[Vision2020] students and learning WAS: RE: [Spam 5.51] Re: This is Wrong on So Many Levels . . .

Sun Nov 18 16:54:46 PST 2012

A bit off topic: This classroom incident reminded me of my own childhood schoolroom humiliation. When I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, we had ‘music’ during the day. One day the teacher asked us all to close our eyes and imagine a ‘picture’ in our minds while we listened to Grieg’s ‘Morning Mood’ from Peer Gynt. Each student was called on in turn, describing their  ‘waterfalls,’ or pretty forest scenes. But when my turn came, I could offer nothing. I had no mental imagery. Nada. I was mortified. I felt like I was defective.  Nevertheless I was instantly enchanted by the music (and it was the first classical recording I ever requested for a Christmas present).  But I don’t blame the teacher; I doubt that she had any idea that I was having that reaction, nor did she intend this to happen. After all, most people easily form mental pictures while listening to music. I have NEVER cared to do so.  And although I became a composer with international prizes and performances, and numerous publications, the memory of the experience gives me shudders to this day.

Kids are delicate.

Bob Dickow, troublemaker

From: Tom Hansen [mailto:thansen at moscow.com] 
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 3:53 PM
To: Shirley Ringo
Cc: Robert Dickow; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: [Spam 5.51] Re: [Vision2020] This is Wrong on So Many Levels . . .

The impression I was left with, after reading the article, was that the "powers that be" we're merely going to let sleeping dogs lie . . . at least until the next reading assignment and those with marked faces board the bus again.

If this were done at home by parents, what would the charges be?

Esto perpetua, VPeeps!

Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"

http://www.MoscowCares.com

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

On Nov 18, 2012, at 3:51 PM, "Shirley Ringo" <ringoshirl at moscow.com> wrote:

Has anyone heard how the District plans to handle this?  The very idea of using humiliation as a teaching tool is beyond belief.  There should be strong disciplinary action against the teacher. 

Shirley

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Robert Dickow <mailto:dickow at turbonet.com>  

To: vision2020 at moscow.com 

Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 1:48 PM

Subject: Re: [Vision2020] This is Wrong on So Many Levels . . .

Yes, this was a really disturbing situation. One question I have is would it be best to fire/discipline the teacher straight away, or primarily turn it into a constructive lesson for the students in the class. It was the students in the class who chose the marking-pen-on-the-face punishment rather than a learning rewards pattern. Of course the teacher should have caught the problem right then and there. But the students need to learn that this sort of choice is demeaning, socially unacceptable behavior. Have there been any follow-up news items on this story? 

Bob Dickow, troublemaker

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Donovan Arnold
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 12:28 PM
To: Tom Hansen; Rosemary Huskey
Cc: Moscow Vision 2020
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] This is Wrong on So Many Levels . . .

This is child abuse. Not to mention telling other students what another student scored on a test is illegal and a violation of their rights to academic confidentiality. 

Donovan J. Arnold

From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>
To: Rosemary Huskey <donaldrose at cpcinternet.com> 
Cc: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] This is Wrong on So Many Levels . . .

Exactly, Rose.

Those students who are struggling to achieve, in spite of their learning handicaps, are being told by Ms. Summer Larsen that they are failures.  

Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"

http://www.MoscowCares.com

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

On Nov 16, 2012, at 5:17 PM, "Rosemary Huskey" <donaldrose at cpcinternet.com> wrote:

I am sick as I read this.  I think if might be useful, or at the very least informative to Ms. Summer Larsen, if she heard from folks in North Idaho who have had the benefit of caring, compassionate, and mentally healthy teachers.  She is a monster.  Her email address can be found here:  https://sites.google.com/a/cassiaschools.org/declo_elementary/faculty-staff .  It might also be useful if the school principal, Mrs. Hunsaker, who apparently lacks the mother wit to identify the horrendous abuse taking place under her leadership had her own failures acknowledged.  Her email address can be found on the page above.  Unluckily for them (and sadly for the State of Idaho), the national press has picked up the story. It is to be hoped that the notoriety will end Ms. Larsen’s pathetic career.  One hardly knows what to think about the rest of the faculty who apparently continued business as usual in this hell hole masquerading at as school.

Rose Huskey 

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 12:18 PM
To: Moscow Vision 2020
Subject: [Vision2020] This is Wrong on So Many Levels . . .

Courtesy of the Magic Valley Times-News at:

http://tinyurl.com/ca7hgxf

-------------------------------------

Declo Teacher Allows Students to Draw on Faces as Reading 'Incentive'

DECLO • Fourth-graders who failed to achieve reading goals had their faces scribbled on with permanent marker by other students last week at Declo Elementary School — under the supervision of their teacher.

Some parents and Cassia County School District leadership are now decrying the consequences for the nine students, some of whom have learning problems.

When Cindy Hurst’s 10-year-old son arrived home from school Nov. 5, his entire face, hairline to chin, was scribbled on in red marker — including his eyelids. He also had green, red and purple scribble marks over the red, and his face was scratched by a marker that had a rough edge.

“He was humiliated, he hung his head and wanted to go wash his face,” said Hurst. “He knows he’s a slow reader. Now he thinks he should be punished for it.”

Hurst said her son is a quiet, tender-hearted boy who is always “extremely worried about pleasing his teacher.”

“I want to see positive changes made at the school and I’m not after anyone’s job,” she said.

Teacher Summer Larsen, who has taught at the school for six years, did not respond to a request by the Times-News for an interview.

But District Superintendent Gaylen Smyer confirmed what took place in her classroom, though he declined to name Larsen.

The 21 students in the class have Accelerated Reading goals where they read a set number of books in a given time frame, Smyer said.

Larsen allowed the students to choose their own incentive to meet the reading goal. The class chose to have students who did not meet the goal either stay inside at recess until the goal was met, or have their faces written on by their classmates who met their goals.

Nine of the students in the class did not meet their goals. Of those, six chose to have their faces marked on and three chose to forgo recess.

“Although all the students in the class agreed to the incentive, once it occurred it was not so well received. Nor should it have been,” Smyer said.

Administrators believe the students’ incentives may have been inspired by a recent PTO activity at which Declo Elementary Principal Rebecca Hunsaker allowed staff to paint her face and students to paint her hair, Smyer said.

Hunsaker did not respond to phone calls from the Times-News Thursday.

“What occurred with a principal is not the same when it occurs with a child,” Smyer said. “This is a serious concern.”

Parents’ Opinions Split

Not every parent agrees with Smyer. Karla Christensen’s daughter, who made her reading goal, is in Larsen’s fourth-grade class.

Christensen sometimes helps out in Larsen’s classroom and she said Larsen puts in extra effort — playing classical music and wearing a microphone so she doesn’t have to raise her voice to the children.

“I don’t feel like this was bullying. Bullying has a malicious intent. This was someone trying to get them motivated,” Christensen said. “I think it upset the parents more than the students.”

Christensen said if her daughter had come home with similar marks, she would have felt it was a reflection on her own parenting for not making sure her daughter reached her goal.

“I think (Larsen)is just a very creative teacher who was trying to do something to motivate the students and it went astray,” Christensen said.

LeRoy Robinson, a grandfather of two of the marked-up students, said Larsen made a “poor choice and basically, it was bullying.”

“I think children should feel safe at school and know the adults there will protect them,” he said.

Robinson said the children had their faces marked on in the morning. They had to leave it on all day, but were told to wash it off before they went home.

“It was a humiliation because they had to wear it all day and other kids were asking them about it and laughing at them,” he said.

The marker was hard to wash off, LeRoy’s wife, Karla, said. Both their grandchildren suffer from self-esteem issues and one child has learning problems, she said.

“Most of these kids were totally embarrassed and wanted to hide it from their parents, but the marker didn’t wash off,” Karla Robinson said.

Children who rode a bus home with junior high and high school students then suffered further humiliation, she said.

As a reward a child should never be allowed to belittle, make fun of or hurt someone else, she said.

Smyer said he could not confirm if the teacher faced disciplinary action, but parents reported she was absent from the classroom Nov. 7-9 and back in the classroom on Nov. 12.

Smyer said the district received some complaints from parents, while others were supportive.

Although teachers are allowed some latitude in class, he said, this incident comes down to an issue of safety in the classroom and school environment.

“There are things there that we questioned,” Smyer said.

Hurst said she has since removed her child from the situation.

“I am really saddened that the teacher didn’t use better judgment, as well as the principal when she learned about it,” Hurst said. “They marked the children as being less.”

-------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"

http://www.moscowcares.com/

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

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 serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
              http://www.fsr.net
         mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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