the test? Is your plan to get me to "throw out" the spelling test altogether? If I trashed lesson plans based on one particular student every time a student was frustrated or discouraged (even for moment!), I would never teach anything I set out to teach.
Honestly, I believe you think I am a pushover. I'm not. I'm certain you've felt some push-back from me when you tried to sway me before. I would encourage you to get over this one time discouragement. I believe your child acts in a way that shows frustration, discouragement, or signs of being overwhelmed when he or she is working on this list at home. Those "symptoms" at home don't lead me to any "diagnosis" that will change what I am doing for tomorrow's test.
I am truly sorry that your child feels discouraged. Please don't bring it to me because you're upset. Call a friend and vent, or if you really feel you need more help than that, seek out a professional. I'm not here to make YOU feel better. I'm here to teach your child, and NO ONE learns by doing things they already know how to do. The spelling list is designed to be challenging, and to push your child to achieve more. Don't you think I am aware how your child does on spelling tests? I have a grade book full of numbers indicating how well or poorly your child has done on previous tests. I still chose to assign this spelling list.
In case you are under the impression that a spelling list is only about learning how to spell the words on the list, it isn't. There are other aspects that a spelling test assesses. Among many others are listening/dictation skills and practicing the spelling of certain SOUNDS. That's right-it's not just about "high frequency" words and how to know the letter combinations of words. It's also about helping students to understand the sounds within words. Phonemes, phonograms, etc....call them what you will, but these letter combinations are what will assist your child in both writing and reading for the rest of his or her life. I know some adults who might benefit from this sort of practice.
A few more points to add...mistakes are learning opportunities. I know that children can get discouraged by their mistakes, but I am trying to teach my students how to learn from their mistakes and use their past mistakes to help them succeed. If your child is discouraged or overwhelmed by something in class, I will adjust as needed to help them to succeed. Also, if they are discouraged or overwhelmed by something I assigned to them and demonstrate this discouragement at home, BY ALL MEANS mention it to me, but NOT one day prior to the test. That's silly. I can't help your child with only one day's notice. Lastly, teachers can make mistakes, too. Have I ever assigned something that was WAY too hard (or too easy)? Of course! Do I try to learn from those mistakes and avoid assigning things that aren't at the right level again? Absolutely! Thank you for calling the difficulty to my attention...however, it was a little late this time. If you had mentioned it to me on Tuesday, I might have been able to help your child, adjust the plan, or skip it altogether. Unfortunately, I can't this time. My other students have been planning and practicing these words all week, and it's not fair to them (or their parents) to change plans now.
Sincerely,
Your Child's Teacher
