Number 5 in the Family Series: Dante's Perspective

So now it’s Dante’s turn.

He is probably the most philosophical of all of us.  He is a very deep thinker, very sensitive, and is profoundly affected by all that goes on in his environment.

He is, however, kinda out of touch with the political ins and outs of all of this “government/teacher stuff.”  He admits it.

Dante’s input had to be obtained in a very different method from his brother and sister.  I interviewed him and recorded his feedback on my phone and transcribed the conversation. 

Why did he not just write something like his brother and sister did?  He’s 11, after all…what’s with the helicopter parenting?

Dante has an undiagnosed learning disability. 

“Oh, sure,” you say, “doesn’t everyone’s kid who is too lazy to write?”

                        -A phrase often spoken by people who don’t understand learning disabilities. And I understand learning disabilities…it’s a huge part of my job.  In fact, my experience in spotting undiagnosed L.D caused me to look into my own son’s learning struggles.

Dante is verbally gifted but struggles with what we in the biz call “written output.”  You have seen his work right here on this blog.  I included a sample of his work from two years ago on my first family series entry.  There is no mistaking his talent with words, and his learning disability.

For all of the obvious signs, I can’t get him a coding (ministry designation) in the school district in which he attends school because there are only two district psychologists for the entire district.  The cuts have been so severe that there are only TWO SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS FOR THE ENTIRE DISTRICT!!!!!!!!! 

*That* frustration is for its own blog post.

Now onto Dante’s interview:  my questions will be in regular font and Dante’s answers will be in italics.

How many kids are in your class this year, do you know?

30.  It just keeps getting worse, every class I’m in.  It’s noisier and everything.

What about library?  Do you have a librarian at your school?

Yeah.

Do you get to be in the library on a regular basis?

Every Tuesday, we have, like and hour or a half an hour. 

Isn’t it true that your school only has one box of chalk for the entire school for the teachers to use?

Yeah, I heard an announcement: “return the box of chalk because everybody needs it.”

That’s crazy.

What’s it like having a teacher for a parent?

Um…normal, I guess.  I don’t know it’s much different.  It’s just a job.  Everybody has stories about their job.  Some more than others, like being a teacher you have to put up with a bunch of stuff.

Oh, yeah?  Like what?  What do we have to put up with?

I don’t know, a bunch of random stuff sometimes…random stuff at random times, sometimes and sometimes everything is connected.

What have you thought about missing all that school for rotating strikes?  Do you care?

Do I care about missing school?

Yeah.

Honestly, I’d rather be at home… hanging out with you and dad…obviously.  But I know it’s bad that, um, it’s bad that the teachers are on strike but I like not having that much school because, honestly, I’d rather be at home, doing something I actually like…and  that interests me.  But if I had M. as a teacher, I would like school much, much more.

Oh yeah?  Why is that?

Because he is very interesting and he likes the same stuff that I like and we’re so much alike and that’s the only reason I would like school more is because it would actually be interesting… not that school isn’t already interesting, but you know what I mean.

Yeah.

Sometimes it’s really boring…most of the time.

So you’re saying if you have a teacher you know and like then they make things more interesting because you are more interested in what they have to say because you like them as a person?

Yeah. 

What do you think would happen if the government, took away codings – a way to let teachers know how to help kids?

That would suck. 

Like, let’s say I couldn’t give your teachers your little profile that we give them in the beginning of the year and you always say “it’s time to have *that* conversation with my teacher…” about how you learn and stuff.  What if I wasn’t allowed to do that.

That would suck….epic.

Why?

Because people wouldn’t understand you and they won’t know how to teach you, or work with you, or connect to you and it’s just useless.  If they can’t do that then they can’t successfully do their job.

Gotcha.  So before we started doing that, this is way back, what was it like for you in a classroom?

Honestly, I don’t remember.  You probably remember more than me.  I know you are not me and can’t speak for me but…you know what I mean.

Yeah, that was a long time ago.  All you remember is teachers working with us to let us do the thing where I scribe for you and stuff.  Does that help you?

When you scribe for me?

Yeah.

100 per cent. 

What if teachers weren’t allowed to do that anymore?

Is it ever going to be like that?

I hope not.

It probably won’t.

What about your support teacher?

I don’t have that any more.

Why?

 I don’t know.  I assumed I just didn’t need one any more. I mean, it’s nice to get out of class and hang out with people.

Now you get to hang out with your Aboriginal support teacher, right?

Yeah.  It’s also really good because I get out of math.  I hate it so much.

What would you say to people who say that teachers are lazy…

That is just not true.

…they say we are lazy because we don’t work in summer…

That’s not true…there is summer school. You do summer school all the time…well, every second year and I don’t know much about it but I do know that teachers are not actually lazy because I’ve been around a lot of bad teachers and a lot of great teachers and I know they are not lazy.

I don’t know if the bad teachers and great teachers have any thing to do with it but I know you very rarely find a lazy teacher.  You *can’t* be lazy when you are a teacher. You always have work.  You always have files or report cards or read-ups you need to do on people so it’s impossible for a teacher to be lazy because you are not allowed to be.

Do you think teachers make that much money compared to the work we do?

No.  You should make more.

Yeah?  Why is that?

It’s just that you deserve more because, like, people don’t know what you have to deal with…not saying that the kids are bad, per se, but I’m not saying just the bad things but…like mentally ill people…and people that need help…you know what I mean?

Teachers are just a bunch of…teaching is just a bunch of careers mashed up into one than just, you know, teaching…like counselling and all this.

So we do more than just teaching…

You *have to* do more than just teaching…

Is that what makes a good teacher is that they do more than just teaching? 

Most teachers have to do more than just teaching.  If you want to be a really nice,

and/or good teacher, you should definitely do more than just teach.  You should help people when they are feeling bad or when there is something wrong at their house, and they can’t talk to anyone, you should make them talk to you. 

I dunno, that’s just what I think because I know that’s what you do and I assume that you are a good teacher…which you are, so…

 

What about sometimes I come home and I don’t have a lot of patience for you…

That makes sense…

 do you think that is just part of the deal or….?

I think it makes sense that you don’t have patience because you have to deal with…especially when I don’ t want to do my homework…because you have to deal with kids that don’t wanna do stuff all day, every day, so…

You seemed really upset when I said that people think teachers are lazy…

Yeah, I hear that on the radio a lot.  It makes no sense.  How can people not “get” teachers?  It makes no sense.

What if Christy Clark came to your school for a visit and she asked you how she was doing in education.  What would you say?

What she was doing to education or how she was doing?

Like how could she improve education?

How she could improve?  (he laughs)  Just get someone new…just don’t be there any more…just leave.

(laugh) Just quit!

Yeah!  That’s the only way to solve her problems…just quit.

The only way to solve the problems between the teachers and the government is if she quit?

Mhmm.

Why?

Because she just naturally sucks.  She is terrible to teachers and they don’t deserve it.  Teachers are great people…well…I’m going to say most teachers are great people because I have been around many terrible teachers…but most teachers are great people who don’t deserve that.  And I don’t think they deserve the crap they have to put up with with her. 

They have to put up with enough stuff…and not “put up with” like they don’t want to do this, I’m saying “put up with” in a good way.  They have to put up with stuff, it’s not like they don’t want to, they want to help people and that’s good because you should want to help people. 

How would you make school better?

Um….oh…um….

…have more teachers like you because it would be more fun and, you know, cool.  Just have a whole school of you and M. and of course your friends cuz I know you only hang out with good teachers. 

What would you say to teachers to make them feel better about all of this stuff?  What would you say to the teachers you like?  Like, M?

I don’t know.  I probably wouldn’t talk about it.  I would try to take his mind off it all by playing Heroclix or something.  Just don’t bring it up.

So, there you go.  Wisdom from an 11 year old boy.  He doesn’t really know what’s going on but he knows that Christy Clark needs to quit and we need to do what we like to get our minds off all of this nonsense…like Heroclix…or whatever your favourite thing is.

Good advice.

So take it, Christy, and quit.  J