The Ongoing Teachers V. Parents Debate…A New Teacher Weighs In

I am a new teacher, fresh from student-teaching and State of Texas certification. I finished my student-teaching at a 5A high school in west Texas and earned certification in high school Social Studies, English, and Speech. After a lengthy and arduous job search I was hired as a World History and U.S. Government teacher at my alma mater, a good high school from which I graduated in 2003.

I work in a wing of the school that did not exist when I graduated and deal with many issues that were hardly on the horizon in the spring of ’03.

Kids are still kids, but cell phones and iPods run like gremlins through the educational milieu. The Internet has increased the number of distractions for the wired teen, but has also increased the amount a dedicated student can learn. Much of my knowledge comes from the Internet – I access my daily news via the web and learn all about History and Government from the site-which-shall-not-be-named (in my defense, I always make sure it lists reliable sources at the bottom…)

So, parents versus teachers, huh?

It’s the third week of classes and, knock on wood, I’ve yet to encounter a parent. Monday evening, September 12, is the night of the campus-wide “Open House,” and I hope to meet many smiling parents and guardians at that time, all eager to learn about the progress of their teens in the world of social studies.

Most of my students seemed apathetic at best about the possibility of their parents attending. Instead of helicopter parents, my students assert the opposite.

So, to my readers’ collective chagrin, I have no personal tales of woe to contribute. Nor, since I am a gentleman, would I contribute such stories even if I had them!

Even if I was not a gentleman, I doubt the principal of my fine school would appreciate a phone call from a parent tattling about my opinion article on the Yahoo! ContributorNetwork.

Still, I must voice my mind about the comments readers voiced toward Ron Clark’s editorial on CNN.com, many of which can be found in a second CNN.com article.

1.) Teachers are NOT lazy.

I arrive at the school at 7:30 AM and, except for an absolute maximum of 30 minutes during lunch, am busy until at least 3:45, well into my 7th period conference hour. Busy meaning “on my feet, actively grading, or actively working on lesson plans” busy. Most of it being the first option – I spend almost the entire day on my feet, circulating a classroom. In loafers, not tennis shoes. No breaks.

At 3:45 I swing by the office, clock out (yes, we do have to sign in and sign out), and go home. I go to the gym, then I go home and do more work. Grading and lesson plans, or perhaps mandatory paperwork for the school district or campus itself.

I am writing this article in a rare moment of respite.

If any of you want to see how busy being a teacher is, you are welcome to visit my classroom and spend a day with me.

2.) Everyone, please keep in mind that your child is NOT our only student.

I have 170 teenagers. I know many names, but a few still elude me. I still have new students coming into my classes, and students leaving my classes. My seating chart is, sadly, not finalized.

I teach two subjects and have to have separate and distinct lesson plans for each…leaving little time to devote to learning individual needs of individual students. I want to help each student learn to his or her utmost, but I lack that most precious commodity of time.

We teachers do what we can. Please understand that we have, in most cases, between 150 and 180 students at the secondary level of public education in a 5A district.

3.) We teachers, being busy and having 150-180 students, have no incentive or motive to lie about your kid’s misbehavior.

I’ve got some troublemakers in my class. So far I’ve yet to have real problems, but the second I do I will make sure that the instigators are sent to receive disciplinary justice at the hands of the appropriate administrator.

I have 20/20 vision (laser corrected!) and can see my entire classroom. I see much more than students think, and often let little things slide to maintain the flow of teaching.

I see texting, whispering, note-passing. I see cheating. I see lots of stuff students seem to think I cannot.

So, when a student says that it “wasn’t me”…yes, it was.

It was you. I saw you. If a parent wishes, I will take a vision test in his or her presence. I have a seating chart (as accurate as can be with student transfers still going on) and I have a good grasp, less than three full weeks into the semester, of who is who.

The rambunctious teens I already know by name.

If you get a call and I say your kid did ________________, he or she did ______________. Probably x2 or x3.

While many parents commented that they trusted their children but did not always trust a teacher, I must ask: Why would I lie?

I’m busy enough as it is…do I want to make up stuff? I have enough disciplinary issues that I never need to lie – the truth would astound many a parent already!

Check back with me in a few months to see what more I’ve got to discuss! So far, I’m having a blast!


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