Teacher vs. Parent

So I have been a teacher for 6 years. I have taught kindergarten, first and second. I have experience also in 4th grade. Teaching is as much a part of my life as my family. I have dealt with ALL kinds of parents. Those that are willing to do whatever it takes to make their kid succeed and those that it is all my job and they want nothing to do with their kids education. The first thing that I cannot stand is a parent who for one takes no interest in my classroom and how things are run and tries to tell me what is best to do in my classroom.

On the flip side I have been a parent for 6 years as well. I believe this has helped me understand and work better with my students. I always ask myself, would I expect my kids to do this or behave this way. It is simple if the answer is yes, then I follow through with it. If the answer is no I figure something else out to do or re think my expectations. As a teacher and a a parent  my expectations are HIGH! I want them to be that way so my kids will be successful in life.

I have been called a mean teacher as well as other names. The reason is because I make students own their behavior. I hold them accountable for their actions. We spend the first 9 weeks learning the rules and procedures of the classroom. If they break those, they are in trouble. There is a consequence. If we do it in real life or at our jobs there is still a consequence. I believe they need to learn this early so they will be prepared and past that when they grow up.  If that gets me labeled as a "mean teacher" then so be it. At least I tried to prepare them for the future.

In the past few weeks, I have had a challenge of separating being a teacher from a parent. I have come down to the conclusion that I just cannot separate those 2 things. Wyatt has been struggling in class for quite some time. As a good parent, we know how the classroom is run, what the rules are and how things work in her classroom. We have met with the principal and the teacher to discuss his behavior and how we can help to stop it. Hollie has been doing her end of the bargain as well. We have had discipline at home and it still has not made a difference to his behavior. The teacher finally started making him fill out these sheets. He gets taken out of the group and sat on a mat to fill them out. We get copies of these at the end of the week. What startles me the most is that we have supported the teacher through all of this.... until we got those first sheets. Seriously?!?!? Now at the beginning I wrote that I always ask myself if I would have my kids do this same thing. This time I asked would I ask this of my first graders. No I would not was the answer. I am a little bit biased so I started asking around. My mother started asking her teachers what the procedures are in their class. I even had a conversation with a fellow teacher that I trust to tell me exactly if I was out of line or not.  All of them say the same thing, they agree with the feelings I have toward this. He is getting picked on. Seriously, we are already dealing with a kid that is shorted at home and now at school?

Wyatt is a kid that LOVES to learn. Do we really want to nit pick everything he is doing just to correct the bad habits he has that are not hurting other people? I hate to tell them but they are going at the wrong way. I am not saying I am an expert at teaching. You never really do become that because it is ever changing. What we are afraid of is they are going to take away his love for learning. If that happens it will sure be a shame because the world will lose a kid that can do great things as he gets older.