Meet the Parents
In a dating relationship, meeting the parents is a big deal. But, as a teacher, I've learned that meeting the students' parents is even a bigger deal.
You can look at a student and learn things about them by mere appreance: if their hair is combed, if their clothes are clean, if their socks are matching - it tells a lot about their home life.
You can look at a student's assignments and learn a little more: how much they value neatness, details, and quality work.
You can talk to a student and indirectly pick up hints about their up-bringing: if they are disciplined, if they have chores and expectations, what kind of things they are allowed to do, the kinds of things they read and watch.
All of these things explain a lot about a student. It can help you understand where their misguided thoughts, negative attitudes, unresolved anger or any other issues come from. But this year, I've learned that meeting the parents, and talking with them for a few minutes, will tell you the most about a child. It will paint a clear picture of why the student is the way he is. And it will give a good indication of what that student will probably turn out like. For some of my students, that's a scary thing. I've met parents who've come knocking on my door - angry, close-minded and irrational. I've met parents who appear level-headed, but they turn out to be a little bit on the kooky side. I've met parents who think their child is the innocent one and it's all the other kids who are at fault for everything that happens. I've met parents who insist that their child deserves an A+ in Bible class because he was recently baptized.
After meeting the parents, it's interesting to observed these kids in the classroom and on the playground. From time to time, I will even hear through their words and in their voice the very words that their parents threw at me. It's a scary thing, but in most of these cases, there's nothing that I can do except love them, and show them that there's more to life than the close-minded, kooky views that their parents are instilling in them.
I want to see all my students suceed and excell in life. I know many of them will. I just pray that the ones I already see on the close-minded and destructive paths will learn some thing this year - from the words that I say, the picture of God that I paint for them, and the way that I treat them and love them. It's a difficult job; there isn't set hours and you don't just leave your work at work. But it's a rewarding job - getting to work with young minds and mold young lives. I just hope I'll be able to look back in 20 years and see that these kids broke out of the mold, stepped off the path of destruction and headed towards the Gates of Life!
You can look at a student and learn things about them by mere appreance: if their hair is combed, if their clothes are clean, if their socks are matching - it tells a lot about their home life.
You can look at a student's assignments and learn a little more: how much they value neatness, details, and quality work.
You can talk to a student and indirectly pick up hints about their up-bringing: if they are disciplined, if they have chores and expectations, what kind of things they are allowed to do, the kinds of things they read and watch.
All of these things explain a lot about a student. It can help you understand where their misguided thoughts, negative attitudes, unresolved anger or any other issues come from. But this year, I've learned that meeting the parents, and talking with them for a few minutes, will tell you the most about a child. It will paint a clear picture of why the student is the way he is. And it will give a good indication of what that student will probably turn out like. For some of my students, that's a scary thing. I've met parents who've come knocking on my door - angry, close-minded and irrational. I've met parents who appear level-headed, but they turn out to be a little bit on the kooky side. I've met parents who think their child is the innocent one and it's all the other kids who are at fault for everything that happens. I've met parents who insist that their child deserves an A+ in Bible class because he was recently baptized.
After meeting the parents, it's interesting to observed these kids in the classroom and on the playground. From time to time, I will even hear through their words and in their voice the very words that their parents threw at me. It's a scary thing, but in most of these cases, there's nothing that I can do except love them, and show them that there's more to life than the close-minded, kooky views that their parents are instilling in them.
I want to see all my students suceed and excell in life. I know many of them will. I just pray that the ones I already see on the close-minded and destructive paths will learn some thing this year - from the words that I say, the picture of God that I paint for them, and the way that I treat them and love them. It's a difficult job; there isn't set hours and you don't just leave your work at work. But it's a rewarding job - getting to work with young minds and mold young lives. I just hope I'll be able to look back in 20 years and see that these kids broke out of the mold, stepped off the path of destruction and headed towards the Gates of Life!
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