What Teachers Want to Know

One of the interesting juxtapositions of being a teacher is that people (parents, students, the community) either expect us to know everything or nothing.  Many "outsiders" still believe the myths of summers off, an 8-3 time schedule, and "those who can't, teach.  Most teachers are professionals who take their work home, spend their own time and money on training for their improvement, and work almost as much during the summer as they do in the school year.

Parents, who have lived their entire lives with their children, often expect teachers to know everything they know about their students.  I had a student this year who,  throughout the school year, would forget to hand in work.  However I'd remind her or make her stay after to finish it, and she'd get it in.  I never felt concern because the work was taken care of.  It is my policy to involve the parents if the child doesn't follow through beyond my consequences.

Then, at the end of the school year, as I was finalizing semester grades, I noticed she hadn't handed in an assignment to my student teacher.  My student teacher had told me who hadn't submitted this assignment, but I mistakenly spoke to the wrong student (she only mentioned first names, not last names).  To make a long story short, when I called the right student's parent about the assignment, it was a disaster.  Her mother told me the reason she sent her child to our school was because of her lackadaisical attitude toward homework.  She wanted more communication and monitoring of her child's work.  Unfortunately this was the first I had heard of this desire; had I known she wanted more direct communication about her child's work, I'd have given it.  The end-of-school debacle could have been avoided.  

I've also had students with medical concerns, psychological concerns, and family issues as well.  For some reason, at our school, parents don't always tell the nurse or guidance office about these issues.   They may want to avoid labeling their child, which I can understand.  But most teachers at our school will be discreet and not say, "Hey, Johnny, I know you are bipolar so if you feel a meltdown coming on, please just leave the room and do what you need to do."  I want to be able to avoid saying the wrong thing to students inadvertently.

So, parents.   If something comes up that's going to affect your child at school, let his or her teachers know.  It really helps us to be sensitive to those entering our classroom!