What teachers really want to tell parents

[alp227]

Ron Clark, a teacher, winner of Disney's Teacher of the Year Award, and author of The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck -- 101 Extraordinary Solutions for Parents and Teachers, wrote this for CNN.com.

(CNN) -- This summer, I met a principal who was recently named as the administrator of the year in her state. She was loved and adored by all, but she told me she was leaving the profession.

I screamed, "You can't leave us," and she quite bluntly replied, "Look, if I get an offer to lead a school system of orphans, I will be all over it, but I just can't deal with parents anymore; they are killing us."

Unfortunately, this sentiment seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. Today, new teachers remain in our profession an average of just 4.5 years, and many of them list "issues with parents" as one of their reasons for throwing in the towel. Word is spreading, and the more negativity teachers receive from parents, the harder it becomes to recruit the best and the brightest out of colleges.

So, what can we do to stem the tide? What do teachers really need parents to understand?

For starters, we are educators, not nannies. We are educated professionals who work with kids every day and often see your child in a different light than you do. If we give you advice, don't fight it. Take it, and digest it in the same way you would consider advice from a doctor or lawyer. I have become used to some parents who just don't want to hear anything negative about their child, but sometimes if you're willing to take early warning advice to heart, it can help you head off an issue that could become much greater in the future.

full: http://us.cnn.com/2011/09/06/living/teachers-want-to-tell-parents/index.html

[nineteen50]

1. Just tell them. obviously you know more than me so here are the keys.

[patrice]

2. That article tells the truth.

[MichiganVote]

3. Yep. All true.

[tinymontgomery]

4. Hit the

Hit to provably nail on the head.

[exboyfil]

5. Some teachers are great but others are not very good

My older daughter has a real good feel for the quality of her teachers. The ones who lack passion for their subject she has little use for. She will do her assignments to the best of her ability (she currently has a 4.0), but she hates those classes in which the teacher is not passionate. The teachers she feels bad for are the ones who do have passion but are saddled with awful children that prevent them from teaching (it is amazing that some teachers can maintain control of the same students that other teachers fail to control). I have used her recommendations as I have crafted the education for my younger child. Those recommendations have prompted me to Homeschool in specific subjects to avoid simply atrocious classes. I doubt I am doing any lasting damage, and I know my younger child is studying things she would never address in the public school.

Unfortunately my older daughter has what I consider the 2nd teacher (when two or more teachers are required to cover a particular class, the 2nd teacher is the one that has to split and teach different classes) in many of her subjects this year (Algebra II, Chemistry, and Social Studies). According to her none of the three have passion for the subject. One does not lecture to speak of and seems to have trouble understanding the material being taught. I have a few of the harder Algebra problems squirreled away to take into her to see if she knows the right answers - I do (by the way both my daughters math books are very poor). The Chemistry teacher apparently does not want to be teaching this subject (I call this the coach complex, and I have seen it before. He has both a Chemistry and Coaching teaching certification, and, if he is like the other "coach" he will love to visit about coaching, but spend little time doing what he is paid to do). The Social Studies teacher is into these group projects where my daughter gets to share her answers with the entire class instead of the other students doing their own work. My daughter just "loves" those classes.

I have already considered pulling my older daughter out of Algebra II. I am the one teaching her this subject anyway, and they are going like a rocket through the material. This would be ok if the teacher was doing her job. If I taught a class like this, I would be spending at least half the class period doing representative problems in the subject and teaching speed techniques so that the students could actually finish the timed tests. The teacher spends approximately 5-10 minutes lecturing and does not do any example problems.

I agree with the article that parents in many cases are the problem, and we would have better more passionate teachers if we had better parents. That is one of the driving reasons why parents want school choice. They want their kids in class with other kids who are motivated to learn (or at least not disruptive). That, for me, is one of the reasons I have done some Homeschooling, and I am tempted to do more. My younger daughter (8th grade) has a classmate who was smoking pot with the parent of his friend. That and drugs being sold outside of the Junior High is getting me to think it is time to go to all Homeschooling. My younger daughter has two core subjects at school this year (Algebra I and Physical Science). She also has Writing for Publication, Orchestra, and Band. I could not get her into Art. She does Biology, English, and Social Studies with me at home. All of her teachers except perhaps Orchestra are great, and I am hoping that the Orchestra teacher grows into his job (he is young and new - somewhat passionate but horribly disorganized).

Parents have to take ownership for their children's education. I am very thankful for the good teachers, and I am generally quiet about my doubts (if nothing more because of fear of reprisal). Our Homeschooling laws allow for great flexibility which I am also thankful for.

[Maat]

7. Hey, PM me if you need support.

Or see my profile for further info.

We've been homeschooling for five years now, and Daughter is now in 9th grade. She loves it, and we can tailor our program exactly to her needs. We go through a charter school.

[txlibdem]

8. My daughter had the exact experience, as did I 30 years earlier

The least competent teachers love to blame the students, the parents, the administration, their "lack" of pay, etc., etc., etc.

Some people are cut out to be teachers. Many apparently aren't.

Do you know what hospitals do with surgeons who keep messing up in surgery? They fire them.
Do you know what auto body shops do with mechanics who can't fix a car? They fire them.
Do you know what schools do to tenured teachers who can no longer be effective teachers? They give them a pay raise year after year and a nice fat pension.

[YvonneCa]

6. Honest, excellent information for parents...

...as a new school year begins. Thank you for posting this.