Mass Behavior

We had parent-teacher conferences last week. I usually get a little anxious during conferences because just when I think everything is going great, a parent surprises me with a "I can't believe how terrible at teaching you are!"

Well maybe it's not that bad, but every once in a while I do get caught off guard. This year's fall conferences went great. No big surprises, everyone seems satisfied with their child's progress, lots of funny stories.

I did have one humorous surprise though. I was meeting with Samantha's parents and it was going great. Samantha does very well academically and is an extremely funny little girl. I shared a few of Samantha's funny comments, and her parents told me a few of the stories she tells them about me. The parents and I both agreed that Samantha's biggest struggle was spelling in her everyday writing.

Then Samantha's mother asked if she had gotten in trouble at mass earlier in the year. I explained that I didn't recall any incidents with Samantha and that I usually tell the class that they should know how to act at mass since they are 4th graders. Occasionally, if the class has trouble acting like '4th graders' they lose a couple minutes of recess.

Samantha's mom laughed and said she must have been part of the reason they lost minutes because she found what looked like an apology letter for her mass behavior. She said she kept it because she thought it was quite funny. She also asked if I wanted her to send it to me because I might get a kick out of it. So without further ado... How to behave like a fourth grader at mass: