Lindsey Nielson
20 de marzo de 2014
SPAN 380
Crazy Parents
To the Parent that is overzealous: As a professional teacher, I see this parent as very nonprofessional and very self-absorbed. I would answer the first few of his questions and then if he
still persists at asking very self-centered questions, I would tell him that I would be glad to talk
to him privately about his daughter after the presentation. I might want to start out that
presentation in the future telling the parents that I will be glad to answer all their questions after
the presentation to minimize the time of the parents and to be able to give more specific
feedback.
To the Parent that wants to tell me how to teach: I would politely listen to the mother’s ideas and
if she really has concerns about the curriculum, I would direct her to the principal or the district
leader of foreign languages to see if these concerns are valid. There is no way that I am going to
tell her that she is wrong, but maybe I would tell her that I was taught to teach in this way. If the
mother is very adamant, I would schedule a meeting with the principal, the mother, and I to
discuss this more thoroughly and professionally.
To the Parent who wants to talk daily: I would politely listen to her for a few seconds and if the
matter is not pressing, I would politely tell her to call me after school or email me. The few
minutes before the beginning bell are precious to a teacher. We need to make sure everything is
correct and the atmosphere of the classroom is put together. It is also important to greet your
students at the door and to be in your classroom ready to beginning after the bell sounds. It is
disrespectful of the parent to think their time is more important than a full classroom of students
ready to learn.
To the Parent who constantly brings her student late: To this situation, there is more information
needed to proceed. I would immediately schedule a time to meet with the parents and the
students and try to figure out what the best plan of action would be. I would explain to the
parents how disruptive it is when the students comes in the middle of class. I would also maybe
arrange a folder with the student’s name on it to put the morning work in so that when the
students comes, he can quietly get his folder and start working and when the rest of the class is
on task, I can then go over and discuss what he needs to do next to get caught up.
To the Parent who thinks I assign too much homework: I would explain to the parent that the
homework is practice. When a student learns material at home, he needs to practice it to
remember it and apply it to daily life. My homework will be contextualized so the parents can
look at it and connect with it. I will never give too much homework. The only reason they could
bring home so much homework is because they are not getting their work done at school during
class time.
To the Parent who is upset with her child’s grades: I would agree that we need to meet and we
would meet with all her other teachers and maybe the principal. I would calmly explain that my
policies have not changed and they as parents can get on the school’s website and check their
student’s grade anytime. I would also acknowledge that I hand back the student’s homework to
take home and re-do if they wish. The grade is clearly the product of the student’s work ethic
and will to learn.