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Re: vacations, crazy as it sounds, some parents need to be told taking kids out of class for two weeks can be very hard on the kid. When my oldest DD was in middle school, two sisters in our carpool went to HI for a week (and mom is a teacher). The kids later told their parents not to do that again, that it was just too much work to do all that make-up.
It depends on the program. I know kids at the local middle school who missed more than 25 days of class this year, and still kept straight As without breaking a sweat. There's something deeply wrong with that scenario.
We got your example. We don't agree that the teacher should be telling the parents to do what they should be doing already. I shouldn't have to tell parents to feed their kids.
No, you shouldn't. But you're teaching high school. If you know Johnny well enough to know he's not concentrating because he blew off breakfast, somewhere in that same conversation you can easily tell him his grades would improve with appropriate fuel for his brain.
What he does with that information is up to him.
It is if I have need to. It's also my job to handle school issues at school if I can. The point is that the parents aren't sitting right there as they are in a doctors office where I can address them in three seconds and I'm not in position to start interrogating parents as to whether or not they feed their child breakfast or make sure they get enough sleep when I do happen to call them.
No, it's not your job to interrogate. OTOH, if you have twenty or thirty of those 200 kids who aren't performing in their classes for what you believe to be parental issues, a mass email saying "you may not realize lack of sleep/breakfast/pencils impacts Johnny's school performance. It does. Fix it" (in nicer words, by the way) doesn't take much time. Maybe a minute, but that still comes out to your three second per kid scenario.
I never said I know everything but I do know when I see or don't see my student's parents a little better than you do.
I've already told you that most parents don't come to conferences, which are only twice a year. They also don't come to back to school night (I see about 5 parents per class on back to school night and maybe 30 total at parent teacher conferences and it's pretty much the same 30). There is no whenever. I either call or there is no contact.
And the parents who show up to back to school night and parent teacher conferences aren't the ones I need to tell how to parent if I were inclined to tell my student's parents how to parent. They are, usually, the parents whose kids are getting A's and they want to know how to keep the A or they're getting B's and they want to know how to make them A's. The ones I need to see are the ones who are getting D's and E's in my class but they, as a general rule, don't show up.
You really need to buy a clue. While you have the opportunity to talk to parents every time you see a young patient, I do not. I, rarely, have the opportunity to talk to my student's parents and, usually, when I do, I've placed the call.
The plural of anecdote is not data, and silly smilies do not improve a marginal argument.
For every teacher whining that parents are invisible, lazy sots, the average parent can counter with uncaring, unfair or unapproachable teachers. Reality is there are lazy bums in every category. Why people who would be appalled if we said "all Jews", "all working moms" or "all women" will wield themselves a broad brush concerning "parents" is beyond comprehension. The mental gymnastics required would make most heads explode.
How about some qualifiers? Things like "some" "in my experience" "in my school" "the parents of kids in my fourth period class". Even "many" would be helpful (though I would caution that "most" becomes dangerously quantifiable).
The error in logic here is in thinking that if someone can write they can teach writing. That is as illogical as thinking that if you can read you can teach someone else to read. Just because I can do something doesn't mean I can teach it. For me, it is physical science that I understand well enough to teach. That's why I teach the physical sciences.
This is the case with any subject matter. Understanding something well yourself is no guarantee of skill in imparting that knowledge well in a way that's comprehensible to others. Often, those who are experts in their fields consistently talk above others' heads, struggle with structuring their instruction in a way that is manageable to learners who are not already at a high level of understanding coming in. Other times, those attempting the teaching are simply poor observers, and do not realize that the learners are not getting what's being presented in the way in which it is being presented, and miss opportunities to alter their approach. Or, they not only don't recognize that a different approach would work better, they aren't equipped to teach using any other approach. To be a good teacher, you must certainly know your content, but knowing your content alone will not make you a good teacher. I think we can all agree on that.
This is the heart of why other countries can teach to high levels and we can't. Our students view education not as a privilidge and a means to better themselves but as something forced upon them they must endure. Parents have the power to instill a love of learning. They have the power to teach their children to value education by modeling valuing of education.
I don't believe education is a privilege. It's an opportunity, a requirement, an ongoing achievement (note use of word ongoing), and an obligation to oneself. But it is not a privilege, because privilege implies it is optional, and a gift that can be withdrawn on a whim. Nor, IME, is it a means to "better oneself", but a means to develop already-existing qualities. I suspect you'd consider that semantic quibbling, but what appear to be subtleties are far from subtle.
Simply speaking, education is what one does, not what is done to.
I'm serious. Failure is recoverable in middle school.
Unless your school system is a two-tiered one in which high school opportunities are determined by scores and grades in seventh grade and the first half of eighth. Yes, I know it's stupid, but that's how it's done in many areas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lkb0714
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Doesn't it make sense that learning personal responsibility should happen along with learning the basics?
It makes little sense to wait until early adolescence to teach personal responsibility.
I haven't been in a school that offers tutoring throughout the day but I can count on both hands the number of students to came to see me after school for help. I make it a point to stay an hour after the bell rings just for this purpose. I'm rethinking that because it appears to be a waste of my time to wait around for kids who never come.
If your school has a high number of school bus riders (and I've no idea if it does), it may well be.
Our local schools have no study halls and three minutes between classes. Teachers have one prep period. I'm not sure when a bus rider would be able to seek help. Not making excuses, necessarily, but the structure of the day doesn't seem conducive to helping anyone in the equation.
If your school has a high number of school bus riders (and I've no idea if it does), it may well be.
Our local schools have no study halls and three minutes between classes. Teachers have one prep period. I'm not sure when a bus rider would be able to seek help. Not making excuses, necessarily, but the structure of the day doesn't seem conducive to helping anyone in the equation.
As a rurally-dwelling student attending a consolidated school district comprised of students from numerous small farming communities whose schools were closed, an extremely large percentage of my classmates and I were bus-riders. In my family, if after-school help was a necessity, my parents made sure that arrangements for transportation could be made, even around their work schedules. You do what you have to.
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They also don't come to back to school night (I see about 5 parents per class on back to school night and maybe 30 total at parent teacher conferences and it's pretty much the same 30). There is no whenever. I either call or there is no contact. 
This is the heart of why other countries can teach to high levels and we can't. Our students view education not as a privilidge and a means to better themselves but as something forced upon them they must endure. Parents have the power to instill a love of learning. They have the power to teach their children to value education by modeling valuing of education.
