Teacher Hazing

Cooper started first grade this year. He didn't have a teacher and got along with substitutes and the reading specialist filling in for about 6 weeks. Finally we got a permanent teacher in the classroom. He has 21 kids in his class which is pretty normal to on the low side for Utah. I have spent a bit of time in his classroom. I have talked to his teacher quite a bit. I have no illusions about Cooper. He is a cute kid, he is a smart kid but he is a handful. He is a stereotypical youngest child. He has no respect for authority because he has had so many figures of authority try and assert themselves on his young self. He has not only his mother and father but all the older brother and sisters. Unfortunately they are not good authority figures and do not use the power correctly and that lets the youngest child learn to just ignore the power. That bleeds into other authority figures such as teachers and grandparents as well. It is a problem. It has become a bigger problem to me as I look at him through the eyes of a teacher. I have several students exactly like him and they create havoc in my class. I cringe to think it is my kid doing that to another teacher.
When you are a teacher the principal comes by, sits in and evaluates a lesson 4 times a semester. We call it JPAS. I was talking to Cooper's teacher the other day and she was expressing worry about her evaluation. She has a difficult class and has been graded low in the area of classroom management. (children behaving) I asked her if she wanted me to keep Cooper home for that day of the evaluation. It was sortof a joke and sortof serious.
I told my colleague about the conversation and she thought it was so funny that she shared it with my principal who then shared it with the whole staff at staff meeting. I feel really part of the whole teacher community now that I have had my perspective broadened, my sympathy increased and my personal experiences used as fodder for a staff meeting.