Now I am NOT bagging on Cary's teacher. She's a real sweetheart and she did a great job with him this year. But this was funny (in an annoying sort of way)...
Cary is the one with autism and he's in a regular classroom with some assistance. Because he has autism, he's eligible for sessions during the Fall, Spring and Summer breaks. Usually his teacher sends forms home and after they are returned, the school district mails information about where and when the classes are. They always do that LATE in the school year.
So I got the paperwork, I turned it back in and I had been meaning to follow up and make sure that they got it. I finally did that last week. When I e-mailed Cary's teacher, asking if his paperwork for summer school had gotten in, because I hadn't gotten anything in the mail, she responded that there was no summer school this year. When I asked why she said, "no money."
That very same day, I got the letter in the mail. So I called the next day to find out what was right, the teacher or the letter. That's when I was informed that Cary wasn't going to be in "summer school" but "extended school year".
Oops, scuse me, used the wrong terminology. But somehow I think his teacher should have known what I was talking about even so.
Did you ever call something by the wrong name and end up getting the wrong answer?
[question posted by dawnald]
responses and comments:
What??? Of course she had to know what you meant!!! Summer school, extended school year, whatever? And what about "no money"? Summer school, and extended school sure sound like the same thing to me!!! Yes, that's happened to me, but right now, I can't come up with an example. I just had to comment on that silly "misunderstanding"! Take care, and I hope Cary does well in all his schoolwork...summer, or regular! [marcyyyy]
Great expression. lol [dawnald]
Happens to me all the time. It's why I started the Word Club over on Yuwie. I see that a lot of misunderstanding (real, imagined, on purpose, accidently) happens due to words chosen or left out. Just last night on here...I was misunderstood by a responder on my Media Bias discussion. I went immediately to try and explain myself, on her discussion about my discussion....lol. Any way....language is powerful...but only so much as the mind of the talkers and listeners allow. :) Did I just confuse everyone? LOL [debrakcarey]
I was confused before you started. w00t Which reminds me to go and visit the club. I forget to visit clubs over there unless I get reminders from people. We need a club notification. Aargh... [dawnald]
Forgive her , she was probably at the end of a stressful day and didn't think about what she was writing. You did say that she has been so good with your son. [cynthiann]
Yeah or when they told her summer school was canceled she just thought it was everything including the special ed... [dawnald]
hiya dawn That's quite scary! Who is the teacher here? lol You'd think she would know the difference between the 2 aih? rolleyes Especially after getting the letter in the mail! I would've been like confused ... WTF??? LOL Aparently jumpers aren't jumpers anymore! blink, you know, those woolen garments that keep you warm I don't think my granddaughters even own any! I took the kids out yesterday and asked my daughter to put a jumper in the bag incase the weather turned... "they've got jumpers on".... long sleeved T-shirts are now called jumpers (I think you call them sweaters?) Alice [Aliceinwebland]
cus in California you sweat when you put one on!!!!! w00t [dawnald]
Dawn- I'm surprised she didn't know that Extended School Year (ESY) in special education was summer school, and schools can't cancel it due to money because they are financed for those classes out of specially ear-marked money. They can't refused ESY to a special education student, basically. I'm glad you straightened it out though. Don't feel bad though for the "terminology", even though cary's teacher is a sweetie, seems like she just wasn't on the ball that day lol. Have a great week. Namaste-Anora [Anora_Eldorath]
He has it every year, we accept, we send him, but nope I didn't know that they couldn't cancel it. Either his teacher didn't either or she was confused by the terminology. lol Either way it's straightened out and now I know!!! [dawnald]
omg... that is funny because we actually had the exact same problem. We said summer school, but they said extended school year. I'm like, well... isn't that the same thing? Oops.. my bad... surrender [Foxxee]
Yes, I'm sure he had fun, but how scary for you! Sometimes you just wonder how anything gets done right... [dawnald]
Well this was a case of my calling or saying something with the wrong name...didn't necessarily get a wrong answer though...just a chuckle and laugh from the person I was talking to. This goes to show you how computers have gotten in my brains and their "jargon"...One time I was talking about my mother and how in 1990, after some twenty years of work she was "downloaded" from her job....uh, meant downsized....blush The woman I was talking to at first didn't know what I meant and then "got" it and that's when she laughed at me.surrender [pyewacket]
Downloaded, my mother the computer. hahahahaha [dawnald]
no , till now i never call some thing by wrong name [lokesh755]
I hope your luck holds out. :-) [dawnald]
i think sometimes they should hand out notification of no longer PC terms. i had to call for animal control about a possibly rabid raccoon. i shocked to learn i needed to call the "invasive environmental wildlife interaction controlling manager" instead. wow.i wonder if a title like that got him more money instead of "animal control".blink [scarlet_woman]
Can't think of an instance where different terminology to describe same thing was a problem, but I think Cary's teacher knew exactly what you were talking about. If she didn't, then I don't think she should be in a position to teach others, and I'd certainly check on that! [Ldyjarhead]
Well hi there, long time no see!!! If she did know what I was talking about, she didn't know that it wasn't canceled. But she really did do a good job teaching him this year. [dawnald]
that is awful dawn, its exhausting for the kid and the parents. mind you i'm a good bit above average iq and say silly things all the time. [jb78000]
It's a little frustrating. At first I thought we had changed our vacation week for nothing and then I found out it was all right. Maybe the teacher just forgot we were talking about a special education kid. (?) [dawnald]
Actually something along this lines did happen and I just thought about it. When I was with my ex, he explained to me that where he lived there was a year-round school or a normal year. The normal year was like what we have now, 9 months in, 3 months (summer) out. The Year round program is all year 3 months in and 3 WEEKS out. I was excited that they could go all year round, meaning that they could all be 3 year graduates. I called to schedule an appointment to see the school and talk about the gifted children's program and see how that fit in with the year round curriculum. Yeah right, this lady told me that they don't go "year round". They only go 3 months in and 3 weeks out and three months in and two weeks out and then back to 3 months in and 3 weeks out! She must have been crabby, or doesn't like kids. I don't know but I told her that I was told that it wasn't like a normal school year. She yelled obscenities out at me and then explained that this was an "extended time plan" and that I needed to be better educated on what blah, blah, blah.....Then she handed me a handbook---THAT EXPLAINED THE MANY OPTIONS OF SCHOOL FOR THE KIDS--WHICH READ, "We have 2 selections in (particular school) to choose from. We have the modern program where classes begin in August and end in June (dates and times vary), and we also have the YEAR-WE-GO-ROUND program where students attend a yearly curriculum. This program allows sufficient time to gather and learn......blah, blah, blah, (basically, they go year round). I marched right back in there and almost stood on her desk and hit her in the nose with the book. Just to point out that it was year round schooling. Do you know what she said......? The Program is not called Year round schooling, it is called The Year-we-go-round program...What the heck is the difference? Anyhow, hope you got a giggle out of that. I'm still laughing at the look on her face when this "midget" of a person almost leaped out of no where just to prove her wrong. Happy Mylotting! [peedielyn]
Sometimes people get too darn stuck on labels. It's the same darn thing, so who cares what it's called, just help me please? [dawnald]
Perhaps if you had received the relevant paperwork in a timely fashion you would have been aware of the terminology. Don't worry - that's passing the buck with a backhand if I can be forgiven for mixing my metaphors...lol. [MsTickle]
They are always late with the paperwork, so that was expected! :-) [dawnald]
I have had similar things happen but you know I learned something a long time ago that the teacher should have picked up on. It's called being intuitive and having common sense. She already knows Cary very well and should have used deductive reasoning with a little research before even replying to you. She obviously had no clue as to what the office had determined where he would be placed after they reviewed the application. I would have gone above and beyond my job duty as a teacher and called the district office to get a status or the school's main office to see if they had received the determination letter. In my opinion, it's her job to find out before making quick assumptions. She didn't lie to you but didn't make the effort either to advice you of the other options the district had. The teachers know this stuff. They don't have staff meetings just to sit and gossip while having coffee and doughnuts. [libby2009]
Well, it at least worked itself out. [libby2009]
Of course it's important to use the right terminology. Heck, nations have done wars over such little misunderstandings. And after all, it's about good communication. When I talk to a person I automatically presume that he or she is analyzing his or her thoughts before saying them. If I suspect an error, I'll probably ask him again just to make sure he or she didn't make a mistake, but most of the time I'll take it for granted. Like in your case, I would've never guessed you meant something else so the answer would've been the same. [DawGwath]
In this case though, his teacher knew he was in special education and she is the one who sent the paperwork home. [dawnald]
I have trouble keeping up with "education lingo" myself. And even when I do FINALLY learn the terminology they go and change the names on us! Then I get corrected for using the "old" term. We don't have "English" class any more. It's "Language Arts". There used to be an "EESAC" committee that I was on a few years ago. I think they changed the name of that two. Which, somehow I just found out today I was "signed up" for the committe this year. (another story for another day). So, to answer your question. Yes, I do use the wrong terminology. I probably have been given wrong information because of it, at some point. [miamilady]
It's particularly ironic when the folks who are supposed to "know" don't... [dawnald]