Tuesday, April 8, 2014

My first e-mail yesterday afternoon:

Hi Mrs. ________,

I was just wondering if you saw the note I paper clipped in Ethan's planner today regarding the scissor incident.  It may have slipped out.

I was curious as to what he was doing that was inappropriate with his scissors.  Was he putting himself or others in danger?  This concerns me.  I am thinking it must have been something along these lines to have them taken away and have it so he can only use scissors with your permission at your desk.  I have never noticed him to ever exhibit aggressiveness, so if he is having a change like this in behavior, I certainly want to know.  Can you give me the exact details so I can react accordingly with him? 

I will be at the school tomorrow for my daughters Kindergarten assessment at 8:20 so if we need to discuss this further, please let me know.  I am available.

Thank you,

Laura Kowalski


Her response:

​No, I did not see your note in the planner. Sorry~I wish he would of brought it tom my attention.   I was hoping that Ethan would have explained to you what he was doing.  Mrs. ____ had told me after switch time on Fri. that he was using the scissors on his arm.  She had asked him not to do that.  Another student in the class had alerted her to this.  Then later that day he was taking them and pretending to cut off his fingers.  Again, his neighbor next to him had alerted me to this.  I asked him to show me what he was doing and he showed me exactly what she had said.  He added he was not trying to cut them though.  Since it had already been addressed in the other room I told him it would be best to keep them on my desk. He did get mad at the classmate for telling me but I told him she did the right thing by letting me know.
Mrs. _____


My response:



Hello,

Thank ycou for quickly responding!  I appreciate it.

I had attached the note written on stationary paper with a paper clip.  It likely just fell off somewhere in his backpack or locker.  

I did ask Ethan what happened with the scissors prior to writing you.  He showed me motions he did on his hands, but nothing made me think it was in attempts to harm himself.  I simply wanted your side, as your note requested I discuss it with him and I wasn't sure exactly what there was to discuss.  I believe that when an issue occurs at school and the teacher handles it, it is redundant to discuss the same thing at home.  Now that I know the specifics and your concerns, we discussed the importance of not cutting our fingers or arms off and I do believe he has a firm understanding of how important these body parts are.  I do not think there will be any further amputation attempts.

Thank you for returning his scissors as well.  I respect your decision to remove them if you feel it could cause harm.  The note gave me the impression you were keeping them and he would not be getting them back, so I am glad you reconsidered.  

If you will notice in his planner from yesterday, he wrote his spelling words in the "things to study"column and next to certain words he wrote, "like me."  I discussed this with him as well and discovered these are not emotions he feels at home but instead at school.  This really saddens and disappoints me.  He was quite specific about why he felt that way at school.  Please discuss.

Laura Kowalski