For the first time ever I heard parents telling me that the reason their child does no work or sleeps in my class is because they don't understand what is going on. They claim it is hard for a child to stay focused when they are lost.
Luckily I had a copy of the last exam with me, quickly took it out and showed it to the parents. Although math might not be their specialty, they saw that the test primarily involved definitions and things that could easily be mastered with a little bit of studying. I then took out the homework sheet that summarized all these definitions, something their child did not bother to do and the make-up exam the child did not bother to show up for. The parental tone changed quickly.
I don't get it. I'm a mom. When a teacher told me my son did not do his homework, I never made excuses for him. And, he paid a hefty penalty for this missed work. (I'll write about that in an upcoming post.)
3 comments:
Unfortunately the tone HAS changed...it's now MY fault (as the teacher) that your child isn't studying, doing their homework, or coming to get help before the test. Parents make 101 excuses and I just don't get it. Isn't high school a safe place to fail? (As opposed to the real world) Don't get me wrong, as teachers we don't want kids to learn...and for some this means learning from their mistakes. It's too bad parents won't let them do this anymore. Not to worry parents...I am preparing your child for the real world (insert sarcasm here)...when he/she fails at something, he /she will come running to YOU to fix it, rather than trying to fix it themselves. Hope you're ready for the challenge!
Last year a kid did NOTHING for me (including copying from the board) because he didn't understand it. This year he blamed the teacher's accent. (Not southern, so he couldn't understand) He dropped out and can't get a job with a 9th grade (alm0ost) education.
thank you for this. i teach in fl. and always feel better after reading your blog. nice to know i'm not alone :)
Post a Comment