I think I Can, I think I Can, I think I Can...

Its Almost Over, and I am feeling like the little engine that could. Spring break was a good mind relief for me and I hope it was for everyone else.


Todays blog will be, once again, coming from personal experience. I was talking to a parent who was expressing her feelings about the way she felt things were going for her kindergartener child. She was worried that the teacher was not doing her best to make sure that she reached the needs of every student in her class- especially hers. Because of this, the parent begin to blame the school for experience that she was having from her child's teacher.

While I am a member of this particular student body, I had to handle this in a professional manner by NOT undermining the parents feelings and perception. I also did not want to throw my co-worker under the bus. So I proceeded to handle it the best I knew how. I redirected the situation with a question... "have you talk to you administration and addressed your concerns and perception to them?" The conversation continued, concluding with the parent realizing that she needed to speak to the teacher and/or her administration. I reassured her that often, a "teaching problem" is not always a "school problem".

Here's my point....
A lot of times we may think that what we teach and how we teach are the only factors that count in the classroom. But it is not. The parents matter just as much as the students. It is important, just like we have been taught in our professional teaching standards, to know your parents. Ask them what they need, what they want, what are their goals for their student, what is their perception of their childs learning experience. Make your face known to them. While I will probably never know why the parent is just now expressing these feelings with two months of school left, I do not want to have that issue ever in my own classroom.

We have to make sure that we put just as much effort into parent "building" as we do preparing our students for the future. Its like customer service-- its okay to ask them, "how may I help you?'

Now, you may have some parents that are not involved and don't seemed to interested in their child's academics. Its still okay to offer the same amount of availability to them as you would with an very active parent. You might even get some parents that want to be involved but don't know how. Its all about how you present yourself.

Remember...
Perception is greater than truth. If someone perceives something (good or bad) about you, its because you might have presented something that gave them a reason to believe that. Is that perception the truth about you? Sometimes not. But its up to us to change that perception into something positive.

Make the connections:
This blog is in connection to standard 2e. Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students.