Monday Memorandum #3

Five more points from TCC’s Parent-Teacher Partnership Skills Session

“I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.”

                                                                                                                                         Lily Tomlin

  3^rd of 5 Things Teachers Wish Parents Knew

• Your involvement and interest is key to success
  • When they’re little – toddlers and preschoolers keep reading to them and taking them on small adventures to the local library, puppet shows and the zoo. In elementary school, volunteer for field trips and to be classroom helpers. As kids get into middle school and parents aren’t infused as much into the actual classroom, help organize events and bake cookies. In high school, do whatever school asks us to do (Boosters, concession stands) without interfering (or embarrassing your kids) too much!

3^rd of 5 Things Parents Wish Teachers Knew

• We’re overwhelmed and can’t always stay on top of each of our kids
  • Between other kids, jobs, spouses, aging parents, pets and keeping up our homes, we are often not able to be 100% in the know about each of our kids, their needed supplies and sometimes even their homework. Most of us support your efforts, your expectations and your consequences, should that be necessary. We’re trying….really, we are. Teachers can help parents greatly by being timely and consistent with updates and newsletters and giving parents plenty of lead time when permission slips are due, when it’s their time to bring in a snack or when the next choir concert will take place.

3^rd of 5 Things Kids Wish We All Knew

• We get up every day and want to do our best
  • Even though it seems so totally well thought out, no kid wakes up in the morning plotting to first ruin her parent’s day, and then move on to be the worst student her teacher has ever encountered. When a child is asked (usually angrily) “why are you doing that?” the answer is…..they really don’t know. But we do – at least we should. They’re kids. For some, they are testing their boundaries. Others are fighting hormones and startling changes in their bodies and emotions. Sometimes, as the adults in charge, here, we just have to think the best, do our best and wait out the storm.

3^rd of 5 Things I Wish Parents and Teachers Knew

• Quality individual time makes all the difference in the world
  • As a teacher and coach, I found an easy technique to make every kid I had feel just a little more special (it works for your own kids, too). My goal every day (teachers who have multiple classes can skip to every other day or two!) was to acknowledge every single student individually in some small way so they knew I cared about them. I might have walked by a child and quickly let them know I noticed they were focused that day. I pledged to have a little more patience and a ready smile when the talkative one came up to me with yet another (irrelevant to class) story, I complimented an athlete on going the extra mile, even when they sometimes didn’t, just to let them know I was watching. And when all else failed, I complimented a pair of earrings or a sweater. That little extra 10 seconds was easy to find in my day (or class) and went a long way to make every kid feel a little more special.