Re: Advice Needed

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Students need to learn real world life skills. Just because a teacher
gets on to a students, I don't believe a student should be removed
from a classroom. Parents have changed these days. Parents often take
their child's word before speaking to teachers. I am all for a
teacher/parent partnership but it takes all parties to commit. It
should not be parents vs. teachers whereas parents go straight in
attacking teachers.

On 12/22/10, Good luck! wrote:
> On 12/20/10, TeachSS wrote:
>> Thank you for your advice. It really helped me a lot. I just
>> need to have the mindset that you can't please everyone.
>>
>> We talk all the time in education about not lowering the bar.
> Having the mindset that you can't please everyone lowers the bar and
> for yourself.
>
> It's not really about pleasing people or parents - it's about working
> with them and problem-solving. Parents see the child in a very
> different light and it's not all bad or all good. They want us to
> listen to what they have to say.
>
> Parents should Not come in gangbusters and just badmouthing you - but
> yes, some do because they have no social graces or problem-solving
> skills. You can turn those parents around by saying - "I hear what
> you're saying and certainly want to respond to your concerns. Let's
> see if we can find solutions to the problems you're sharing with me."
>
> A warm, friendly air does a lot towards encouraging parents to be the
> same with you. Also true is that no teacher is perfect. We can make
> mistakes. Think of it like this. If you took 25 children to the
> doctor - and every child had strep throat - should the doctor give
> the same antibiotic to each child there? And in the exact same dose?
>
> If the doctor does that, some of those kids may die from an allergic
> reaction to penicillin and some won't get better because they won't
> have been given the right medicine in the right dose.
>
> But that's what we often do in teaching. We have 25 children in front
> of us - all individuals with their own learning style and learning
> abilities - and we give the same homework to all of them. We give the
> same test to all of them.
>
> Group teaching is far from ideal. Every time we do something, we're
> likely making a mistake for at least one child in the room. At least
> one child needs an easier assignment or a longer assignment or fewer
> math problems and more reading time or less reading time and more
> math problems.
>
> Parents can help us out there - if we truly care about our students
> and their learning. Parents can let us know if the child is basically
> happy and comfortable in school - something all teachers should want
> for their students.
>
> You shouldn't take things personally because that accomplishes
> nothing for you or for your students. It's not about you. It's about
> them. And it's not about pleasing parents but is about working with
> them to finetune our teaching and do the best we can for our
students.
>
> Good luck.
 

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