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Connecting with schools?
- Aug 2, 2008 at 10:39 AM
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- Comments (6) Total Views (169) Everyone can see this journal post.
Ok, this post upset me a little with what it was implying... and I so wanted to respond, but it was getting tooooooo for a comment. So here I am.... and this is what I was writing:
Not that this is going to be a popular point of view, I can give you some explanation for the decrease in parent involvement at the high school level.
I am a high school math teacher. I can have around 180 student contacts in a day (30 in a class, 6 classes in the day), not 20-36. I would spend literally hours keeping up with parents on a daily basis. There are not enough hours in the day to send individual letters. There are advancements, like the portals, but sometimes they cause more headache than keeping parents involved.
The portals, which usually have grade updates is a pain. Simply put. I am able to get grades posted every 2 weeks or so, and parents want daily grades. Also, many parents do not understand how weighted grades work or how a test can so significantly impact a grade early on in the quarter.
High school is tough. Students are expected to be more responsible and keep up on their work, the quality of the work is more difficult and many "A" students are finding themselves struggling for the first time. Add to that teenage, "I can do it on my own," and "Don't you trust me." It is a recipe for parent panic. Some parents have a hard time letting their kids suffer the consequences and want the teacher to give extra chances. I am trying to prepare them for standing on their own two feet, they are young adults. Parents can't always be there to bail their student out. High school is a "safe" place to struggle and sometimes fail. It would help if parents would problem solve with their students rather than rescue them. Far too often, the dialogue that I have with parents is rescuing. Another aspect of this is the scary trend of parents coming onto college campuses. The parents have not learned to let go, and the students still think that they are going to get rescued. I understand the need to advocate for your child. I do the same for my kids. There is a fine line between advocating and rescuing.
With that being said, teachers do like to hear from parents. I like positive working together. I am also "newer" to the profession. Many of the older teachers do NOT like parent input. So, we have interesting things happening. The parent that ran into the older teacher is more abrupt when talking with the next teacher to get their point across, but it comes off as hostile to a teacher that is already willing to work with parents. It just doesn't make for a pretty picture. But when we hear from parents, I am hoping that we can work together to get your students to learn something from the experience, not just the course work. The course work will come, eventually, even if it means summer school or repeating it next year. For the most part, when parents work with me on changing what is causing the poor grade (not turning in work, talking during class, etc) the content gets better. Your student may not get back to getting the "A" (after all they were only at a 60%, making up that 30% is hard, if not impossible).
Talk with the teachers, work with them, just remember that there are no longer 30 kids involved... now there are more than a hundred.
Comments:
justgrape723
It is unfortunate that many schools don't ask parents for help in the classroom. I for one would love an extra set of hands to run group projects and help kids that are falling behind. The flip side of that coin is the helping parent that stops in on another teacher, just to chat about their student. I know teachers that are guilty of doing this... and it drives me nuts! I am trying to teach 30+ students in 48 mins, and you want me to talk about your kid? Make an appointment.
As far as not contacting until it is a habit, it comes down to time. I cannot contact every parent of students that are talking too much.... most of them talk too much! I would still have to contact 30-50 parents in a day because I asked a student to stop talking.
It does bring a smile to my face that you do't rescue your students, that is rare. I am glad to know that you understand grading, but I would have to say, of the parentsthat I talk with, you are not the norm. I have had MANY conversations, showing the points, and been told that I was wrong. My most annoying meetings are ones where I set the points out infront of a parent, show them what it takes to get a passing grade and the response is, maybe my student will suprise us all and get a B... maybe and A! UGH, it is mathematically impossible!
One of the ways that I get parents involved on keeping up to date is by having the STUDENT bring me a check-up sheet. Haing the student be a middle man, with some agreed upon dates. If the student doesn't show up at home with the sheet, then it is assumed that something is going on that the student doesn't want the parent to know. Then the parent can contact the teacher, and there is a starting place.
I don't think that there is an easy answer. I would say that you are welcomed in my classroom. You sound as if you have a level head!
Your post is very well said.
I am not talking about ...well talking.
I am talking about kids who hand in sloppy homework, or no home work are always late to class or skip class....the major stuff....If I am told about it from the beginning I can let my child know that I know what is going on and take appropriate actions right then and there......I have had friends whose kids have skipped class or not handed in homework only to have the teacher inform this of it when it was way too late to do anything about it....Kids will be kids and will try to get away with anything and everything.....if the teacher does not inform us parents of these things then as parents we CANNOT fix the problem.....
I would like for the teacher to atleast return a call or e-mail or even show up for a conference, I realize you have lives too. But I feel that if one of my kids is acting up and I don't know about it until report card time then how am I supposed to help fix the problem? I have made appointments for parent conferences, only to have the teacher forgot about it and made plans else where. I'm sorry but when the school board says that on this day between these times are set aside for parent conferences then shouldn't the teachers be available if a parent makes the effort to make and keep the appointment? Our school has a program that lets me track my kids grades. If I see they are slipping I try to get intouch with the teacher but they never return my calls, e-mails or appointments. This year I will contact the principal if they can't return my calls. My son's grades dropped in Social Studies, we had a sit down with his teacher and his grade went back up from a low C to a high A for the quarter.
Thank you for your post. I will keep this in mind for the future.
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I do not expect daily or even weekly contact with the school/teacher but some WOULD be better than none......I have heard and my friends as well, from more than one teacher "well this is an on going problem" ...I say oh great 'so we wait until it becomes a habit before we do anything about it'
While yes I do understand that there are more kids to deal with, BUT I do not see why a teacher cannot/will not even try to have parents involved.....Maybe if there was more parent involvement there would be less problems.
I as a parent am looking toward the teacher to help me stay in the loop of what my child is doing from 7:30 AM until 3:00 PM since I am not there. The school does not even want class room helpers in the higher grades. I do not need to help in my own child class as he is in a higher grade and is not a scared little kid anymore. But there ARE parents out there who would still like to help at the school and we as parents are being shut out..... The school does not realize that we parents AND even G'parents can still be a huge asset to the school system. I do not "bail out" OR "rescue" my kids out of anything, they are responsible for their own actions. As well as doing their schoolwork. I do understand that one bad grade can bring an "A" down to a "D" in a heartbeat. That is not what I have a problem with.......It just seems as if the school no longer feels the need to keep the parent up to date on their child's progress, grades, attitude, behavior until it is either too late or almost too late. We still are the parents.......IJS
- justgrape723
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