Teacher Thursdays-long post

I'm going to try a new thing; every Thursday I'm going to dedicate my blog to all things teacher related. The likelihood of that sticking, let's just be honest, is slim to none but whatever!

So the first Teacher Thursday will be dedicated to.....Parent-Teacher Conferences.
Dun Dun Dun.
Today I got to school around 7:30 and did not get to leave until around 4:10 which by any teacher's standards is a long day. It is an especially long day when you have to talk to parents about their children. Parents are so protective over their children (obviously, this is understandable and I assume I'll understand it more once Ellie is born) but sometimes they are so protective that they put up blinders as to who their children really are. So let me clue you parents in a little bit- if the school calls you for a conference, that means your child is either suffering academically and we need your help to push your child in the right direction OR your child is a trouble maker and we need you to back us up when it comes to discipline.

So let's start with academic issues...
We, as teachers, understand that some kids are slower at understanding certain subjects than others. We will try our best (at least at my school) to help your child in any way we possibly can so that they can succeed in our class and at least be a decent student. No one is asking for your student to get a 100% on every assignment, we just want an effort put forth. BUT and a big but is- some students just don't care about academics. So if your child is one of these, let me tell you something- IT IS NOT MY FAULT! I cannot make your child love reading, writing, analyzing literature and grammar rules. I cannot convince a child, who already has it in their mind that they hate English class, that they need to work hard and put forth effort into my class beyond staying awake. This is where you come in. You as the parent need to turn to your child and say: get your lazy butt in gear and make good grades or I'm taking all over your privileges away. Yes, a cell phone, video game, TV, facebook, car etc...these are all privileges not God given rights that every child deserves.

On to behavior issues:
Obviously, if you are being called in to have a conference with more than one teacher that means your student is behaving badly. We won't call you in if little Jimmy is behaving spectacularly. So here is the short list for what you need to know if this happens to you...
1. Your student does not behave the same way in school as they do at home; don't assume that they are perfect angels in the classroom just because they behave this way in front of you. Lesson: kids are manipulative and they will let you see what they want you to see.
2. Just because they have friends in class does not make it a valid excuse to misbehave. Lesson: tell your student that social hour is outside of class-this helps back up what we already say on a daily basis.
3. Don't blame another student for your child's behavior. Once your child is in our realm (middle/high school) they are the only person responsible for how they behave. Responsibility for your actions is something kids need to learn and let's face it-you aren't giving them any at home so they don't have any at school.
4. We don't hate your child. We never said that we hate your child. We don't pick on your child. Let me repeat- WE DO NOT PICK ON YOUR CHILD! When a child consistently misbehaves, what do you want us to do? So if you mean that we correct them on a daily basis or we speak to them about their behavior constantly when you say we pick on them then yes, we do.

That pretty much sums up my feelings about parent teacher conferences. We as teachers have a responsibility to teach your child, but really we aren't the ones that are raising them. So while we have influence over them and we do take our jobs seriously, we can only do our jobs effectively if we have you helping at home. The end.