Straight Talk from Teachers About Parents
Perhaps instead of asking your child if what the teacher says is true, ask what your child has to say about the situation. I have 3 children; one is in college and the other 2 are in high school. I know my children very well. Every time a teacher has raised a concern with me about their grades or behavior, it has been valid.
Teachers, in general, want kids to be successful. None of them are in it for the money because quite frankly there is not enough money in teaching to warrant putting up with all the spoiled brats in today's world.
The teacher has nothing to gain from bringing in a parent to discuss a child's behavior unless there is a problem. Like you and I, at the end of the day, teachers are ready to go home to their families and lives; they don't want to spend more time at school meeting with parents if there isn't a real need.
Give teachers the benefit of the doubt. Little Johnny is not always the brilliant angel Mommy and Daddy think he is. I know mine aren't!
Read the article CNN/ What teachers really want to tell parent
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After 33 years of being in the teaching profession, I left because of what you have posted. The teachers are not getting administrative support because they do not want to upset the parents. Parents have too much control of our system.
I was told to change grades because parents were upset. I was told to water down what I was teaching because the parents thought it was too hard. These parents have their kids involved in so many outside activities that school becomes secondary. I hope many parents read this. I really fear of what we are going to see from our future generation.
Read the article CNN/ What teachers really want to tell parents
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I whole heartedly agree with the author of this story. I have four children who can be overwhelming and just plain bad sometimes. I am a realistic individual. Our children never behave the same at home as they do in other settings.
Teachers are consistently ragged on by overbearing parents and threatened with legal action because parents in today's society are too busy or too lazy to listen. The parents who take offense are usually the individuals who play the blame game and never accept responsibility for their own actions.
Defensiveness is just an outward expression of pain because the truth hurts. If parents would take the time, listen to what is being said and act in a proactive manner rather than a reactive manner our children, teachers and society will benefit!!! And no we are not bullies!!!
Read the article CNN/ What teachers really want to tell parents
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As a parent AND teacher, let's not forget, the door swings both ways! What parents really want to tell teachers?
#1 - You are educators, not nannies. You teach them from 8-3 and leave the child-rearing and values-instilling to me.
#2 - Trust us. We are not all a bunch of lazy ignoramuses just because you have had a few run-ins with those. Let's try thinking the best of each other. If a parent asks there child if something is true, stay calm, and assume they are asking "what is your side of the story?"and that it is not intended as an insult towards you.
#3 - Please quit with all the excuses - of why you can't return my phone calls and emails. Over and over, I can't seem to get away from teachers who say they want to communicate and be partners and then get defensive when you try to do that. It is just basic decency to return your phone messages and emails.
#3a - Please quit planning my child's time outside of school. Homework is a part of life, but always remember, you do NOT plan our family time at home and you most certainly will NEVER plan our summer vacation. I am in charge of my home. If you make suggestions, I will consider them, out of respect for you. If you offer a summer reading list, I will consider it and most likely check those books from the library for our summer reading. But ultimately, I decide what my family does over the summer. Again, let's remember that you are educators, not nannies.
#4 - Teachers, be a partner, not a prosecutor. We are equals. Period. I am not your subordinate. If you have a policy of having parent signature's on reading logs or agendas or notes, I will sign to show you I have read the item, and out of respect for you. I will not over-react if you have a particularly hectic day and don't have time to send a note or write on agendas and you will offer me the same courtesy. We can communicate as equals and no punishment of any child needs to occur in relation to our communication. It's between parent and teacher.
Read the article CNN/ What teachers really want to tell parents
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And what parents want teachers to know.....We can make sure our children complete their homework, are prepared for class and study for tests. We can discuss behavioral issues with our children and hold them accountable to some degree for inappropriate conduct, but ultimately, we have no control over motivating a child in the classroom setting because we are not there and many children care more about immediate feedback and consequences than they do about any positive or negative consequences they receive at home 5 hours later.
Don't call us complaining if the behavior chart you sent home isn't working if you aren't providing appropriate redirection and positive reenforecement in your classroom. You may "love" our kids, but you don't don't love our kids the way a parent would and you don't have to worry about their success or failure in the long term. You only see our children in one setting, so, while we consider your opinion, it generally gets factored in with many other considerations when it is time to make decisions about the approach to take with our children.
We shouldn't have to justify decisions made in consideration of the long term future for our children if they are inconsistent with what would provide the most benefit for you in the short term in your classroom.
Also, if it is OK for kids to get in trouble every so often, then don't spend hours documenting it and generating behavior files for kids who get in trouble once or twice a year. These records travel with kids and may not be "no big deal" if they ever want to get into private school or in some cases get a government job later. Don't minimize parents' concerns about how your actions could impact their child's future because chances are, you won't be around to deal with that child's future, but the parents will
Read the article CNN/ What teachers really want to tell parents
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To those who feel teachers are not as smart as doctors and lawyers. I was a teacher for 5 years before I decided that it was not the career for me. I couldn't take the parents and the nonsense from administrators. It was no longer rewarding so I found a profession that I would feel was rewarding.
I became a MEDICAL DOCTOR. Yes, you heard it, a MEDICAL DOCTOR and I was a TEACHER FIRST. I give all the credit in the world to those who are still in the profession because I could not do it.
I worked in the trenches of NYC in a high school. I started as an enthusiastic young teacher and when I left I was burnt out and run down. I am renewed and refreshed and I have to say that I was never as stressed out in medical school as I was as a teacher. It is a different kind of stress. In medical school it is the stress of performing well but in teaching it is the stress of being abused by students, parents and principals.
I should say it was more dread. Dread of knowing that no matter how hard you try you will be underappreciated and disrespected. Hats off to all teachers for what you do and for what you put up with!
Read the article CNN/ What teachers really want to tell parents
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I am a sophomore in high school, and I have to say that I agree with EVERYTHING said here. Students, for the most part, find it extremely annoying to have their parents swooping in all the time to "save their student." We don't want them to be our "hero," and we do talk to them about it.
Unfortunately, some of the problem does lie in the student body- we are lazy people, I admit. We get angry when we work 5 minutes on a term paper and get failed. 5 minutes, for us, is a long time, and we do need to improve our work standards.
After talking with my parent, they don't "swoop in" as much except to attend Open House meetings, which is perfectly acceptable. My parent has learned that they need to step back and allow me to try it on my own before they step in and assist ME without yelling at my teacher. I have been taught that it is rarely the teacher's fault that I have failed, it is mine. I haven't done what I've been asked to do (however, everyone can agree that there are bad teachers out there).
Parents need to learn to work with their student(s) and find a balance between trust and stepping in. It's fine to step in and help when a student gets a C or a D, but it's not okay to step in when a student gets one percentile below an A. We deserve the grade we get for the most part and that's totally okay with the students.
Read the article CNN/ What teachers really want to tell parents
Math Gender Gap: Nurture Trumps Nature
I believe this. I'm a female computer programmer, raised by Russian immigrants.. I have been told of American female computer programmers (mostly on the internet like here) but I have never seen them. I have seen both Indians and Russian/Polish.
I was taught to be smart and that who I am is my mind and my actions. American girls are just encouraged to be pretty all the time. My scientist father who raised me as a single dad interfered repeatedly when schools tried to get me out of advanced math classes or out of math all together.
In fact i quit being good at math in college when i allowed an adviser to tell me this time a small 100-person advanced calculus class was "different" and i should join the 500-person normal lecture, in which i sat next to boys who constantly slept or fidgeted and which I failed. (Tip to girls: advanced classes are easier because they are better behaved and the teacher cares if you understand things or not.)
Also, the only smart blonde (who didn't go around insisting blondes have more fun) in high school was a Russian immigrant who did better than me in chemistry. It is entirely culture. Russian women that i have seen will never lift something heavy when a man is around, but they don't think math will drive men away or that they must be humble about it.
Read the article TIME/The Math Gender Gap: Nurture Trumps Nature
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Among the Karbi, women were subject to negative stereotypes, and men were 36% at solving block puzzles. Among the Khasi, where men were subject to negative stereotypes, "the difference between men and women was so small that it was not statistically significant."
So to make men and women equal in math (or at least geometric puzzles), all we need to do is belittle men's abilities? That seems rather harsh.
Read the article TIME/The Math Gender Gap: Nurture Trumps Nature
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The Khasi villagers are outliers, members of a culture that uses social pressure to modify a behavior that is accepted or ignored by other cultures and societies.
Ivan Pavlov and his innumerable successors demonstrated that behaviors of humans, dogs, pigeons, rats, and many other organisms can be changed and controlled with appropriate operant conditioning.
Parents, family, and peers collaborate to condition infants and children (think "socializing") from birth, and pressures to conform to each local culture's norms continue throughout life.
The Khasi, intentionally or inadvertently, impose some behavioral norms that directly or indirectly affect sensitivity to spatial relations.
Read the article SCIENCE NEWS/Men’s spatial superiority takes cultural cues
Are U.S. Newborn Death Rates Really Higher Than in 40 Other Countries?
These "stats" are skewed and misleading. What the WHO org won't tell you in
their flawed comparison is that many countries don't consider a premature baby
weighing <500g as a living child. However, in the U.S., such very low birth
weight babies are considered live births. The mortality rate of such babies —
considered “unsalvageable” outside of the U.S. and therefore never alive — is
extraordinarily high; up to 869 per 1,000 in the first month of life alone. This
skews U.S. infant mortality statistics. WHO has an agenda with publishing such
skewed and misleading stats.
Read the article U.S.A Today/U.S. newborn death rate higher than in 40 other nations
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Even if the results are skewered in such a way the United States still has a
very high infant mortality rate. Lower income families tend to have poor
prenatal care leading to high infant mortality. Part of the issue is, the
country lacks a solid midwifery program which would be extremely helpful for
all. Hospitals then would only be forced to concentrate on high risk births and
more midwives would mean better follow up care and more individual treatment.
Too many times, Obstetricians overlook potential problems which turn out to be
fatal to a newborn
Read the article U.S.A Today/U.S. newborn death rate higher than in 40 other nations
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These studies always compare statistics that are using different parameters.
Most countries in the world do not consider a "baby" to be born unless it
survives the first 24 hours. Most do not consider premature babies in their
statistics. The US considers both newborns at birth and premature babies in
their statistics. If we were to adjust our record keeping to be consistent with
those kept by other countries, your headline would read "US near the top in
Survival Rates for Babies". Of course, this would not be as attention getting
nor as alarmist as the headline you posted.
Read the article U.S.A Today/U.S. newborn death rate higher than in 40 other nations
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