When thinking about your child’s education, what are your most pressing worries? What goals do you have for your child? How do you know that you, the parent, are making the right choices and providing the right advice to help guide your child’s personal and academic growth and development? These are some of the toughest questions we as parents face each day, each hour, each moment of our life.
My goal in writing this blog is not to provide you with all the answers, but rather to share my experience, vision as well as to guide and empower you, steer you in, hopefully, the right direction on your parenting journey. Being a parent and an educator myself provides me with a unique perspective on both worlds.
As a classroom teacher of many years, I am privileged to work with a diverse group of young people each year. Some of the students are eager to learn and will soak up any new information I impart. However, each year, I encounter more and more students that cannot sit still, do not pay attention and have great difficulty following the lesson. I keep asking myself Why Is This Happening? I deeply care about my students. I want all of them to feel good about themselves, come to school and leave with a smile. I want them to feel safe, happy, and respected. I want them to feel that they have learned something and improved and that they have the company of their friends.
As a classroom teacher of many years, I am privileged to work with a diverse group of young people each year. Some of the students are eager to learn and will soak up any new information I impart. However, each year, I encounter more and more students that cannot sit still, do not pay attention and have great difficulty following the lesson. I keep asking myself Why Is This Happening? I deeply care about my students. I want all of them to feel good about themselves, come to school and leave with a smile. I want them to feel safe, happy, and respected. I want them to feel that they have learned something and improved and that they have the company of their friends.
As a classroom teacher, there is an endless list of situations that are out of my control. To name a few, I do not decide which child will be placed in the classroom that I or my colleague teaches, I do not have any impact on the child’s family life, I do not have a say in the government’s decisions when they decide to increase the class sizes or to close some special education services and support. Having said that, as a classroom teacher, there are so many things that I do make decisions for and the choices are solely mine. Do I greet a student with a smile? Do I ask a student “What’s wrong?” when I see them coming to school upset and withdrawn? Do I try another strategy to explain the lesson? Do I continue on to the next topic even though I can clearly see that a third of my class is still struggling with a concept? I can go on and on.
At the end of the busy day, I take time to reflect, talk to colleagues, ask for advice. I am not afraid to admit that I do not have all the answers to all of the questions that the students ask me. I am critical of myself and am constantly searching for new teaching ideas that will engage my students and make learning fun in my classroom. While I am not expecting each student to get an A and to provide me with all the answers to the questions I ask, I do expect them though to engage, to wonder, and to ask questions.
At the end of the busy day, I take time to reflect, talk to colleagues, ask for advice. I am not afraid to admit that I do not have all the answers to all of the questions that the students ask me. I am critical of myself and am constantly searching for new teaching ideas that will engage my students and make learning fun in my classroom. While I am not expecting each student to get an A and to provide me with all the answers to the questions I ask, I do expect them though to engage, to wonder, and to ask questions.
I greatly appreciate it when my students have a supportive family structure. It is such an asset for me when my students’ parents are involved and are willing to work together with me to help their child grow personally and academically. It is a well-known fact that children growing up in families with involved and caring parents will do better in life than those lacking proper family structure and support.
It is important to mention, that the ideas and the discussion topics that appear in my blog reflect my personal opinion and do not intend to promote anyone or anything. If you disagree with what I say or would like to question what I say, I invite you to do so in a respectful way.
I would like to finish my first post with TED Talk that surely will make you pause and reflect.
I would like to finish my first post with TED Talk that surely will make you pause and reflect.
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