Maybe I Should Read

A big downfall of mine is that I hate to read. I know, I know, most people who enjoy writing, also enjoy reading. Not me. I also realize that I am a big hypocrite as I ask my students to read for twenty minutes a night, all while telling them how much I enjoy it.

Not reading doesn't necessarily get you in trouble very often. However, this morning I was slapped in the face with the repercussions of not reading. My lazy a$$, rather than reading through the pile of handouts I needed to selectively send home to the families (key word selectively), I decided to just send them all home. I read the first line, as I often do with everything, and became bored. What I gained from the line I read was, "Please read and sign." Well, that was all I needed to see to know that I must send this home.

I was wrong. If I had read further, as all of the parents did, I would have seen that the next line told the parents that their child had failed a recent assignment and needed to correct it. My morning was spent reading notes from confused parents, since there are very few graded assignments at our school. It took a little time to hand-write letters back explaining my horrid mistake, although I was sure to make it seem like it was a mistake I had only made with their child and not the entire class. Wording such as, "I sincerely apologize, as I sent the wrong sheet home with Max last night," and la-te-da. 

I explained my mistake to the kids, who all but one, found it hilarious. I think, truly, they like to know that their teacher makes mistakes too. The kid who wasn't finding it funny, was the kid who straight facely explained that his mother was furious with him and grounded him last night. He was not allowed to watch TV or talk on the phone last night. He simply had to do his homework and then go to his room for the rest of the night.

I immediately felt horrible and grabbed my cell phone while standing there in front of the class. I apologized endlessly to this poor boy and asked him for his mother's phone number so I could call her on the spot and clear the air. That is when that little sh*t started laughing. He hadn't gotten in trouble at all. His mother didn't necessarily seem to care. If only I could have punished him for his little joke!