My name is Julie. I'm 28 years old, a native English speaker, used to work for and create forms for the SLO school district, hold a bachelor's degree in English, am certified to teach both English and English as a Second Language, made the skill of filling out applications part of the curriculum when I taught.... and I found it difficult to fill out Emma's Kindergarten registration packet.
With a neatly presented packet with instructions like please fill out ALL forms and sign the bottom of ALL forms, one would think that filling it out would be a no brainer. Not so.
First there is blue immunization form that MUST BE FILLED OUT COMPLETELY. No problem right? Well, there are sections on the form that ask for the date of immunizations that I'm pretty certain aren't required. And there is another section that has a dark black line around it that I'm pretty sure is meant for office personnel to complete. But, no, there are no additional instructions that inform the applicant that he/she is supposed to or allowed to leave these sections blank.
Then there were the forms for a signed physical assessment and signed dental assessment that were included in the packet of forms that MUST BE FILLED OUT COMPLETELY. However, upon closer look, these forms are not considered valid if they are completed before March 31st, and are not required until the student is in first grade.
And there were two forms that received the special instruction to SIGN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. However, only one of these forms had a line designated for a signature. Am I supposed to just find some blank space at the bottom of the page and sign it anyway?
After I spent WAY too much time filling out these forms, I'm still convinced that I did it wrong. I'm certain that when I go to turn them in today that the school personnel will scorn me and inform me that I'm incompetent. Nothing like bolstering the parent's confidence as they're signing their children over to the unknown and very frightening world of Kindergarten!
With a neatly presented packet with instructions like please fill out ALL forms and sign the bottom of ALL forms, one would think that filling it out would be a no brainer. Not so.
First there is blue immunization form that MUST BE FILLED OUT COMPLETELY. No problem right? Well, there are sections on the form that ask for the date of immunizations that I'm pretty certain aren't required. And there is another section that has a dark black line around it that I'm pretty sure is meant for office personnel to complete. But, no, there are no additional instructions that inform the applicant that he/she is supposed to or allowed to leave these sections blank.
Then there were the forms for a signed physical assessment and signed dental assessment that were included in the packet of forms that MUST BE FILLED OUT COMPLETELY. However, upon closer look, these forms are not considered valid if they are completed before March 31st, and are not required until the student is in first grade.
And there were two forms that received the special instruction to SIGN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. However, only one of these forms had a line designated for a signature. Am I supposed to just find some blank space at the bottom of the page and sign it anyway?
After I spent WAY too much time filling out these forms, I'm still convinced that I did it wrong. I'm certain that when I go to turn them in today that the school personnel will scorn me and inform me that I'm incompetent. Nothing like bolstering the parent's confidence as they're signing their children over to the unknown and very frightening world of Kindergarten!
4 comments:
okay, my heart just started beating really fast in panic, I pick up Macy's packet on Monday and am not even as qualified of a 'form filler outer' as you apparently are! I'm doomed! :)
i feel the same way as katie... i am about to call our future kindergarten and ask for the packet/info. and on top of that i am doing an inter-district tranfer. i am DOOMED!
when i went to turn it in, the lady processing it started crossing stuff out and writing stuff in and drawing arrows all over the place and then crossing more stuff out and re-writing what i had originally put... so basically, my fear of looking like a moron was definitely realized! when she hands my paperwork to whomever really goes through it, they're going to see all of her "edits" and kick me out of the district!
maybe we'll just stay in preschool for an extra year :)
Post a Comment