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10 Things Parents Won't Tell Teachers
Jill Hare | TheApple.com
1. “Don’t assume I know anything.”
Dear Teacher: “As a new parent, I know nothing. Please do not assume I know when things are (events, functions, etc) or what things are (the annual silent auction or even PTA). You need to be specific and explain in detail all the little and big things I will need to know as a parent of a new student.”
Take away: You may have parents in your class that have been through everything before, but don’t gloss over the new parents. You may be the first experience parents have with an educator, so do your best to make it an easy transition.
kimtaylor
8 days ago
268 comments
These make so much sense! My mom is a teacher and I've heard her express many similar thoughts over her 25+ years in the classroom. it's a great advice - reading is so important, for kids and adults alike!
fathers day
tarihardy
12 days ago
80 comments
I agree with nradway that physical contact between students is never okay in the classroom. However, if they didn't learn this at home, it is the teacher's job to make sure they learn at school. It is important to be clear, concise, and as positive as we can be when talking with parents. Their first impulse is often to blame the teacher when something goes wrong (she wouldn't act that way if your class wasn't so boring, structured, difficult, etc). Then there are those parents who feel that they are being judged by their child's poor behavior or lack of progress. I try to make parent contact BEFORE a situation gets me too frustrated, so that we can objectively discuss the problem and come to a joint solution. It has been a very successful strategy.
AEscalante
14 days ago
84 comments
Number 2 is true, any assumption of that kind is retarded, it's our second amendment right for fucks sake.
sgenee
25 days ago
6 comments
I thought the article was good food for thought, but I could honestly find fault, at least partially, with each of these things. I especially don't like the idea of saying, "boys will be boys." It's this mentatility that makes it ok for students to misbehave because they are just being "true to their boyish natures."
nradway
about 1 month ago
2 comments
Yeah, about the Panic Button. It's not fun when you are in a room with 32 8th graders and a couple start to play fight or in a cafeteria with 200 kids and there are several groups who play fight. In middle school play fighting quickly transitions into real fighting. If you want your son to burn off some aggressive energy take him to Karate class or something. For the Apple to suggest that it's OK to put hands on another child is ridiculous. It's not appropriate behavior for school. It's not the math teacher's job to teach where "the line" is
metot
about 1 month ago
102 comments
Nice artilcle:)
wjoerob
about 1 month ago
2 comments
Does nobody proofread these articles? Good material, but shouldn't we have eliminated the misspellings and extra words, when writing an article for TEACHERS?
raiushajsr
about 1 month ago
46 comments
Most of the teachers know these things.
yorkiehistorybuff
about 1 month ago
6 comments
I don't find this list to be particularly helpful. Parents may only have one child, but I am responsible for over 125 students everyday-not including my interactions with students in the hallway. Also, I find this lest to be very male-centric as those boys are the only ones who may have trouble staying on task and that girls are problem free-NOT true! In fact, as a parent, I have had more difficulty with teachers understanding my daughter's needs much more so than my son's needs.
I think it is appropriate also to be straightforward but too many parents don't want to hear that their child needs to study more or work more to be successful and rather think that the teahcer has the responsibility to make the student successfull whether or not the student does the wortk necessary.