Of course, if I were feeling especially saucy, I might just jump right to calling it what it is. "Interesting use of hyperbole. Did you intend to imply that there are no students in your school who are working to earn A grades, then?"
The latter is probably not recommended as a successful means of maintaining a nice working relationship
Awesome come back!
Love it, Love it, Love it. I've never had the privalege of feeling safe enough to burn any bridges regarding DS14, but it's a nice thought.
Actually, I've been able to pull that off and keep the relationship by skipping the chilly silence, and using a tone of voice and body language that clearly signals that I am confused, and I really do want to know. I call it 'asking the question that allows the other person to see things a new way' and I've often been gratified to 'watch the penny drop' in the expression on the other's face.
I call it the "I KNOW that you and I are
reasonable people with my child's best interest at heart, and I simply can't hear anything that you say that doesn't line up with this preconcieved belief" approach."
I used it for the first time on Norman Mailer, who visited our
Women and Religion Class in College and explained why men are the way they are because cavemen had to kill meat and all, and I used this approach beautifully to ask him to imagine for a second that the newer evidence that humans actually subsisted on carian and gathering was true, what implications that might have for modern humankind. The penny dropped and I though I could see the hairs on his arm stand up, too. I was hooked. It works on teachers too.
Love and More Love,
Grinity
