Thursday, June 17, 2010
Meeting the students
I am extremely excited about my first teaching job. Hopefully it will come in the spring or at least by next fall. Getting to meet my first group of students is going to be exciting and intimidating. I hope to meet each of them individaully along with their parents. Before school starts I would really like to get a good grasp on who my students are, where they come from, and set some individual goals for each of them. In meeting with the parents I feel I will get a better udnerstanding of the students and whaqt thier home life is like. I feel this will be beneficial for me as well as the students. I think students will be more comfortable with me if they know I have met their parents and hold some form of communication with them. I also think parents will have a better understanding of what is going on in the classroom if they meet me and feel comfortable contacting me with any question or problem.
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I agree with you Ashley. I think it is going to exciting and intimidating. I plan to gain a much better understanding of parent communication when I enter into my intership in the fall. I have taught Sunday school for many years and sometimes communicating with parents can be tricky. I had my first run-in, if you will, with a parent last Sunday. Apparently a kid in my class said something to another kid that hurt his feelings. I was unaware any of this had taken place. The parent was not angry with me but was concerned about his son. This incident reminded me how sensitive parents are about their children. I am a parent as well but I understand that sometimes kids can be mean and that's just part of life. I talked with the class and the student and hopefully took care of everything. I think it is going to be an exciting ride working with a wide range of parents.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that it is going to be an exciting ride to work with parents. Most parents find it hard to admit that their children may do something wrong. I had my first run in with a parent while substitue teaching. It was on field day and someone had pulled the fire alarm. You can imagine how the children reacted. I was simply trying to get my class gathered up when I asked one little boy to get in line. The mother shouted at me saying "excuse you, don't tell MY son what to do" then turned to her son and said "I'm your moma and you listen to me". Of course I was caught off gaurd so I didn't respond. It's hard to bite your tongue in situtations such as these but as teachers I guess we will have to learn when to do so.
Communicating with parents is easier said than done. As sad as it is, some parents attitudes are "they are your problem while they are with you for seven hours of the day". Most children at my school get off the bus in the afternoon and go home to no one because mom or dad or grandma or whoever is at work until six or seven. Having no one at home to sign the notes or check the homework makes it almost impossible to communicate with them. But, you just have to remember they are working hard for their family and you should help their child in every way (academically, mentally, emotionally) while they are under your care. Parents will see that you care and be very grateful for that. Keeping a list of their cell phone numbers handy at all times is also a tool that proved useful for me! They'll answer that cell phone! Just remember that if parents don't send the permission slip back in, or call you about a conference, or forget lunch money...times are hard and they are working to get through it. Love the kids when you have them because you never know what they go home to.
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