I think it's my old age that affects my memory. It's been the last couple years that my short termy memory has been an issue for me. But it wasn't me forgetting anything or memory problems that made me screw up at work. It was bad judgement calls on my part. One example, a girl came up to me in between classes telling me she had to leave for a dentist appointment. I get kids all the time who come to my desk claiming they need to leave for something or another without giving me parental consent first. I always tell them to have their parent call me or have them come in the office to sign them out. Some kids just assume they can leave whenever they want to as long as they tell me first. That's not how it works. We need a phone call from the parent and they can leave on their own, or the parent can come in to sign them out in person. I thought that this particular girl was trying to leave with out parental consent. So I told her she could use my phone and call her mom my so I could speak to her. Then I could give her the off campus pass so she could leave. Or I gave her the option to have her mom come in the office and sign her out. The girl said okay she would call her mom and have her come in.
Well I didn't know that a couple of hours earlier her mom already called in and talked to my coworker. The parent specifically asked my coworker if it was okay for the girl to leave without her having to come in and sign her out. My coworker told her that yes, she could leave on her own since she already called in. I had no idea that conversation took place. So the girl ends up calling her mom and telling her I wouldn't let her leave unless she came in to the office personally and signed her out. So the mom came in, signed the papers, and left. A bit later she called and spoke to my coworker and read her the riot act. She yelled at her, stating that she was specifically told she didn't have to come in the office, and now I refused to let her daughter leave without her coming in. My coworker got very upset at me for it. There was the off campus pass in a little box on the counter and I was just supposed to give it to her and let her leave. I didn't bother to check the box. When the girl came up to me and asked if she could leave, she made it sound like her mom never called in. What the girl should have said was "My mom already called earlier and I'm just here to pick up the pass." But she didn't. It was a bad judgement call on my part. I should have checked the box just in case, but I really thought this girl was like so many of my other students who wanted to leave without parental consent. So I got in trouble for it.
It had nothing to do with memory. I just screwed up. And I did another screw up with the same girl a couple weeks later, by not seeing the bag her mom dropped off for her. She came to me stating her mom dropped something off. I looked everywhere and didn't see it so I told the girl her mom must not have come yet. Turns out the bag was there the whole time but it was on a table that we NEVER put student stuff on. I never even thought to check there. So again, my bad. This parent is now going to the principal to complain about me. So don't I feel stupid.
